David Castañeda discusses The Umbrella Academy Season 3

The Umbrella Academy Season 3 is set to premiere next week, where fans will watch the superpowered siblings face-off with the Sparrow Academy crew and take residence in Hotel Oblivion while trying to prevent a seemingly unstoppable apocalypse yet again.

The release of the official trailer showed fans a look into some of the new people and powers, the new threat of the kugelblitz, and hints at the possibility that TUA could face alternate dimension versions of themselves.

Ahead of the big premiere, Monsters and Critics sat down with David Castañeda over Zoom to talk about Season 3, what it was like filming, and his role as Diego Hargreeves, Number Two.

David Castañeda hints at big surprises for Season 3

The Season 3 premiere date is fast-approaching, but David is ready for fans to see the hard work that was done to create a great new season. “It’s coming really fast but I’m really excited. I’m excited for everyone to see what we did. I’m really proud of it.”

Without giving too much away, David confirmed that fans can expect the unexpected, some shocking moments, and some easter eggs from The Umbrella Academy comics to make their way to the big screen in Season 3.

As for any big shocking moments, David did confirm that there are some huge surprises coming to Season 3, but can’t tell us what exactly.

“I will say this,” David began, “It’s not what you expect. And that’s what makes this show so bizarre and dark and quirky and offbeat because when you think you have the formula to what was great for Season 1 and then Season 2, you realize that the writers and showrunners, they always try to subvert it. If you think you’re gonna get this, then you’re probably wrong.”

David Castañeda talks filming and his role as Diego

When David first got the role of Diego, he admitted that he initially wanted to be Luther, to be Number One, the leader of the pack. After doing some character research, he realized that Diego was a great role.

“Once I read the comic books, I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m not [Luther]. I can play this character of this resentment, and also takes himself way too seriously, and also the scenarios that Diego in the comic book finds himself in– dark, but they’re also very funny. And I think Diego in the show also does resemble those aspects of like, he would much rather stab someone than shoot them because stabbing is much more personal, you know, and he wants to keep that.”

After noting that wanting to be Luther and be Number One was a very Diego-like trait to have, David agreed “100%.” “Oh yeah, that is Diego thinking that, ‘Why can’t I be this guy?’”

As the seasons progress, viewers see the characters develop more and adapt to the changes around them. The same is said for the actual cast and crew adapting to real-world issues to keep filming on set.

The past two seasons of The Umbrella Academy have faced their own struggles as the world is still working to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which means there’s a lot of time being spent quarantined or masked up with the crew before the masks can come off to shoot.

Despite the challenges of filming through a pandemic, the end result comes together well. “In the end, everyone is so talented we just kind of pick up and we go and we move,” David said of filming.

He added, “I think we became a lot closer as a family and also for the Sparrows that came in, it’s about making them feel welcome, you know, because if they shine, we shine.”

The Umbrella Academy Season 3 premieres Wednesday, June 22 on Netflix.