After mucking around with the timeline in Season 2, The Umbrella Academy returned home… or so they thought. While they did return to the present, it seems their chronological shenanigans had a serious impact and they may have erased themselves from history. Their mansion was restored after the “end of the world” at the end of S1, but it was now the home to The Sparrow Academy. Like their own family, this gathering seems to have been brought together by Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), who is still alive in this timeline. In S2, Reginald encountered the adult Umbrella Academy in the 1960s and he was… not impressed. So it looks as though he set about to form a different team whose job it would be to save the world.
Also still alive is Ben (Justin H. Min), who had died off-camera in S1, but whose ghost could still communicate with necromancer Klaus. In this new reality, Ben has jumped up from Number Six in the Umbrella Academy to Number Two of the Sparrow Academy.
As for the rest of the Sparrow Academy? The actors portraying them and their character names were revealed back in January. Now Netflix has offered a bit more information regarding their personalities and some of their powers.
Justin Cornwell portrays Marcus a.k.a. Sparrow Number One, the “Luther” of this group. He is described as “a natural-born leader that oozes confidence and keeps the family together who is equally as charming as he is chiseled and colossus.”
Last year, Cornwell starred in Netflix’s original movie Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. He co-starred as Det. Kyle Craig on Training Day and as Terrance Shye on I am the Night. Most recently, he co-starred as Damien Asante on The InBetween.
Replacing Allison as Number Three is Fei, played by Britne Oldford. Fei is described as “smart-but-lonely” and she “sees the world in a special way. She’s typically the smartest person in the room and willing to negotiate – yet, once you cross her, there’s no turning back.”
Oldford most recently recurred as Claudia Murphy on Blindspot. She also portrayed the Rogue Shawna “Peek-a-Boo” Baez on The Flash. She got her start on the racy MTV teen drama Skins and some may remember her for playing alien abductee Alma Walker on American Horror Story: Asylum. She went on to appear on Ravenswood, The Divide, Hunters, and The Path.
Sparrow Number Four is “a scarred crime-fighter with a caustic and biting sense of humor who enjoys verbally berating his enemies, almost as much as he enjoys a good pizza and a six-pack of beer.” He has the power of “Empathetic Masochism,” the ability to harm or inflict pain on others by inflicting damage upon one’s own body. (Sounds like a darker version of Diego.) Alphonso will be played by Jake Epstein.
Epstein got his start as Jake Manning on Degrassi: The Next Generation and related projects, including appearing in his co-star Drake’s music video “I’m Upset.” He went on to play Chuck Russink on Designated Survivor and Brian Altman on Suits. On Broadway, he portrayed Peter Parker in the doomed Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
Number Five, a.k.a. Sloane, is “a romantic dreamer eager to see the world beyond the academy. Even though she feels tied down to her family, Sloane has plans of her own… and she may just act on them.” She will be played by Genesis Rodriguez.
Rodriguez primarily works as a voice actor, having voiced Honey Lermon in the Big Hero 6 movie and on Big Hero 6: The Series, and Perfuma on She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. In live-action, she has appeared on Entourage, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Identity Thief, Tusk, Run All Night, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She co-starred as Jane Walker on Time After Time and Detective Sloan Womack on The Fugitive. (Coincidentally, that’s two Sloans/Sloanes for Rodriguez.)
Number Six, Jayme, is described as “a loner with a fear-inducing snarl you’d be wise to avoid at all costs. She doesn’t say much because she doesn’t have to.” Cazzie David portrays her.
David (the daughter of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry David) co-created and starred in the web series Eighty-Sixed. She previously made an appearance on Hannah Montana.
Finally, Sparrow Number Seven is an “Existential Dread Inducing Psykoronium Cube” also known as “Christopher.” He is described as “a telekinetic cube that can turn the room freezing cold and induce paralyzing fear without so much of a warning. The trustworthy, loyal oracle of the Sparrows is treated as just another sibling.”
Returning for the third season will be the original Umbrella Academy; Elliot Page (Vanya), Tom Hopper (Luther), David Castañeda (Diego), Emmy Raver-Lampman (Allison), Robert Sheehan (Klaus), and Aidan Gallagher (Number Five). Ritu Arya is expected to return as The Handler’s daughter, Lila Pitts.
Unfortunately, Netflix has not yet announced when Season 3 will drop, but stay tuned for updates!
