The Umbrella Academy season 4: Netflix release date, confirmed cast, plot rumors, and more

The Umbrella Academy season 4's release date has been announced – and, as its the last entry in the hit Netflix show's five-year run, you'll want to stock up on tissues to wipe away the tears you'll shed once it's over.

Netflix's live-action adaptation of The Umbrella Academy has been a largely pleasing watch, but all good things must come to an end. So, when will the streamer's take on Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá's graphic novel series of the same name meet its apocalyptic end? You'll have to read on to find out.

That's not all you'll learn if you continue reading this guide, however. Below, we've rounded up everything we know about the superhero series' fourth season on the world's best streaming service. That includes its confirmed cast, potential storylines, and plenty more besides. Full spoilers follow for The Umbrella Academy season 3 and its predecessor, so read on at your own risk.

The Umbrella Academy season 4 release date

The Umbrella Academy season 4 will make its Netflix debut on Thursday, August 8. That reveal came on February 15, with Netflix confirming  the launch of The Umbrella Academy's fourth and final entry five years to the day since the series was initially released. Before then, Netflix only confirmed The Umbrella Academy 4 would arrive in 2024. That announcement came last October, so it's about time we received an official release date.

Posting on Instagram in early January, showrunner Steve Blackman revealed episodes were still being edited. Clearly, then, the show's final installment still has some way to go before it's ready to air.

The Umbrella Academy season 4 cast: confirmed and rumored

Major spoilers follow for The Umbrella Academy season 3.

Here's The Umbrella Academy season 4's confirmed cast so far:

• Elliot Page as Viktor Hargreeves
• Tom Hopper as Luther Hargreeves
• David Castañeda as Diego Hargreeves
• Emmy Raver-Lampman as Alison Hargreeves
• Robert Sheehan as Klaus Hargreeves
• Aidan Gallagher as Number Five
• Justin H. Min as Ben Hargreeves
• Colm Feore as Sir Reginald Hargreeves
• Ritu Arya as Lila Pitts
• Nick Offerman as Gene Thibedeau
• Megan Mullally as Jean Thibedeau
• David Cross as Sy Grossman

Apart from the final three actors, the rest of The Umbrella Academy 4's cast are returning after they appeared in seasons 1 through 3 of one of the best Netflix shows.

As for the trio of newcomers, Nick Offerman (The Last of Us, Parks and Recreation) will play Doctor Gene Thibedeau, while Megan Mullally (Will & Grace, Parks and Recreation) is portraying Gene's fellow scientist (and wife) – that being the aptly named Doctor Jean Thibedeau. We suspect this duo's existence to be a by-product of the time-traveling and/or multiversal shenanigans that the Hargreeves family has caused thus far. Lastly, David Cross (Arrested Development) will feature as Sy Grossman.

None of these characters appear in the source material, so we're unsure what roles they'll play in this season's narrative. According to Netflix Tudum, though, the Thibedeaus are a pair of "mild-mannered Midwestern community college professors". Meanwhile, Grossman is "an upstanding but shy business owner and family man" who is "desperate to reconnect with his estranged (and unnamed) daughter [and] he will stop at nothing to get her back."

The Umbrella Academy season 4's new cast reveals had us worried upon their unveiling, especially as the show continues to diverge from the story told in the graphic novels. If Blackman and company have valid reasons for their inclusion, though, we'll try not to complain.

Interestingly, there's been no word if, Ben aside, the other remaining member of The Sparrow Academy – Sloane Hargreeves (Genesis Rodriguez), who is also Luther's wife – will return for season 4. We'll dig into this mystery more in our plot section.

The Umbrella Academy season 4 story speculation

Netflix hasn't given us a story synopsis for The Umbrella Academy season 4 yet, but there's lots to speculate on heading into the final season.

Before we dive into spoiler territory, the show's cast has teased what we can expect from the final season. Speaking in a pre-recorded video that was released during Netflix Geeked Week 2023, they said season 4 will "hit the ground running" in the hit Netflix show's "bittersweet" final entry.

As you'll see in the Instagram posts above and below this text, we also know what season 4's first and last episode titles are. We'll dig into what 'The Unbearable Tragedy of Getting What You Want' and 'End of the Beginning' mean in our spoiler section. Speaking of which...

Full spoilers follow for The Umbrella Academy seasons 1 through 3. Potential season 4 spoilers are also discussed.

The first big question we have concerns the Hargreeves siblings losing their powers. In the season 3 finale, Alison reset the universe using the Hotel Oblivion, which was a cover for Sir Reginald Hargreeves' (yep, the group's surrogate dad) attempt to resurrect his wife. This caused the group to lose their abilities, brought Luther back from the dead (Reginald killed him in season 3 episode 9), and gave Five his right arm back (he lost it in the fight with the hotel's Guardians).

With the siblings believing they're finally free of their father and years of being forced to be superheroes, they collectively – though not without pushback from some members – decide to go their separate ways. Luther heads off to search for Sloane, Allison reunites with her family, and so on.

