ThroughoutThe Umbrella Academy’s run, fans of the show picked up on some interesting similarities between Klaus, and another character played by the same actor in an underrated British superhero show from 2009. Despite a 10-year gap between both shows airing,The Umbrella Academyactually has a lot in common withMisfits. Both shows focus on a group of super-powered people who got their powers thanks to a freak incident.
These newly enhanced individuals then find themselves in a series of challenging and compromising positions due to the complications that come from meeting other powered people. And before they all got their powers, they were already serving time in community service roles as a sentence for juvenile delinquency. However, the shows do diverge in spectacular ways, which makes the notablesimilarities betweenRobert Sheehan’s charactersin both all the more interesting.
The Umbrella Academy’s Klaus & Misfits' Nathan Were Already Similar
Two Superheroes With Striking Similarities That Appeared A Decade Apart
Nathan Young is an egotistical, smart-talking, cheeky, young man who just wants to have fun and do as he pleases. Nathan takes very little thought to the consequences that may come tomorrow, because all he thinks about is the present. He is also prone to indulge in pleasures in many different forms, due in part to his tendency to live in the moment. Klaus, while distinctly different in the sense that he is more loving, empathic, and emotional than Nathan, issimilarly predisposed to indulging in pleasuresand is presented as an incredibly charismatic individual.
Umbrella Academy Isn’t The First Time Robert Sheehan Has Played Klaus Hargreeves
Klaus Hargreeves is 1 of the most interesting characters in The Umbrella Academy. But Robert Sheehan has played a shockingly similar role in the past.
However, thesimilarities continue when examining both characters' powers. Nathan Young develops the gift of immortality in the incident that imbues him and his fellow convicts with powers. Eventually, Nathan also learns that he can communicate with the recently deceased. Klaus, on the other hand, develops his powers the other way around. From the start, Klaus learns that he can speak to the dead, and even channel them. Then, asThe Umbrella Academyprogresses,Klaus learns he possesses immortality, though he views it as a curse.
Klaus Getting Buried Alive In The Umbrella Academy Season 4 Also Happened To Nathan In Misfits
Both Characters Keep Overlapping In Reverse Order
And where Klaus and Nathan’s ability to wield their powers appears to develop in opposite directions, another pivotal point in their stories also happens at opposite ends for both heroes. Shortly after the incident inMisfits, Nathan is frustrated seeing the others develop powers, while not knowing what his gift could be. In a fatal accident, Nathan dies, having never figured it out, and a funeral service is held where all his friends and family attend. Then,Nathan wakes up in a coffin, after being buried alive, only to be dug up by his friends after some time.
InThe Umbrella Academy, Klaus is not buried alive until the final season of the show. InThe Umbrella Academyseason 4, after Klausregains his abilities, he falls back into old habits of addiction, which leads him on a path of self-destruction. After being sold and trafficked for some time,Klaus finds himself buried alive, only to be dug up by his sister, Allison. This once again provides commonality between the two characters.
Which Robert Sheehan Character Is More Powerful: Klaus Or Nathan?
Only One Immortal Hero Can Come Out On Top
However, while the characters have a lot in common, and their power sets are similar, there is a clear answer when it comes to who is the more powerful of the two. While Nathan is immortal, which means he literally cannot be killed, hisgifts don’t really go beyond that. In later seasons, he trades his powers and receives a new ability to bend and warp reality, but for the majority of his time on the show, Nathan is simply incapable of dying.
10 Umbrella Academy Spinoffs I Would Love Netflix To Make
The Umbrella Academy got a definitive ending in its fourth season, but this universe can still expand with spinoffs focused on different characters.
Meanwhile, Klaus' ability to channel the dead, instead of just communicating with them, gives him an edge. Klaus can summon people, with their powers and strengths from the moment of their deaths, and use them as a way to achieve his goals. For this reason, if the two were to go head-to-head, Klaus would easily overpower Nathan, though he would not be able to ultimately kill him. All of that being said, it’s unlikely either one would be interested in fighting each other inThe Umbrella AcademyorMisfits, as both would get a kick out of seeing someone that perfectly resembles them.
