Fans of The Umbrella Academy have extra reason to be curious about the upcoming third season as Netflix appears to have made a major change for the series.
Netflix confirmed this weekend the Hargreeves are set to return to our screens on June 22, when the third season of the much-loved superhero series arrives on the streaming service.
A teaser for the upcoming instalment gave fans a glimpse into the new Sparrow Academy, which is home to an alternative powerful family, as well as welcoming back the likes of core cast members such as Robert Sheehan, Elliot Page, Tom Hopper and Aidan Gallagher.
For all the similarities to previous seasons, however, Netflix has already made clear one difference for the upcoming season – its age rating.
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Fans of the series spotted that Netflix upped the rating on the United States' TV Parental Guidelines from TV-14 to TV-MA, seemingly suggesting there's something in the upcoming series that makes it particularly unsuitable for younger viewers.
In the US, the rating TV-14 is generally regarded as 'Parents Strongly Cautioned'. Content given this rating is made for audiences aged 15 and older, as it may contain 'some material that many parents would find unsuitable for children under 14 years of age', such as intensely suggestive dialogue (D), strong coarse language (L), intense sexual situations (S), or intense violence (V)', according to tvguidlines.org.
In comparison, TV-MA relates to content made for 'Mature Audiences Only'; that which is 'specifically designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 17'.
Titles given a TV-MA rating may contain 'crude indecent language (L), explicit sexual activity (S), or graphic violence (V)'.
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Naturally the decision to raise The Umbrella Academy from a TV-14 show to a TV-MA is intriguing, but it seems like fans will simply have to be patient when it comes to finding out exactly why the rating has changed. In the UK, the show is rated a 15.
Creator Gerard Way has previously said the upcoming season 'deals with a very big reveal in the Umbrella Academy universe', more specifically 'something that has been secret for a long time'.
Speaking to Digital Spy, he added: 'Our siblings learn a lot about what was happening behind the scenes, as well as discovering the true nature of some characters that have been with them since the beginning. The series finally starts to answer the question: 'What about the other babies born on that day, in that moment?' The Umbrella Academy siblings are not alone in the world anymore.'
Whether it's the answer to this question that has prompted the increase in age rating remains to be seen, but at least we now know when all will be revealed.
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Topics: The Umbrella Academy, Netflix, Film and TV, Entertainment