However, it's clear this 'yay we have no powers' honeymoon period won't last. Indeed, as the aforementioned first episode title suggests, the siblings will soon realize being normal isn't all it's cracked up to be. When they learn that Reginald and his revived wife Abigail are now lording it over this new-look universe – we see the pair looking down on everything they apparently own before season 3's end credits rolled – we're sure the group will want to get their abilities back and try and save the day (properly, this time!) again.

The other major problem – outside of losing their powers and finding out their emotionally cold, dangerous father is alive – facing the siblings will be preventing another apocalypse. This increasingly tiresome storytelling device has been used in all three seasons so far, so we should expect another world-ending event to feature in The Umbrella Academy's fourth season. We'd love it if the final entry's narrative wasn't built around this trope, but it feels inevitable.

So, how will the gang get their abilities back? That's where we think the Thibedeaus will come in. They're scientists, after all, so we'd be surprised if they don't concoct an experiment to try and imbue the Hargreeves children with superpowers again.

As for what Reginald will be up to, he's always had a menacing tone about him, so expect this alien masquerading as a human to be a formidable foe for his adopted kids to overcome. As Blackman teased to Netflix Tudum in August 2022: "This new timeline has been dictated by [Reginald], who reprogrammed the universe at the end of the season 3 finale. But, because of Allison’s actions, he didn’t get to finish what he started."

In a separate chat with Netflix Tudum after season 3 aired, Blackman offered further insight into Reginald's antagonistic machinations: "To the viewer, I think he is the villain. In every timeline, Reggie seems to have the ability to play puppet master to these kids. [And] if you follow the timeline of three seasons, he started his plan 100 years ago. He’s been waiting a very, very long time to bring his wife back from the dead.

"Reggie thinks he gave them a gift. He took away their power. He took away the thing they most complained about. Now, that may not be true, but if you jump into Reggie’s mind for a second, I think he says, 'You guys got what you want. You don’t have to be burdened by this power anymore. You’re all normal again. You’re all just like everyone else. Have a good life', which sets up a wonderful season 4."

Reginald won't be the only villain the Hargreeves family has to face. Blackman also told Tudum that "there are new enemies who want to see them wiped out of existence", so it'll be fascinating to see how they deal with these threats without their powers.

Moving away from the man dubbed 'Reggie' Ben Hargreeves – an original Umbrella Academy member, who died in season 2, but was brought back as a Sparrow Academy member who also survived season 3's events alongside Sloane (time-travel is complicated...) – is spotted reading poetry in Korea in season 3's post-credits scene. 

What's the deal here? Blackman wouldn't say, but did tease to Tudum: "As every good fan knows, no moment in the show exists in isolation. Everything we see has meaning. And this moment is no exception. Ben has a reason to be there".

There are plenty more subplots to be resolved, too. The breakdown in Allison and Viktor's relationship, Klaus facing up to the fact he's now a mortal being, Five's likely struggle at failing to stop another universe-ending event, Lila and Diego heading off to start their new family (Lila revealed she was pregnant in season 3), and confirmation about whether Sloane is alive or not in this new reality. There's tons to wrap up, then, in season 4's truncated six-episode run.

And that's all before we get to the season 4 finale's title, aka 'End of the Beginning'. We're not sure what this is hinting at but it could be that the Hargreeves children are successful in reverting the universe back to its original form, stopping whatever nefarious scheme Reginald and other villains have concocted, and starting their lives over properly for the first time.

Alternatively, it could hint that they're trapped in a permanent time loop, where they'll be forever doomed to live the same events over and over again. The 'beginning' part of the title suggests this could be the case, with the siblings saving the day in season 4 again before being sent back to season 1's opening entry. The Umbrella Academy's X/Twitter account teased this might be the case, too, with one specific tweet (see above) hinting at a cyclical pattern to the show's overarching storyline.

If this is the price they must pay to keep the universe safe, it might be one worth sacrificing their lives and happiness for. We'll see if we're correct in our assumptions when season 4 is finally released.

The Umbrella Academy season 4 trailer: is there one?

Not yet. Typically, Netflix releases teaser trailers for a show's new season a couple of months before they air, so we shouldn't expect one for a while yet.

There was, though, the briefest of clips in Netflix's Next on Netflix 2024 trailer on February 1. In it, we got a quick look at an intoxicating family reunion, which shows the Hargreeves siblings reuniting for a round of alcoholic shots (sans Lila, we hope, who shouldn't be drinking alcohol while she's pregnant).

The Umbrella Academy season 4: is it really the final entry?

Unfortunately, yes. As Blackman confirmed, The Umbrella Academy season 4 will be the show's last entry. In true Brellies fashion, then, we'll need to prepare for a funeral-like event to say goodbye to the Hargreeves later this year.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in June 2022, Blackman revealed he'd always had a four-season series in mind, so we shouldn't be surprised that it'll end shortly. Still, it's gutting that we'll never see another epic Hargreeves dance-off once the fourth season is released. We'll be making the most of season 4, then, when it's eventually released.

For more Netflix TV-based coverage, check out our guides on Arcane season 2, Stranger Things season 5, Wednesday season 2, and Cobra Kai season 6.