Earlier this week, a report was released stating that showrunner Steve Blackman created a hostile and toxic work environment on the set of The Umbrella Academy. According to the report by 12 former staffers, the head writer was accused of being toxic, bullying, manipulative, and retaliatory. He often made “sexist, homophobic, and transphobic” comments behind the scenes, which is interesting considering star Elliot Page had his transition mid-season. After Elliot’s transition, the writers added it into Vanya’s season 3 storyline when he asks his adopted siblings to call him Viktor. The showrunner has since denied these claims as “absurd” as the final season of The Umbrella Academy is ready to be released next month.
Since the scathing report was released, several of the showrunner’s upcoming shows will not proceed, according to Whats-on-Netflix. Steve Blackman was in the process of creating a spin-off series for the Umbrella Academy that focused on The Sparrow Academy. The series was in early development in 2023 but will not proceed. This also happened with the Shadow & Bone spin-off series Six of Crows. The streaming service is also not moving forward with its Horizon Zero Dawn adaption from the popular PlayStation video game. It’s unknown if the service will find a new showrunner, but it is currently being shelved due to the Rolling Stone report. Finally, an original show titled Orbital will also not be moving forward.
The Umbrella Academy returns to Netflix for its final season on August 8th
Source: The Rolling Stone