How Does The Umbrella Academy End in the Comics?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The Umbrella Academy Season 4.

Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy just wrapped up its fourth and final season, bringing the Hargreeves family’s story to a close. So, does The Umbrella Academy‘s series finale line up with how things end in the comics?

Related: Is The Umbrella Academy Over?

The Umbrella Academy’s Comic Book Ending, Explained

No one can say for certain just how closely the TV and comic book versions of The Umbrella Academy‘s ending align, because the latter isn’t finished yet! That’s right: this is a Game of Thrones-style scenario, where writer/artist team Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá still haven’t completed the remaining Umbrella Academy volumes.

To date, only three have been published; a fourth, The Sparrow Academy, nevertheless served as the basis for The Umbrella Academy Season 3. As such, Season 4 consists of mostly original material, rather than taking its cues directly from the comics. Showrunner Steve Blackman touched on this in an August 2024 interview with The Mirror.

Related: The Umbrella Academy: What’s the Deal with Season 4’s Sy Grossman?

“Well, for starters, there’s no graphic novel for what we would call Season 4,” Blackman explained. “And while our series is coming to a close, Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba are actually working on their next volume, and they have a pretty good roadmap of where the story is going for many years to come.” That said, Blackman also suggested in a recent Tudum interview that Way and Bá’s outline doesn’t cover at least one of Season 4’s biggest reveals: the truth about the “Jennifer Incident.”

“To be honest with you, Gerard and Gabriel don’t know what the Jennifer Incident is,” he said. “This is my interpretation of it. They’re going to do something slightly different in their graphic novel. But they were very gracious and said, ‘Go do your thing, and we’re going to do our thing. Our graphic novel will continue past the show.'”

Will Anything in The Umbrella Academy Season 4’s Finale Carry Over to the Comics?

So, The Umbrella Academy Season 4’s ending will play out differently in the comic book. That doesn’t mean there won’t be any overlap between the show and the comics, though. In the Mirror interview, Blackman confirmed that key elements of the fourth season finale will show up in Way and Bá’s OG story in some form.

Related: How Did Ben Die in The Umbrella Academy Season 1?

“We have deviated from their version [of the ending] and, in a wonderful way, they’re making changes based on what we’re doing in the TV series,” the showrunner said. “So, we’re symbiotic in some ways. But there are major elements – like the Cleanse and the Jennifer Incident – that are entirely from Gerard and Gabriel.”

The Umbrella Academy Season 4 is currently streaming on Netflix.