mary j. blige
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Best Supporting Actress nominee, for ‘Mudbound’ Mary J. Blige has joined another Netflix project, ‘Umbrella Academy’ based on Gerard Way’s comic book series.  Blige reportedly signed a one-year deal with the streaming service.

According to THR, “Blige will take on the role of Cha-Cha, a ruthless and unorthodox hit-woman who travels through time to kill assigned targets. Even though she has a few gripes about the bureaucracy of her employers, this job is her life. She is sadistic, sociopathic, and her reputation precedes her. Her true love is torture, and she thinks of herself as a “pain artist.” She really doesn’t care for people — except for her partner Hazel (uncast).”

Blige joins Ellen Page who portrays Vanya a.k.a. the White Violin, Tom Hopper as Luther/Spaceboy, David Casteneda as Diego/The Kraken, Emmy Raver-Lampman as Allison/The Rumor, Robert Sheehan as Klaus/The Séance and Aidan Gallagher as Number Five/The Boy.  The five adopted children were all given bizarre super powers by their father Reginald/The Monocle and must reunite after his death, while their wildly divergent personalities cause them to fight constantly.  Way’s comic book won the Eisner Award for Best Limited/Finite Series in 2008.

Executive producer and showrunner Steve Blackman steps over from another Netflix sci fi series, ‘Altered Carbon’.  Beau Bauman and Scott Stuber join as EPs.  ‘The Umbrella Academy’ is expected to run for ten episodes but a release date has yet to be announced.

In addition to the Academy Award nomination for her supporting role as Florence Jackson in ‘Mudbound’, Blige is also nominated for the song ‘Mighty River’ from the film, along with co-writers Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson.  ‘Mudbound’ is also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Achievement in Cinematography.  Both Blige and ‘Mighty River’ were also recognized with nominations for the Golden Globes among other honors.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter