Twitter Can't Stop, Won't Stop With 'The Umbrella Academy' Memes

The Umbrella Academy dropped on Netflix Feb. 15 and it's already been endlessly meme-ified by loyal fans. The show was adapted from a series of graphic novels penned by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. This alone had MCR fans from back in the day who were unfamiliar with the books mind-blown. But the sheer volume of thirsty tweets about The Umbrella Academy prove that Netflix has a hit on its hands.

Besides the amazing soundtrack (which, given Way's involvement with the series, was kind of a given), viewers seemed to really connect with the characters, who, to The Umbrella Academy's credit, were played by stellar actors. Ellen Page plays Vanya, a tortured violinist and supposedly the only one of seven super-powered siblings who doesn't have a supernatural skill. And Misfits alum Robert Sheehan plays the darkly funny Klaus, a drug addict who can communicate with dead people. Mary J. Blige even has a supporting role as a mysterious government agent named Cha Cha. She and her partner Hazel are trying to chase down Number Five, a sibling who can time-travel and got stuck in the future for decades. Luther, the super-strong sibling whose formidable muscle mass gives him an, uh, overwhelming physique is another popular Twitter meme, while Diego + Klaus stans are also well represented.

In a review of the series for Forbes, Paul Tassi dubbed The Umbrella Academy "the superhero show for people who hate superhero shows," and its quirky aesthetic definitely gives off more of a Lemony Snicket kind of vibe. But, Tassi points out, at its core, it's really a family drama packaged inside a superhero show, in the same way that Netflix's Haunting of Hill House is a family drama packaged inside a horror show.

This gives The Umbrella Academy a much broader appeal than your standard superhero fare, which, in my comics-illiterate opinion, get real repetitive, real fast. The Umbrella Academy seems to have broken through the usual constraints of the genre to reach a bigger audience. And, of course, there's a massive cliffhanger ending at the end of the first ten episodes, which left anyone who watched it all in one sitting yelling about it on Twitter.

Fans were super vocal about the show leaving them hanging, but in an interview with Collider, Sheehan, who plays Klaus, said that there are definitely ideas in the mix for Season 2, even though it hasn't officially been greenlit yet.

"I know that they’ve been developing ideas and stuff for a second [season] because they have high hopes for the series," Sheehan said. "They’re getting ahead of themselves, which is always a good sign. So, there’s definitely been some conversations had about where the family would go, for the season [season].

Given the fanbase the series has already built up for itself in just a week, it seems all but inevitable Netflix will pick up the show for another season. In the meantime, viewers can find an Umbrella Academy meme for every mood.