The official trailer for The Umbrella Academy season 3 has arrived – and yes, it answers a longstanding question we've had for a while: what on earth is a kugelblitz?
Released on Netflix's various social media channels on Thursday, May 19 (we had speculated it would arrive earlier than that), we get our first proper look at what the hit Netflix show's latest entry has in store for us. And, without wishing to sound hyperbolic, it looks like as witty, whimsical, action-packed and time paradoxical as we'd hoped.
Check out The Umbrella Academy season 3 trailer below:
So, what is a kugelblitz exactly? Well, according to astrophysics, a kugelblitz is a highly concentrated area of heat, light, or radiation that has enough power to form a black hole and destroy all living matter within its reach.
It just so happens that, when The Umbrella Academy time-hopped (again) during the final moments of the season 2 finale, they ended up in an alternate dimension instead of their own timeline. In doing so, they created a time paradox – a consequence born out of them and fellow superhero group The Sparrow Academy now existing in the same reality – which causes a kugelblitz to form.
Long story short? The Umbrella Academy only have five days to find a solution to their latest time-travel issue, or this alternate timeline will be destroyed with them inside it. Oh, and they need to avoid this reality's versions of themselves, otherwise it'll only complicate the timeline further. No pressure, then.
Interestingly, kugelblitz is the title of this season's fourth episode. It appears that it won't take center stage until season 3's second act, then, which suggests that the first three episodes of season 3 will be devoted to learning more about the Sparrows, The Umbrella Academy trying to acclimatise to this new reality, and plenty of fight sequences. Oh, and dance numbers. Don't forget the dance numbers.
Super. Sibling. Rivalry. The Umbrella Academy returns June 22 pic.twitter.com/4LOnaCsONWMay 19, 2022
Unsurprisingly, The Umbrella Academy's arrival isn't to The Sparrow Academy's liking. Clearly, we're going to see plenty of dysfunctional familial moments between the two groups, with verbal insults and physical battles dotted throughout the teaser. We'd be surprised if they two academies don't end up joining forces to prevent the kugelblitz from happening but, in early episodes at least, expect them to come to blows. A lot.
At this stage, it's unclear if The Umbrella Academy season 3 will have a chief antagonist. We know that the Hotel Oblivion – though it's seemingly been renamed as the Hotel Obsidian in the Netflix show – will feature in some capacity. In the graphic novel series, Hotel Oblivion is an interdimensional prison where the universe's biggest supervillains are locked away. However, it appears that the Hotel Oblivion/Obsidian is based on earth in Netflix's live-action adaptation.
Will the kugelblitz release this reality's worst criminals back into the wild? It's possible. The kugelblitz is essentially a black hole, so it can strip away matter from anywhere. Maybe it'll inadvertently destroy the walls and jail cells that keep these supervillains off the streets, which would lead to the Umbrella and Sparrow Academies continuing to team up to defeat them or put them behinds bars again. We'll have to wait and see.
One thing we do know, though, is that a key supporting character will return in The Umbrella Academy season 3. Pogo – Sir Reginald Hargreeves' loyal (and intelligent) chimpanzee – is seen in the trailer's final seconds. Of course, this is an alternate reality's version of Pogo, given that the original was killed by Viktor Hargreeves in season 1. However, he may have a big role to play in aiding The Umbrella Academy to avert another apocalyptic event, what with Five Hargreeves seeking out his help.
Regardless of how much we'll theorize and speculate on season 3's trailer, it looks like The Umbrella Academy's latest instalment will be the best entry yet. Next month can't come soon enough.
For more Umbrella Academy season 3 content, read up on what each episode title teases about the upcoming season's plot.
The Umbrella Academy season 3 will launch exclusively on Netflix on Wednesday, June 22.
