You absolutely just cannot keep these kids away from an apocalypse. The Umbrella Academy is back for Season 2 on Netflix this Friday, July 31, and the streamer has debuted an early look at the opening scene. Which is smart, because it positively owns. In fact, the whole dang season does. As of this publishing, Season 2 is currently sitting pretty with a 96% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, including a glowing review from Collider's Allie Gemmell, who praised its "tighter story, cleaner execution, stronger performances, and even better world-building." I can't echo those sentiments enough.

Picking up where the first season left off, the opening sequence of the Season 2 premiere finds the fam facing down another apocalypse, this time in the 1960s, where they landed after bailing on that other apocalypse they caused in the Season 1 finale. Oops, they did it again.

Netflix is billing this as the opening scene, but for context, there are a couple of minutes before this bit that reveal Five's (Aiden Gallagher) time-hop didn't quite go according to plan. Do they ever? Escaping Vanya's (Ellen Page) apocalyptic outburst in 2019, Five and his siblings hop back in time, but they wind up scattered throughout the 60s, with five landing last... straight into a warzone. Shot in a kinetic, stylish long-take, the opening battle shows off our family of superhero weirdos wielding their powers with a might we've rarely seen. You know what? You're just gonna watch it for yourself, so get to it and check it out below.

Wasn't that fun? I struggled a bit with the first season of The Umbrella Academy, but as all those glowing reviews suggest, Season 2 is a marked improvement across the board. I'm so glad I decided to jump back in and give it another chance, and this sequence won me over right out of the gate. It's also indicative of one of the season's other strengths, which is that it's a soft reboot to a certain extent.

With the family scattered across time, they start different lives in a different decade, which makes it super easy to jump back into no matter where you landed on the first season. It also raises the stakes tenfold -- it's not just bad communication and family drama keeping them apart anymore, and most of them have something new and powerful to fight for on the way back to each other. Blah blah, obviously I'm a big fan of this new season and I'm excited for y'all to see it.

Here's the vague but official logline for Season 2:

Same weird family. New weird problems. The Umbrella Academy returns on July 31.