Luther’s Powers in ‘The Umbrella Academy,’ Explained

Our favorite dysfunctional superpowered family is coming back next month as Netflix will be releasing the third season of The Umbrella Academy. The Umbrella Academy is a popular superhero series based off of the comic books of the same name by Gabriel Bá and Gerard Way. The series follows the superpowered adult Hargreeves children, who are forced to come together after their father’s death.

The Hargreeves were part of a group of 43 infants, all born simultaneously and inexplicably on October 1 1989. These children had special abilities and were born to women who previously had not displayed signs of pregnancy. Nine of these children were adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore), who formulated them into a superhero group called the Umbrella Academy.

One of Hargreeves’ adopted children is Luther. Dubbed Number 1 by Reginald, Luther often attempts to be the leader of the Umbrella Academy, much to his siblings’ annoyance. As a child and young man, he was clearly the Umbrella Academy’s most dependable and loyal member. Long after the other Hargreeves children branched out and left the Umbrella Academy, Luther remained behind, working for his father. Unfortunately, like the other Hargreeves, Luther learned some devastating truths about Reginald. Despite his difficult past, he still fights valiantly to save the world and to try to win over his true love, Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman).

What is Luther’s power in The Umbrella Academy?

Luther’s primary power in The Umbrella Academy is super-strength and durability. We see his powers at play numerous times throughout the series. As a child, he could easily throw a full-sized adult across the room. As an adult, we’ve seen him lift a farm truck, shrug off a missile blast, and survive having a chandelier fall on top of him. While strength is his main power, he also boasts durability and almost immunity to attacks. Blasts, explosions, and blows that would severely injure or incapacitate someone, barely have any impact on Luther.

In addition to his powers, Luther also has the upper body of an ape. This happened when Luther was sent out on a mission and was badly injured. To save his life, Reginald performed surgery and injected him with a serum that replaced his torso with that of a Martian Gorilla. Hence, Luther is technically half-human and half-gorilla. His gorilla body did not noticeably enhance or impact his strength. However, it could be the reason for his durability and immunity to injury. Unfortunately, Luther finds his gorilla identity embarrassing and it causes him to lose focus on his heroism.

Among Luther’s powers, is also the ability to survive in space with just a helmet. His body can withstand the harsh environment, allowing him to live on the moon for several years. This earned him the nickname Spaceboy among his siblings. Tragically, his moon mission wasn’t real and Hargreeves sent him there simply to get him out of the way. His past has caused him several bouts of depression, which interestingly seem to affect his powers. He is noticeably weaker when distracted or depressed. Still, once his adrenaline gets going, he is almost unstoppable with his superhuman strength and durability.

(featured image: Netflix)