The Umbrella Academy’s main characters have a number of missing powers from the original source material and the show. Whenever a story is adapted into a new medium, it’s almost guaranteed that certain things are going to be changed for the adaptation. The Umbrella Academy’s been no different in that regard, with some major alterations made to the characters’ powers.
The Umbrella Academy is an adaptation of the comic of the same name, but it takes the story in a different direction from the very start. The first two seasons loosely cover the events of the first two comics, Apocalypse Suite and Dallas, but the stories of both are mixed together and moved around to create something that only loosely resembles the source material. The Umbrella Academy's titular characters are the best example of this, as for the most part, their appearances, personalities, and general characters in the show are completely different from the comics and only have the bare essentials left intact.
The superpowers of The Umbrella Academy’s main characters also went through changes, and this is every power a character had in the comics that’s missing from the show. Some characters only have minor differences between their different versions, but in a few cases, their powers were completely reworked for the show. It should also be noted that the characters’ powers are constantly shown to be growing throughout the show, so any powers that they’re currently missing could appear later in the show’s run.
The powers of The Umbrella Academy's Luther Hargreeves are essentially the same as his comic book counterpart, Spaceboy, just scaled down. Both versions of the character have enhanced strength and endurance, but Spaceboy is explicitly superhuman whereas Luther, while stronger than the average person, isn’t so strong that he can’t be beaten in a battle of strength. However, in an alternate 1963, Luther’s powers had progressed to the point where he could take a missile to his back without getting a scratch, so his powers will likely develop to be closer to what they are in the comics over time.
Out of all of the main characters, Diego Hargreeves is the only one whose powers are completely different from what they are in the comic. The Umbrella Academy's Diego can manipulate the trajectory of projectiles, which is used primarily for his knives, but his comic counterpart, Kraken, just has the power to hold his breath indefinitely. Season 2 has already shown Diego’s powers develop to manipulate other people’s projectiles as opposed to just his own, so any further development of his powers will likely be around that as opposed to giving him his original powers from the comics.
Like Luther, Allison Hargreeves’ powers in the show are a scaled-down version of what they were in the comic. Both versions have the power to make anything they say following the phrase, “I heard a rumor” happen, but while The Umbrella Academy's Allison can only manipulate people’s thoughts and actions, Rumor, the version of her from the comics, can use her powers to completely manipulate reality and do things like instantly kill people and make people and objects manifest out of thin air. That being said, the alternate 1963 in season 2 showed Allison using her powers in a way that was more similar to the comics, so Allison’s powers will likely grow to be more like Rumor’s powers, over time.
Klaus Hargreeves’ powers in the show are largely the same as his comic book self, Séance, just missing a few abilities. Both Klaus and Séance can speak to the dead and channel their power, but Séance also has telekinesis, astral projection, and the ability to possess other people. Out of all of the characters in Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, Klaus has shown the most amount of growth with his powers in the show, with him originally only being able to speak to the dead, so it wouldn’t be impossible for his growth to continue throughout the show and for him to develop more of Séance’s powers.
Number Five’s powers are largely the same as what they were in the comics, but there are some differences. Both versions of the character have the power to travel through time and teleport at incredibly fast speeds, but in the comics, Five was also infused with the DNA of history’s most notorious assassins by the Temps Aeternalis, something the show never implies was the case with the Commission; Five’s teleportation in the comics also stems from the time he spent with them whereas he always had that power in the show. The Umbrella Academy's Five also doesn’t age in the comics as a result of the Temps Aeternalis’ experiments, but Five in the show is implied to age just like any other person. With Five developing the power to reverse time at the end of season 2, the development of his powers will likely be focused on his time-based abilities, so it’s unlikely that any of the physical abilities he had in the comics will make their way into the show.
Out of all of the members of the Umbrella Academy, Ben Hargreeves is the only one whose powers in the show are the same as in the comics. Both Ben and his original comic self, Horror, have the power to summon tentacles from their bodies to attack people, but neither version has been shown doing much more than that. The Umbrella Academy's Ben’s entire character, however, is a vast expansion of Horror’s minor role in the comics, so the show could easily expand on his powers, especially when season 3 is introducing the Sparrow Academy version of Ben who’s still alive and should have more experience than the original Ben.
Viktor Hargreeves’ powers in the show are largely the same as his comic book self, the White Violin, but there are some differences; it should be noted that while Viktor is transgender in the show, the White Violin is a cisgender woman at the time of writing. Both versions of the character can harness psychic energy through the power of sound, but while the White Violin could only use her powers to release destructive shockwaves, Viktor’s powers afford him a wider assortment of abilities that include enhanced hearing, energy materialization, forcefield generation, and matter manipulation; two alternate versions of 1963 show Viktor develop the power of flight, so that’s at least one power that he’s likely to develop over time. The only power that the White Violin has that Viktor doesn’t is being able to use her body as a violin to generate sound on physical contact, as shown in Apocalypse Suite, but that came about from the surgeries of the Orchestra Verdammten, and since they don’t seem to exist in The Umbrella Academy, it’s unlikely that Elliot Page's Viktor Hargreeves will develop that ability in the show.
The Umbrella Academy's made a lot of changes from the original comic, and this is every power from the comics the characters don't have in the show.Joshua Fox