Elliot Page

With the new season of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy being released June 22nd, Elliot Page has announced that his character in the TV show will be transitioning from Vanya to Viktor Hargreeves. In his Instagram post, Page re-introduces his character as Viktor Hargreeves. Upon Page’s announcement, the character’s new gender identity within the show was widely celebrated, both because the change helped to reflect Page’s own journey with gender identity, and also because of the historic moment it represented to let a character transition alongside their actor. In fact, the transgender community has a disheartening past of experiencing poor representation in television and media, so this comes as a welcomed joy. Current shows that represent the trans community have been working to undo these false narratives, focusing more on their personal journeys and their gender in more nuanced, meaningful ways. But progress doesn’t come without drawbacks, and there are still issues to be resolved within modern representation.