Meet Viktor Hargreeves: How The Umbrella Academy handled Viktor’s transition

The new season of The Umbrella Academy is here, and with it, we got the opportunity to meet Viktor Hargreeves, Elliot Page’s character who comes out as a transgender man in the second episode of Season 3.

Page himself first came out in December 2020 in a heartfelt message on social media. “I love that I am trans,” he wrote. “The more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows and the more I thrive. To all the trans people who deal with harassment, self-loathing, abuse, and the threat of violence every day: I see you, I love you, and I will do everything I can to change this world for the better.”

Ever since his announcement, fans of the show and the actor had been wondering how the show would honor his truth through his character. And while there were no initial plans to rewrite Page’s character in The Umbrella Academy, Page’s feelings on the matter changed over time and after several talks with series creator Steve Blackman, they decided to bring his transition onto the screen.

In an interview with Seth Meyers on Late Night on Tuesday, June 21, Page talked about the creative process of including his own experience in the show, “When we first talked about it, Blackman seemed really excited about incorporating it into the show,” he said.

“Then Thomas [author Thomas Page McBee] came on board and helped out and I feel proud of it and I’m excited for people to see it,” Page added. You can watch the full interview down below.

If you’ve already seen the third season of The Umbrella Academy then you know that thanks to a very good understanding of their own history and its characters, the creators of the show were able to weave Viktor’s transition into the show in a majestic way.

–––Spoilers ahead for The Umbrella Academy Season 3–––

In episode two, Viktor does some digging while he and his siblings are staying at the Hotel Obsidian and discovers that Sissy (Marin Ireland) died back on October 1, 1989 – his birthday and the same day that all his siblings’ mothers died.

Moved by grief, he begins to reflect on his relationship with Sissy and that’s when we as an audience realize that Viktor’s journey with his identity actually began in Season 2 when Five (Aidan Gallagher) catapulted him and his siblings back to the 60’s to protect them from the impending apocalypse.

As y’all know Viktor suffered from amnesia for most of Season 2 and was taken in by Sissy, and the two fell in love. Before Sissy, Viktor’s life had been defined by physical and mental repression due to his father, Reginald (Colm Feore), drugging him and his sister, Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), brainwashing him to control his powers. And it was only when he was with Sissy that he became more comfortable with who he was and began to open up.

At the end of Season 2, Viktor has to leave Sissy in the past to give her and her son a better life, but her effect on him reverberates in the present. In a flashback of the two, we see Sizzy telling him that he helped her realize her true self and break out of a societal box. Viktor then comes to a deeper understanding of those words and decides to finally be his true self.

First step? A new do!

When Viktor walks into the lobby of the Obsidian Hotel sporting his new short haircut, he explains to Five, Diego (David Castañeda), and Klaus (Robert Sheehan) that he met with Marcus (Justin Cornwell) from the Sparrow Academy, to which Diego says, “Who elected you, Vanya?” Viktor then says, “It’s, uh, Viktor.” When Diego asks who Viktor is, he explains, “I am. It’s who I’ve always been.”

Viktor pauses to stare at his brothers and asks if that’s a problem for anyone and they all have a lovely and very sibling-like reaction. “Nah, I’m good with it,” Diego says. “Yeah, me too. Cool,” Klaus adds. Five, who’s normally tough and not easily moved, simply says, “Truly happy for you, Viktor,” before launching into explaining why Viktor doesn’t speak for the family. Hargreeves siblings, being Hargreeves siblings,  and we love that!

Later, Viktor comes out to Allison and, just like with his other siblings, it’s not a problem. While Allison worries about “not realizing sooner,” Viktor explains to her that even he didn’t know until recently. “Being with Sissy… opened something in me. Showed me I’d never be free hiding from who I really am,” he says. “After losing her, I realized I just can’t live in that box anymore.”

“You know, I always hated mirrors,” Viktor adds as they walk down the street. “I thought everybody felt so strange in their skin. I guess that’s not true, right?” Then his sister asks him what he sees now when he looks in the mirror and his answer, although simple, is VERY powerful: “just me.” He says.

Luther is the last Hargreeves sibling to learn about Viktor, but once he does, he immediately suggests to Diego (who told him) that they should mark the occasion with some kind of party so that Viktor feels loved. Diego thinks it’s not the right time, after all the world is ending again, so when Viktor shows up and asks what’s going on, Diego simply tells him that “Luther wants to throw you a big stupid party so you feel loved” and asks, “Do you feel loved?”

“Yeah, I do,” Viktor says. “Good. You are,” Diego responds. And that’s the end of that discussion. Isn’t that just beautiful? *happy tears*

There were other instances where the show brought tears to our eyes because of how they handled Viktor’s transition, but we’ll go into more detail about them in our season review (coming soon).

In the meantime, tell us what your favorite Viktor moment was this season and what you think of the way they handled his transition. Did you like it? Let us know in the comment section below.

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The Umbrella Academy is available to stream exclusively on Netflix. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!