A look at how Luther went from the Uptight Leader to a Lovable Himbo.
The characters in The Umbrella Academy are best known (and loved) for their chaotic and messy personalities, all having their own internalized issues that manifest in different ways within their poorly adjusted adult lives. These characters have been through the wringer since season one though, and most of them have outgrown their initial characterization. Back in the first season, one of the less popular characters among audiences was Luther Hargreeves (Tom Hopper). Many were frustrated by his overbearing tendencies and his focus on being the favorite child among the Umbrella Academy. Since then, he has been on a journey throughout all three seasons of The Umbrella Academy thus far, which resulted in him embodying the conflict between the Umbrella Academy and the Sparrow Academy, and finally becoming one of the standout characters of Season 3.
Back in Season 1, Luther’s character was defined by his relationship with his father Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), with him believing himself to be the steadfast and strong leader of the Umbrella Academy, as well as his father’s right-hand man. Growing up he took so much stock in being the Umbrella Academy’s Number 1 that he ended up being the only one to not move out of the mansion and leave the team. However, this worked to his detriment, as after Reginald’s death in Episode 1, his unyielding faith in his father and the dedication he held to his position of leadership made him believe that there was a nefarious plot behind the whole affair. While this is going on, the rest of the Umbrella Academy has already moved on to their own lives and haven’t talked to one another in a number of years, so they all care significantly less about the whole affair than he does. Luther gets into a few conflicts throughout the first season, especially with his brother Diego (David Castañeda), over superficially enforcing his status as Number 1 and his belief that this fact automatically grants him authority over a situation. These scenarios result in Luther appearing to desperately hold onto a form of power that nobody else seems to care about having, making him appear more unlikeable as a result.
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A majority of his actions throughout the season are motivated by what he feels is best for the team, yet he fails to take many of their feelings or thoughts on the conflict into consideration. This comes to a head in the final conflict with Viktor (Elliot Page) when the Hargreeves finally learn of his latent powers and the threat they pose. After Viktor accidentally hurts their sister Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) in a rage-induced power explosion, Luther believes that Viktor poses a larger threat and the only way to deal with it is to lock him in a soundproof room in the basement. He believes that he is doing what is best and protecting the rest of the family, but meanwhile Viktor is scared and confused, only having recently discovered his superpowers and has no idea how to deal with them. Other members of the family want to help Viktor, and tell Luther to let him out, so they can do so, but Luther refuses to listen and takes his opinion as the most correct one. Unfortunately, this inadvertently causes the apocalypse that the entire season has been building up to because Luther refuses to let the others give Viktor the emotional support he needed at that moment.
Luther’s perspective is more complex than just this, and as he learns of how little his father actually cared a few episodes prior, he begins to go on a downward spiral of self loathing and despair. Luther’s big focus during Season 1 is that Reginald sent him to the moon, and he desperately wanted to believe that the five years he spent there were for some greater cause that is potentially tied into Reginald’s mysterious death. Once he learns that his father never actually cared about his reports from the moon, he’s forced to confront the notion that his father never truly had any more favor for him than the other members of their family. This throws his entire sense of self into question and leaves him feeling lost and confused, as the one thing he thought was valued above all else ended up not being important in the slightest, and he was the last of his siblings to realize this.
The realization that Luther’s dedication to Reginald was not reciprocated made him question what was the point of his life. It wasn’t until Season 3 that he really found something to desire again, which came in the form of his romance with Sloane (Genesis Rodriguez). Sloane and Luther are the emotional core of Season 3, and signify the point when Luther finally became a favorite amongst fans. The two act as a star-crossed lovers type romance, with each one residing on opposite sides of the conflict. The most refreshing part of their relationship, though, is how they don’t let this separate them and are always completely up front about their feelings. Also, through his relationship, Luther is able to lean into the side of him that verges on lovable dork, focusing more into his naïveté and tendency to be dense. Sloane values the kindness he possesses (and even thinks the fact that he went to the moon is cool!), and the two bond over their previously sheltered lives and how they want to experience the world together. Their relationship is ultimately what Luther’s character needed, as the result is a refresh of his character, as well as a tie into the thematic differences between the Umbrella and Sparrow Academy to make him more plot-relevant.
The central difference between the Sparrow Academy and the Umbrella Academy is how their family hierarchy defines their relationships with one another. The Sparrow Academy exists as a rigorously trained and disciplined superhero team who are still actively fighting crime in the limelight. Because crime fighting is still so prevalent in their lives, the team operates strongly in line with the numerical system assigned to them, with some members like Ben (Justin Min) heavily associating their status in the hierarchy with how important they are to their father. It ends up being this focus on structure that keeps them from truly bonding as a family, however, and instead they feel more like teammates than siblings.
In contrast, by this point in the story, most of the Umbrella Academy has abandoned the number system, and instead have been reforging their bonds with one another after Reginald’s passing. The fact that they grew up as the Umbrella Academy is something they all share, but it no longer defines them as adults, and instead they remain close because of how they care about one another (in their own convoluted ways, of course) instead of out of obligation to a superhero team that no longer exists. Their strength as a team now comes from their genuine relationships, and this is consistently noticed by the Sparrows throughout the season.
The Sparrows mimic Season 1 Luther’s mentality, while the Season 3 Umbrella Academy marks his progress and who he has developed into, which makes him the perfect character to stand in the middle of the conflict with Sloane. The Sparrows' central weakness is the lack of ties they hold with one another, and some of them are slightly envious of the close familial relationships that exist between the members of the Umbrella Academy.
The Umbrella Academy, meanwhile, has grown past the need for Reginald Hargreeves and the ideals and pressure he places on his superhero team, and are all the better for it. Their relationships are the core of the show and Luther has finally become a part of that. However, Luther is still easily drawn in by the Sparrow Academy and the ideal they hold as the perfectly functioning superhero team (on the outside anyway), even being offered to join them at one point. But Luther knows now that he doesn’t need that anymore, and he’s helping Sloane learn that as well. As a result, he spends much of the season showing everyone in his life how much he cares about them, truly emphasizing how much he has changed. In Season 3, Luther has fully let go of the idealization he held for his father, and instead accepts the damage Reginald did to all of their siblings, and now lives for himself and the things that bring him joy.
Season 3 finally gave Luther the chance to show how much he’s grown, and really lets him shine as the hopeless romantic dreamer that he has become throughout the show’s runtime.
Isabel Cervantes is a recent college graduate from the University of Redlands and is a freelance writer for Movie and TV Features at Collider. Growing up on Disney and Animation, as well as being a bit of a bookworm, she quickly took a specific interest in Fairy Tales and their frequently underestimated complexity. In her free time you can often find her listening to video essays on Youtube and playing Tetris, Animal Crossing, and various visual novel games.
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