Contains spoilers for the third season of “The Umbrella Academy”
This June 22nd, The Umbrella Academy’s third season premiered on Netflix and with it came the transition of Elliot Page’s character from Vanya to Viktor Hargreeves. In an interview with ComicBook, Steve Blackman, creator of the series, explained how the actor had collaborated with the writing team so that the change on the screen was faithful and respectful of reality: “It was important for Elliot to be part of the story”says Blackman, “Once Elliot told me it was going to pass, I didn’t have any pressure to do it or not to do it on screen, but it seemed important to me to do it. ” Page announced he was a trans man in December 2020, before production on this batch of episodes began, so the storylines could be adapted.
Blackman reached out to GLAAD, the American gay and lesbian alliance against defamation, and a screenwriter, Thomas McBee, who worked with Page to write the character’s transition: “It was very important to us not to make it the main story of the series, which could have happened easily. We just wanted it to be a good time, to be sensitive, to be real, and you know, in a world where there is so much, you know, anti-trans, we really wanted to tell a pro-trans story. ”
Fiction imitates reality
In the new season, Page’s character begins as Vanya and is recognized as Viktor in the second episode. As she looks at a sign in a barber shop window, Vanya remembers the words of Sissy, her love interest in her season 2, saying something like “You don’t even realize what box you’re in until someone walks in and pulls you out of it.” She enters the hairdresser and in the next scene she is in front of her family with her new look, when they call her Vanya corrects “it’s Victor” and when they ask him who he means, he replies “It’s me, I’m what I’ve always been. Does anyone have a problem?” . Later, as Viktor, he has a longer conversation about the change with Allison, explaining the situation to the audience in what feels like a cathartic moment for the actor himself: “You couldn’t have known because I didn’t know at all”says the character, “Being with Sissy, I don’t know … She … opened something in me. She showed me that I would never be free to hide from who I really am and after losing her I realized I couldn’t live in that box anymore . No, I will. ” All three seasons of “The Umbrella Academy” are now available on Netflix.
Source: E Cartelera
