Umbrella Academy Creator Details Collaboration With Elliot Page for Viktor's Transition Storyline
Potential spoilers for The Umbrella Academy season three follow! After actor Elliot Page announced that they were trans and publicly transition it wasn't long before Netflix confirmed that their character on The Umbrella Academy would also undergo the same process, becoming Viktor Hargreeves in the new batch of episodes. Page announced their transition in December of 2020, before production began on the show's third season, and speaking in a new interview with ComicBook.com, series creator Steve Blackman opened up about the process of collaborating with Elliot to make the change on the screen for their character as well.
"It was so important that Elliot was part of that story telling," Blackman revealed to us. "So once Elliott told me that in life he was going to make this transition, there was no pressure on me to not do it or do it, but it felt important to try to do that story. So I went to GLAAD, I talked to Nick Adams at GLAAD and then I went to this wonderful trans writer name Thomas McBee and in collaboration with Elliott, we sort of worked on what that story would be and how we would do it and it was really important to us not to make it the story of the show, which you could easily have done. We just wanted to be a beautiful moment that was sensitive, that was real and you know, in a world where there's so much, you know, anti-trans (rhetoric) that we really wanted to tell a pro-Trans story, but it was totally collaborative right through."
Page's character begins the season still as Vanya Hargreeves, but makes the change to Viktor in the second episode of season three. They spend the first part of the episode reminiscing about Sissy, her love-interest from season two, prompting them to remember their shared connection and love. They recall a quote Sissy told them in season two, "You don't even notice the box that you're in until someone comes in and lets you out." This runs through their mind while staring at a poster on a barbershop window of Men's haircuts, realizing internally what they've known all along about their own identity. The next scene they appear in front of the family with their new look.
Viktor later has a longer conversation about it with Allison as well, spelling it all out for the audience, and seemingly giving Elliot a very cathartic moment personally. "You couldn't have known cause I didn't fully. Being with Sissy, I don't know....She...opened something in me. Showed me I'd never be free hiding from who I really am. And after losing her, I realized, I just can't live in that box anymore. I won't." The scene ends with Viktor starring at their reflection in a big window, pondering how they always hated mirrors and calling their reflection "Me. Just me."
All three seasons of The Umbrella Academy are now streaming on Netflix.