Umbrella Academy let Luther play a stripper — and Tom Hooper was more than game

Surprise! The bulk of The Umbrella Academy season 4 — launching on Netflix on Aug. 8 — doesn’t take place immediately after the events of season 3. There’s enough of a time jump that the characters have had time to evolve, in ways that seem designed to delight longtime fans. In particular, Luther is now a stripper. Polygon talked to showrunner Steve Blackman about the change, and how actor Tom Hooper contributed beyond just strutting his stuff. [Ed. note: This post contains minor setup spoilers for season 4 of The Umbrella Academy.] [Image: https://platform.polygon.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25555491/TUA_401_Unit_00169R_Crop.jpg?quality=90&strip=all] There’s a six-year time skip from the moment the Hargreeves siblings arrive in the “restored” 2019 timeline. Now it’s 2024. (See what they did there?) They’ve lived for six years without powers, and they’re now all in comparably mundane situations, at least compared to their previously chaotic lives. Viktor (Elliot Page) may be the most content of the bunch. But no one is happier than Luther, now that he’s an exotic dancer. So just how did the dutiful older brother end up working the “legs and eggs” (sleepy morning brunch) shift at the club? “We just joked about where he would end up,” laughs Blackman. But for Luther, none of this is a joke, and nothing stops him from really giving it his all with his space-themed routine. He struts out in a shiny astronaut suit — which of course is a tear-away — and shimmies his hips in tight underwear. It is so good, the perfect step in Luther’s character evolution from stuffy oldest brother to himbo with a heart of gold. And Hooper does a great job of conveying the joy and freedom Luther feels, right down to the gyrating pelvis. “Tom had a lot of input [on Luther’s stripper act],” says Blackman. “And we did some work with him. We got a choreographer to help him with some moves. But he took to that pole very naturally. He was just great. Tom is [like], ‘I’ll try anything; whatever works for this scene.’ So it was just a lot of fun to film it. And you can see, he’s literally having fun when he’s doing it.” Most of his siblings aren’t so lucky. Diego (David Castañeda) and Lila (Ritu Arya), for instance, are married with three kids and living in the suburbs with Lila’s larger extended family; they’re basically a sitcom trope, disgruntled with their current lot in life and searching for the excitement that once drove them. Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) is back to acting, but without her rumor powers, she’s been reduced to cable police procedurals and commercials. Klaus (Robert Sheehan) lives in her basement, sober and a germaphobe, but also a very doting uncle to Claire. Ben (Justin H. Min) has been in jail for a cryptocurrency scam. Five (Aidan Gallagher), unsurprisingly, works for the CIA. Only Viktor, running a bar in Nova Scotia, is generally satisfied with his life, actually. But although there are some hurt feelings from how the characters ended up in this timeline and resentment of current circumstances, Blackman says it was important that the start of season 4 be a place of love. “In the beginning of the show, and season 1, they didn’t love each other,” Blackman says. “But I think we started season 4 with: These people truly love each other. Yes, they’re fighting and arguing. But in the end, I think it’s truly a family of people who love each other and [will] do anything for each other in the end.” The last season of The Umbrella Academy is streaming on Netflix now.