How did Ben die in The Umbrella Academy on Netflix? What happened to Number 6?

22 February 2019, 09:22

By Sam Prance

Ben Hargreeves (Number 6) has a huge twist in Netflix's The Umbrella Academy...

The Umbrella Academy is finally here. After months of teasing it, Netflix has released the highly-anticipated, superhero series and it slaps. The Umbrella Academy is based on a series of hit comic books by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance fame. It follows seven adopted siblings with superpowers as they join forces in a bid to stop an impending apocalypse and we're completely obsessed with it.

Everything you need to know about The Umbrella Academy season 2

However, there are one or two aspects about the hit show that are confusing fans right now. First things first, there is Vanya. Does she have any powers or is she really just like the rest of us? Power through to the end and you will find out. Strangest of all though is Ben. Throughout the series, we know that he is dead but it's never really explained how and then there is a huge twist at the end.

Who plays Ben in 'The Umbrella Academy' and how did he die?

Ben is played by Justin H. Min (CSI Cyber) and he is one of the infamous Hargreeves siblings. Also known as Number 6, Ben possesses the power to be able to unleash monsters from other dimensions from under his skin. However, unlike the rest of the Hargreeves siblings, Ben is dead in season 1. His brother Klaus can communicate with his ghost though and he's still a big part of the show.

We don't know how Ben died, unfortunately, because it's not revealed in the series or even the comic books. It's implied that he died in an accident that caused the Umbrella Academy to disband but his siblings never expand on it properly. With that in mind, we think that Sir Reginald Hargreeves may have sent the siblings on a mission which resulted in Ben's death and tore the team apart.

The huge twist at the end means Ben could be alive.

In the final moments of season 1, the Hargreeves siblings band together in a bid to get Vanya to control her powers. And yet, in the process, they accidentally cause the apocalypse. Number 5 then offers to use his power to take them all back in time to teach Vanya to control her power. Holding hands (with Ben holding Klaus) they do this and all turn into child versions of themselves.

So what does this mean? Well it's not clear when they travel back to so they could be returning to a time when Ben was still alive. Alternatively, Ben could have been brought back to life in the time travel (probably not but who knows?) or he is still a ghost. It's unclear but it seems like two versions of each character will exist in their new reality (their previous selves and them now).

If Ben is still dead though, could Klaus bring him back to life in the future? As Klaus' powers gets stronger, he discovers he has telekinesis (he can move things with his mind) and gets Ben's ghost to unleash monsters in an attack. Could Klaus become powerful enough to not only communicate with Ben's ghost but resurrect him?

It looks like we will have to wait until season 2 for any concrete answers but we shall keep you informed with any and all updates.

What do you think? Could Ben come back to life?