Robert Sheehan is understood for enjoying the long-lasting Klaus Hargreeves in Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, however this is not the primary time he has performed a sarcastic, immortal superhero. The Umbrella Academy follows a dysfunctional household of superheros whose trauma retains them bonded but in addition remoted on the similar time. Regardless of the darkish tone, The Umbrella Academy additionally gives a continuing stream of comedy, and incorporates a numerous solid of compelling characters. One of the vital comedic and beloved characters is Klaus Hargreeves, who can talk with the lifeless and is later revealed to be immortal.
Klaus Hargreeves is a fan favourite whose eccentric and troubled persona is completely conveyed by the gifted Robert Sheehan. In addition to the lovable Klaus, Sheehan was beforehand recognized for his function in varied UK tv present. After enjoying a selected character within the UK present Misfits helped him attain a wider viewers, Sheehan went on to behave in movies, equivalent to The Mortal Instrument: Metropolis of Bones and Moonwalkers. He then landed the function of Klaus in The Umbrella Academy, and followers of the actor felt a robust sense of deja vu as a result of how related Klaus was to Sheehan’s breakout character — Nathan within the UK drama Misfits.
Umbrella Academy’s Klaus Is Weirdly Related To Misfits’ Nathan
Robert Sheehan Has A Unusually Particular Typecast — Sarcastic Younger Males With The Energy Of Immortality
Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama sequence that ran from 2009 to 2013, and even the premise shares some similarities with The Umbrella Academy (and in addition with different exhibits like Heroes). Primarily, Misfits can be a couple of world having to cope with the sudden emergence of superpowered people. The present follows a gaggle of younger offenders who work in a neighborhood service program, the place they get hold of superpowers in {an electrical} storm.
Robert Sheehan performed Nathan in Misfits, one of many superpowered younger offenders who acquire powers within the storm. Whereas it appeared like Nathan did not have any powers of his personal till the season 1 finale, it emerged that he’d been blessed with immortality. Moreover, Nathan is revealed to have a second energy to see ghosts in Misfits season 2. These powers are, in fact, more-or-less precisely the identical ones that Klaus has in The Umbrella Academy.
The parallels to The Umbrella Academy are apparent, and it is genuinely wonderful that Robert Sheehan performs two characters who’re so related (particularly because the Umbrella Academy and Misfits are each fairly distinctive exhibits with their very own distinctive identities). It is not even that Klaus and Nathan have more-or-less the identical powerset, both. Their personalities have loads of overlap too. Nathan is usually the comedic reduction in Misfits, identical to Klaus in The Umbrella Academy.
Each are extremely sarcastic characters, for starters. In addition they have extremely abrasive personalities, with each Nathan and Klaus being fan favourite characters of their respective exhibits due to how usually they wind the opposite, extra severe, characters up. Nathan can be cocky and foul-mouthed like Klaus (although, admittedly, a lot, a lot moreso).
How Klaus And Nathan Are Completely different
Regardless of The Floor-Stage Similarities, The Two Characters Are Distinct
Klaus in The Umbrella Academy and Nathan in Misfits are extremely related characters, each performed by Robert Sheehan. Nevertheless, whereas the 2 are nearly the identical, there are lots of notable variations too. Klaus might be thought of extra eccentric and flamboyant than Nathan, for starters. He has an curiosity in artwork and different topics that Nathan merely does not share. His gown sense can be way more individualistic, whereas Nathan in Misfits attire like most British teenagers did within the early 2010s.
The important thing distinction between Klaus and Nathan might be present in their similarities. The persona traits they share stem from totally different sources, and their views on themselves are additionally polar opposites. Klaus is abrasive, distant, and sarcastic due to the burden of his powers. He finds it troublesome to narrate to different individuals as a result of he is aware of the reality of the afterlife, and this additionally signifies that others (equivalent to his Hargreeves siblings in The Umbrella Academy) have all the time discovered his presence a bit of offputting.
That is arguably the explanation that Klaus struggles with substance abuse — and dependancy is a side of his character Nathan does not share, even supposing Nathan (together with the opposite Misfits characters) commonly use narcotics of various varieties within the present. Klaus laments who he’s, and needs he may very well be higher, however the psychological burden of his powers and upbringing as one among Reginald Hargreeves’ adopted youngsters stop him from with the ability to transfer ahead.
The identical is the full reverse for Nathan. Nathan has all the time been antagonistic and by no means cared what different individuals consider him (a minimum of on the floor). He appears unimaginable to harm with mere phrases, and positive factors no scarcity of satisfaction from annoying these round him. That is to not say he is an entire sociopath, and he does have many moments in Misfits the place he is aware of he has to beat himself to type a real reference to another person. Nevertheless, in contrast to Klaus, he simply does not see this as a cause he must make any significant change.
Even when Nathan is kicked out by his Mother as a result of how a lot he insults his step-father, he does not appear too perturbed. It is Nathan’s extremely metaphorically-thick pores and skin that is implied to have given him his powers within the first place, as lots of the results of the storm in Misfits turned the persona traits of these impacted into their comic-book-like skills. In brief, the distinction between Klaus in The Umbrella Academy and Nathan in Misfits is that Klaus’s powers gave him his persona, whereas Nathan’s persona gave him his powers.
Why Robert Sheehan Left Misfits (& Who Changed Him)
Joseph Gilgun’s Rudy Offered The Comedian Aid From Season 3 Onwards
Robert Sheehan left Misfits in 2011 and mentioned his choice got here effectively earlier than season two completed manufacturing. In an interview with Digital Spy in 2015, Sheehan mentioned he was stressed and desirous to tackle new roles. Sheehan started a movie profession after he left the sequence, and in addition expressed curiosity in numerous tasks. In an interview with The Impartial in 2020, Sheehan says the undertaking was “a pretty, attractive reminiscence for me.” But, even with the optimistic reminiscences, Sheehan left Misfits after two seasons.
In Misfits season 3, the sequence launched a brand new character named Rudy to exchange Nathan (a personality who would involuntarily spawn a kinder, compassionate clone of himself dubbed Rudy 2). Rudy was performed by Joseph Gilgun, who introduced a barely totally different tone of comedy to the present. Misfits creator Howard Overman needed to make Rudy totally different from Nathan and created a personality who was a bit extra emotional.
Whereas Misfits has been off the air for some time, Nathan remains to be thought of one of the memorable elements of the sequence. For these aware of Nathan, it was a pleasure to see Nathan reincarnated in such an odd means in The Umbrella Academy. Whereas Klaus is not the literal reincarnation of Nathan, it’s a pleasure to see Sheehan’s allure introduced again to a different lovably sophisticated character.
