Anna Daniels
As Netflix developed The Umbrella Academy for TV, actor Robert Sheehan was able to offer some input on his character’s romantic interests for his small-screen crossover. When adapting Klaus’ trip back in time to the war, Sheehan, the series producers, and writers agreed to change his character’s love interest from the comics’ Vietnamese woman to an American male soldier.
Klaus’ sexuality doesn’t become apparent to viewers until around halfway through the first season, when he makes that time jump to Vietnam. This allows the character to be developed and judged by viewers based on his personality and actions first, meaning the story doesn’t treat his flamboyance and sharp wit as traits of his queerness. Klaus is an enigmatic character and always has been. Not to mention, unlike other LGBTQ+ characters that have graced the small screen before Klaus, his trauma and internal conflict don’t directly stem from his sexuality. Klaus has accepted himself, and so has his family. The inability to handle his powers is what ultimately afflicts him the most.
Finally, there’s how Klaus loves. Historically, many LGBTQ+ characters have been written to focus on their sexuality, which can result in them becoming more hypersexualized on screen. Klaus is written as one of the most loving characters on the show — not just in terms of his siblings, but also in terms of his love interest, whose death he deeply grieves when he returns to the present.
Klaus is just one of TV’s latest entries in the push for more inclusive narratives, and fans think he helps prove representation is moving in the right direction.
Written by: Looper
