The Real Primates Behind the Story of Pogo in ‘The Umbrella Academy’

The latest season of this Netflix series spins an idealized story of the primates who were forced to be space flight test subjects

Ham, a three-year-old chimpanzee, prepares for a test flight with researchers at Cape Canaveral. Photo: NASA

Spoilers for Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy ahead…

The much-anticipated second season of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy dropped at the end of July, satiating fans with the fast-paced wild ride that fans of the show were accustomed to after the first season was released in 2019.

The second season builds on the story of seven individuals with extraordinary powers who were adopted by billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who created the Umbrella Academy and prepared them to save the world. The siblings survive time-traveling assassins, as well as their own emotional scars, and eventually are sent on the path to prevent the apocalypse — again.

Also in this season, viewers finally see the backstory of Pogo, an anthropomorphic chimpanzee who can speak to humans and helped raise the children in the Umbrella Academy.

Credit: Netflix