The Umbrella Academy Boss Talks Introducing Viktor in Season 3: ‘I’m Really Proud of How We Did It’
The following post contains minor spoilers for The Umbrella Academy‘s third season.
Art has imitated life in a big way for The Umbrella Academy‘s Elliot Page.
Eighteen months after Page came out as transgender, his Umbrella Academy character did the same when the Netflix drama dropped its complete third season on Wednesday.
According to series creator Steve Blackman, The Umbrella Academy‘s Season 3 scripts were complete when Page called him to share the news of his transition, and Blackman felt it was “very important” that he and Page collaborated on how to incorporate Viktor’s transition into already-written scripts. Blackman’s first call was to Nick Adams, vice president of the GLAAD Media Institute, who then connected him with transgender writer and boxer Thomas Page McBee. With Page and McBee guiding him through the writing process, Blackman says he “learned a lot more” about how to address Viktor’s gender identity.
“We wanted it to not be the story of the season,” Blackman tells TVLine. “We wanted it to be a story, or a part of the story.” (As McBee elaborated in an Esquire column earlier this month, writing Viktor’s transition presented “an opportunity to show a transition so organic, so fundamental to the character, that it could only work in concert with the existing character arcs, not eclipse them.”)
Equally crucial was the reaction from Viktor’s siblings upon hearing the news. Though there’s a learning curve for some of the Hargreeves, the family is wholly supportive from the start, which Blackman felt was essential to the season.
“We wanted to tell a story that was really pro-trans, authentic, sensitive, and show that families can accept trans people in their lives, and it does not have to be a negative thing, as it’s often portrayed in the media,” he says. “That was paramount. I talked with Elliot and Thomas through the whole thing, and I’m really proud of how we did it. I thought it came across in a way that we all felt good about.”
I am glad they addressed the transition, as some here felt they shouldn’t, just go with Viktor without explanation. Explanation of sorts was needed and they handled it well. Very respectful… kudos to all involved.
They should have recast, instead of radically altering the character.
That would be the normal thing to do when dealing with a contracted role but the backlash would be very bad for the showrunners so this was the safer route to go.
Hilarious those that wanted to recast to avoid “drastic changes” in the character. Yeah, like… A DIFFERENT ACTOR PORTRAYING THE CHARACTER?!
Yeesh.
Why? Elliot is a great actor. Why replace him?
Because he is a man and the character was a woman. They had to fundamentally change the character to fit the actor. Surely, they could have got another actress.
Exactly. The character that we embraced was Vanya. It’s no longer Vanya now so it isn’t the same.
It also wouldn’t have been Vanya we embraced if they had found another actress.
The show has already made dramatically different changes in the main characters from the original source material and done so very well.In a science fiction/fantasy story having characters go through radical changes is fair game.
Thank you!
It wasn’t radically altering the character, it was pretty organically the next step in the character’s journey, actually.
The change doesn’t bother me. It probably made Elliot more comfortable on set with his character and they covered the topic without making it a huge deal. Some people aren’t going to like it for a myriad of reasons and they’re allowed to have those opinions. At the end of the day, if it really upsets them then they can watch something else.
I’ll miss the sisterhood between Vanya and Allison. And now the show only have one female lead.
Yes, I hate that there is only one female lead and now she only has brothers. The relationship between sisters is something I always love and appreciate that it existed in the show.
I think they handled the transition really well. I look forward to seeing Elliot in this series as well as other projects. May “The Umbrella Academy” last several more seasons. But with Netflix you never know.
I’m just not sure why they changed the character’s name. Vanya is not gender-specific. “Uncle Vanya” is one of Chekhov’s best known plays.
Im gay and I find things like this pretentious. All respect to however you identify but it doesnt mean you cant just continue playing a character that is female, even if you are newly male.
Also the season is not even that good – not just because of Vanya’s change.
Handled VERY well, as stated it is A story in the season, not THE story. As it should be in real life. The most pointless comments I see refer to losing a ‘female lead’. If that’s your priority go watch ‘Charlie’s Angels’.
I found incorporating the transition so random. That is Elliot’s personal life, not the story line.