The Umbrella Academy season 2: When is it released? Who is in the cast? What's the story so far? Everything you need to know

Quirky superhero saga The Umbrella Academy is coming back in summer 2020 for its second season.

The first season was one of Netflix's biggest hits in 2019, picking up over 45 million viewers around the world in its first month of release.

With a cast including Ellen Page, Robert Sheehan and Mary J Blige, the drama is based on the comic book series written by My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way.

Fans have been bombarding Netflix for news on season 2 for months and we've finally got some answers about when the gang will be back in action.

When is season 2 released?

The Umbrella Academy season 2 launches on Netflix on July  31, 2020.

Fans were given the release date in a special lockdown announcement video from the cast in which they also showcased their finest solo dance moves.

The video recreates the popular scene in season 1 where the lead characters all dance to Tiffany's 1987 pop classic I Think We're Alone Now.

Is there a trailer?

Yes, you can watch the brand new trailer for The Umbrella Academy season 2 right here:

Plus, get a first look at the new series with the explosive opening scene of season 2:

What is The Umbrella Academy?

The Umbrella Academy is the TV adaptation of the comic book series of the same name, created and written by Gerard Way, illustrated by Gabriel Bá, and published by Dark Horse Comics.

The Umbrella Academy tells the story of the gifted Hargreeves siblings - raised as superheroes by their eccentric adoptive father - who reunite as adults to stop an apocalypse.

On the same day in 1989, 43 infants were inexplicably born to random, unconnected women who had shown no signs of pregnancy even the day before.

Seven are adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves, a billionaire industrialist who creates The Umbrella Academy, names his 'children' One to Seven, and prepares them to save the world.

But not everything went according to his plan. In their teenage years, the family fractured and the team disbanded. But after Hargreeves dies, the six surviving thirty-something members are reunited.

Luther, Diego, Allison, Klaus, Vanya and Number Five work together to solve a mystery surrounding their father's death.

But the estranged family once again begins to come apart due to their divergent personalities and abilities, not to mention the imminent threat of a global apocalypse.

Who are the Umbrella Academy cast?

Tom Hopper is Luther Hargreeves / Spaceboy / Number One

English actor Hopper (Game of Thrones, Merlin) plays an astronaut with super strength.

David Castañeda is Diego Hargreeves / The Kraken / Number Two

The Mexican actor (Sicario 2: Soldado) plays a rebellious troublemaker with enhanced breath-holding abilities and gifted knife-throwing techniques.

Emmy Raver-Lampman is Allison Hargreeves / The Rumor / Number Three

The Umbrella Academy is Raver-Lampman’s first major TV role, following stints on Hamilton in Broadway. She plays a celebrity with the ability to manipulate reality by lying.

Robert Sheehan is Klaus Hargreeves / The Séance / Number Four

The Bafta-nominated Irish actor (Fortitude, Misfits) plays a drug addict with telekinesis and the ability to communicate with the dead.

Aidan Gallagher is The Boy / Number Five

Gallagher, a long-running cast member on Nickelodeon’s Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, plays a time-traveller who has recently returned from an apocalyptic future and retains his teenage appearance.

Ellen Page is Vanya Hargreeves / The White Violin / Number Seven

Canadian actress Page (Juno, Inception), plays a violinist who is the only member of the Hargreeves family without superpowers. She’s named Number Seven because the siblings' adoptive father numbered them 1 to 7 in order of usefulness.

Who are the new cast members?

Joining the Academy for season 2 are Yusuf Gatewood (Good Omens), who will play Raymond, "a born leader and devoted husband" who "has the smarts, gravitas, and confidence to never have to prove it to anyone".

Ritu Arya (Humans) is Lila, "a chameleon who can be as brilliant or as clinically insane as the situation requires".

Marin Ireland (Sneaky Pete) plays Texan divorcee Sissy who wants to find out "what life and love has to offer".

What's the story so far?

In 1989, a freak phenomenon hit when 43 babies were born to women who showed absolutely no signs of pregnancy up to a day before their arrival.

The strangeness of the births proved too much for some of the new mothers, and seven of the babies were taken in by a billionaire, who created The Umbrella Academy.

His aim was to prepare his adopted children to save the world, but as they grew up they became estranged from one another.

When the six surviving siblings got news of their father’s death, they reunited to try to solve a mystery surrounding the circumstances of his passing.

But putting six very different personalities back into the same room was never going to go smoothly, especially when each of them has such different supernatural abilities and particularly when the threat of a global apocalypse hangs over them.

**Series 1 spoiler ahead**

The first series ended on a huge cliffhanger when one of the siblings, Vanya, tried to destroy the world with her talent for creating apocalyptic power.

Her brothers and sisters tried to stop her, but she destroyed the moon, which in turn began raining debris down onto the Earth which threatens to wipe it out.