‘The Umbrella Academy’: Will Mary J. Blige Return as Cha Cha for Season 2?
The Umbrella Academy returns to Netflix for Season 2 on July 31. Last season, fans fell in love with Mary J. Blige’s character Cha Cha, and many are wondering if she’ll return for the upcoming installment.
What we know about ‘Umbrella Academy’ Season 2 so far
Season 1 of Umbrella Academy ended with the Hargreeve siblings using a magical briefcase to escape an apocalyptic meteor shower. It’s clear that Five (Aidan Gallagher) did something to save his brothers and sisters because according to the Netflix description, all the Hargreeve siblings will be living in different timelines in Season 2.
“The time jump scatters the siblings in time in and around Dallas, Texas, over a three year period, starting in 1960,“ the Netflix synopsis reads. “Some, having been stuck in the past for years, have built lives and moved on, certain they’re the only ones who survived. Five is the last to land, smack dab in the middle of a nuclear doomsday, which – spoiler alert! – turns out is a result of the group’s disruption of the timeline (déjà vu, anyone?). Now the Umbrella Academy must find a way to reunite, figure out what caused doomsday, put a stop to it, and return to the present timeline to stop that other apocalypse. All while being hunted by a trio of ruthless Swedish assassins. But seriously, no pressure or anything.”
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What happened to Cha Cha in Season 1?
In Season 1 of The Umbrella Academy, Mary J. Blige’s character, Cha Cha and her Commision agent partner, Hazel (Cameron Britton) discover the impending apocalypse and try to time-jump to save themselves. Hazel manages to make it out, but Cha Cha is last seen in a telephone booth that gets engulfed in flames.
In a 2019 interview with IGN, Blige talked about the Season 1 finale. And she hinted that there’s a chance Cha Cha is still alive.
“I don’t know if Cha-Cha lives or not, I don’t know what happens to her,” Blige said. “She’s picking up the phone, she’s trying to get out. I believe she may be calling The Commission. She’s trying to figure a way out. They want to leave it with ‘did she get out, or did she get killed by the Apocalypse?’ I want Cha- Cha to survive, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Will Mary J. Blige return as Cha Cha on ‘The Umbrella Academy’?
All the Hargreeve kids — Vanya (Ellen Page), Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), and Five (Aidan Gallagher) — will return for Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy. And the series will also introduce a few new characters, including Raymond (Yusuf Gatewood), Lila (Ritu Arya), and Sissy (Marin Ireland).
But as of now, it doesn’t look like Blige is going to return as Cha Cha. She is not in the new trailer, and her IMDB page lists her last The Umbrella Academy credit as 2019.
Plus, Blige has been busy working on a number of other projects in the last few years. She has five films scheduled to release in 2020, including Respect, The Violent Heart, and Body Cam. And she’ll be leading the upcoming Starz series, Ghost, which premieres in September.
Blige also hasn’t mentioned The Umbrella Academy on social media recently, which is another indication that she might not be a part of the new season. Of course, there’s always a chance that she’ll make a surprise cameo, but fans will just have to wait and watch.
