‘The Umbrella Academy’ Showrunner Confirms Final Season Will Only Contain Six Episodes

All good things must come to an end – and unfortunately, for fans of The Umbrella Academy, the end is coming sooner rather than later. Showrunner Steve Blackman confirmed via Twitter that the fourth and final series of the fantasy series will only consist of six episodes.

In August, when the show’s ending was announced, Blackman teased that “the stakes have never been greater” for the Hargreeves family.

So, naturally, it came as a shock to fans that the final season will contain such few episodes, especially given that the three previous seasons of the show had 10 episodes each.

Last week, it was reported by Midgard Times that the final season will only contain six episodes. They previously suspected that the episode count would be shortened to eight.

The outlet also stated that filming is scheduled to take place from Feb. 6, 2023 to May 29, 2023 and will start in Toronto, Canada with Jeremy Webb returning as director.

Many fans were in disbelief over the shortened season, and one tweeted, “There is no way The Umbrella Academy S4 has 6 episodes, stop lying,” including a screenshot of the article in the thread.

Blackman responded to the tweet, writing, “It’s true. But you’re going to love them.” Adding a comment to another fan’s tweet, he described the six episodes as “amazing.”

Information about the new season has been kept under wraps, however many are hoping that the six episodes will conclude with a supersized finale, much like Netflix’s Stranger Things. This year, the sci-fi series swapped their regular all-at-once release format to split their fourth season into two parts with the first seven episodes premiering May 27 and the final two episodes — clocking in at 85 minutes and 150 minutes, respectively — premiering on July 1.

Blackman teased the final season of The Umbrella Academy on his Instagram, sharing a photo of the script for the first episode, which is titled “The Unbearable Tragedy of Getting What You Want.”

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Based on a comic book series with the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy follows a dysfunctional family of adopted, super-powered siblings as they work to solve mysteries, fight crimes and prevent an impending apocalypse. The series stars an ensemble cast of Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan and Aidan Gallagher, and has been nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards since premiering in 2019.

This forthcoming season won’t be the last of Blackman on Netflix, as the creator renewed his deal with the steamer. Per Deadline, Blackman will write and produce new projects for Netflix under his Irish Cowboy production company. He is currently tied to an adaptation of the video game Horizon Zero Dawn and the original drama Orbital.