Though the first two seasons of The Umbrella Academy didn't include enough of Ben Hargreeves, season 4 is set to flip this in the worst possible way.

After its season 3 finale, The Umbrella Academy season 4 is set to continue one of the show's worst Ben ideas in an overcorrection of an early mistake. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, Netflix's The Umbrella Academy proved a huge success for the streaming giant. The Umbrella Academy's story of seven super-powered adopted siblings attempting to overcome their dysfunctional family dynamic in order to save the world captured the imagination of a global audience, with all three seasons so far proving massively popular.

Of The Umbrella Academy's members, one of the most intriguing is Ben (Justin H. Min). At the beginning of season 1 of The Umbrella Academy, Ben is dead and for almost the entirety of the first two seasons of the show, he's only able to interact with Klaus, who can interact with the spirits of the deceased. Luckily, the dynamic between the two brothers was hugely entertaining, and it made Ben feel like The Umbrella Academy's biggest waste, because he was unable to properly interact with his other siblings, despite being aware of them and able to see their actions.

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The Umbrella Academy season 3 flipped this idea though, by introducing an alternate version of Ben who survived in an alternate timeline. This Ben was part of the Sparrow Academy, another set of super-powered adopted siblings who Sir Reginald Hargreeves raised in place of the Umbrellas. Importantly, the Sparrow Academy's Ben was a colder, more calculating, and decidedly less affable version of the character. The season 3 finale sees Ben join the Umbrella Academy in another alternate timeline, but, with the shocking reveal of what appears to be yet another Ben surviving there, it seems as though The Umbrella Academy season 4 may actually reverse the season 1 mistake by having entirely too much Ben.

Throughout seasons 1 and 2, Ben Hargreeves was the only member of the Umbrella Academy that wasn't fully explored, due to the fact that he was dead. Season 3 finally introducing a living version of Ben felt like a correction of that mistake, except the character didn't possess any of Ben's original charm. This, in effect, wasted Ben's potential, because the best version of the character was established as the dead one, and the surviving Ben felt more like an Umbrella Academy villain than a means of paying off the brilliant chemistry he had with Klaus in seasons 1 and 2.

With season 3's credits teasing a second living Ben, it would seem that season 4 is going to double down on this shortcoming. With two alternate surviving Bens, season 4 will most likely only serve to highlight just how wasted the original version of the character was. The alternate (and less interesting) versions being able to freely interact with their siblings might make for an interesting dynamic, but it's one that only proves how much better The Umbrella Academy's original Ben was.

Though The Umbrella Academy season 3's Ben was a complex character, he lacked the charm of season 1 and 2's version. By introducing yet another alternate Ben, The Umbrella Academy risks further highlighting its early slight of the character - instead of finding a way to bring Ben back from the dead, it's simply introducing multiple different versions of the character that lack what made him great in the first place. Though seasons 1 and 2 of The Umbrella Academy needed more Ben, seasons 3 and 4 seem to have misunderstood how best to achieve that.

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Niall Gray is a features writer for Screen Rant covering just about every film- or TV-related topic he's loosed upon. After spending his formative years soaking in as much pop culture trivia as possible, Niall started writing about film online in 2020, and contributes to numerous websites. When he's not writing for Screen Rant, Niall also writes for Corner of Film (where he also hosts a podcast) and sporadically dabbles in fiction with a focus on dark comedy and horror. Niall is also a certified boxing coach, which goes hand-in-hand with his encyclopedic knowledge of the Rocky franchise, and considers himself something of an expert on Batman. Though he takes a keen interest in the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror genres, Niall watches everything and anything, and his secret shame is consuming the many forgotten movies of questionable quality from the '90s and 00s. Niall can be found on Twitter @lordofthegray.