The Umbrella Academy season 3 has a launch window – and an official setting

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The Umbrella Academy are checking into the Hotel Oblivion

The main cast of The Umbrella Academy in season 2 of the Netflix show
(Image credit: Netflix)

It's official: The Umbrella Academy season 3 will be released in 2022. And fans of the comic series will be as equally happy to learn where it's set, too.

Revealing the tentative launch window for the show's next instalment via a brief teaser trailer, Netflix also dropped the biggest hint yet that season 3 will incorporate the Hotel Oblivion into its overarching narrative.

Curiously, however, Netflix didn't announce The Umbrella Academy season 3's launch window via its official social media accounts. Instead, various news outlets – including Collider and TV Line – reported that the teaser trailer was available to view on the show's official Netflix page. Fans can head over and scroll down to the 'Trailers & More' section to view the 15-second teaser now.

As well as the teaser on the show's Netflix page, a 26-second video also appeared on the newly unveiled Sparrow Academy Twitter account. 

The footage doesn't reveal much – star Justin H. Min, who plays Ben Hargreeves in the show, reveals that The Sparrow Academy, much like The Umbrella Academy, was born on October 1, 1989. Still, it's a fun little video that offers an insight into the Sparrows' more rebellious nature ahead of season 3's release next year.

The revelation that The Umbrella Academy's third season will arrive next year isn't an unexpected one. 

Filming on season 3 wrapped in late August, so the show's next entry is currently in its post-production phase. It shouldn't take more than 12 months for edits, potential reshoots, digital effects and more to be sorted out, so season 3 will be with us in 2022.

Still, it's pleasing to see that The Umbrella Academy's latest instalment isn't being held back until 2023. Fans have been clamoring for season 3 ever since the show's second season ended, so the wait has been long enough already.

Analysis: what is the Hotel Oblivion in The Umbrella Academy season 3?

The Umbrella Academy Volume 3: Hotel Oblivion

(Image credit: Gerard Way/Gabriel Ba)

Hotel Oblivion is the name of The Umbrella Academy Volume 3, which is the most recent instalment in Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá's comic series.

Not only that, but the Hotel Oblivion is also, well, a hotel-style space prison located on a distant planet. It's here where the galaxy's most prominent supervillains have been imprisoned by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, the Umbrella Academy and other superheroes. In the comics, it's a detention center that these evil entities apparently can't escape from. That is, until one particular breakout attempt leads an entire rogues gallery heading for Earth and seeking revenge on those who imprisoned them.

It's unclear if Netflix's adaptation will follow the exact storyline in the Hotel Oblivion comics. For one, The Umbrella Academy season 2 didn't: it was inspired by events in Way and Bá's graphic novels, but its plot diverged somewhat from the events that play out in the source material.

So we can expect season 3 to do likewise. In the graphic novels, The Sparrow Academy – another superhero group – weren't introduced until the final few pages. In the show, however, their arrival was teased in the last scene of season 2. The Umbrella Academy's third season, then, is already charting a different path from the comics.

There's the potential that season 3 could include elements from the as yet unreleased fourth volume of The Umbrella Academy. As long time readers of the comics, we hope it doesn't: we wouldn't want any surprises spoiled for us before Volume 4 is released. 

But there is the potential for Netflix's show to move ahead of the graphic novels, just like HBO's adaptation of Game of Thrones did, so we'll have to wait for an official trailer to learn more about what season 3 will entail.

Either way, we can expect to see new threats when The Umbrella Academy season 3 rolls around. Our hopes? That it'll include multiple villains from the comics, such as the Perseus Corporation, Dr. Terminal or the Scientific Man. Any two of that trio would prove to be difficult foes for The Umbrella and Sparrow Academies to deal with, and it would set season 3 apart from its predecessors. We've see Vanya become the 'villain' in both seasons of the Netflix show so far. Now it's time for something different, please.

Tom Power
Senior Entertainment Reporter

As TechRadar's senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You'll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

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