Jupiter's Legacy: Can It Be A Lasting One?

There may not be a worse time for studios releasing comic-based television series with the high quality of programming being pushed out over the past few years. Not only has there been some great indie darling series, such as “The Boys”, “Invincible”, and Netflix's own “The Umbrella Academy”, but Disney has finally entered the fray with the critically-praised releases of “WandaVision” and “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”. All of that to say, if a studio is not going to blow people away, the odds of getting buried are pretty high. “Jupiter's Legacy” may not get completely buried, but the first few episodes sure do make it seem like it will be looking up from the bottom.

Hoping to establish its own path in the world of connected comic universes, Netflix reached a deal to acquire rights to the “Millarworld” library of comics. A couple of films you may know that were adapted from this Mark Millar-led label are “Kick-Ass 1 & 2” and “Wanted”. I was not familiar with Millar's work outside of Marvel, and the aforementioned movie adaptations, but was still excited to see Netflix's adaptations from this universe considering their trackrecord of high quality series releases. Although, on the downside, they usually end up cancelled long before their expirations dates. The trailer for the series raised a few questions marks regarding the quality of the show, with the costumes and effects seeming a bit amateur. Nevertheless, I dove into the series on its release date and found a mixed bag of expectations across the first three episodes.

“Jupiter's Legacy” follows the Sampson family, consisting of superheroes Utopian/Sheldon Sampson (Josh Duhamel), his wife Grace Sampson/Lady Liberty (Leslie Bibbs), his son Brandon Sampson/Paragon (Andrew Horton), and his brother Walter Sampson/Brainwave (Ben Daniels). Also a member of the family is Utopian's daughter, Chloe Sampson (Elena Kampouris) who has no interest in becoming a superhero and is frequently under the influence, all stemming from difficulties with her father. There are also other super-powered individuals included in the series, some of which act as heroes and members of the Union (the superhero team led by Utopian) and others which serve as villains. In the present time, as the original guard of heroes continue to grow older, a younger crew of heroes are training to take over the mantle as the world's heroes. This includes Utopian's son, Paragon, who experiences a lot of inner turmoil regarding his ability to live up to his family name. In a secondary storyline, we follow pre-powered Sheldon and Walter Sampson in the 1930's as we learn of the origin of the heroes receiving their abilities. These flashback scenes are treated as an essential to the overall story with both it and the present-day story receiving similar screen time.

At its core, this show appears to want to tackle the idea of “the code” or a set of standards that heroes live by to separate themselves from their villains. In “Jupiter's Legacy,” the biggest talking point is the main standard set by the Union, that members of the Union do not kill, and quickly becomes the source of animosity between Utopian and his son. It is an interesting aspect that they tackle, considering this is a conversation about superheroes that has been had amongst fans for a long time. It also speaks to a generational gap that could be seen as a comment on current sociopolitical conversations pointing out the differences in perspectives and values between current and aging generations (not that this is relegated to just the current times). A second standard of the Union is that members do not use their powers for fame and fortune, which introduces the most interesting character dynamic in the present-time story between Utopian and his daughter. This has the most depth and the most areas for growth so I am hoping that they dive deeper into Chloe's substance-induced tragedy and Utopian's struggle balancing his personal/hero life.

Speaking on the flashback storyline, I find it shocking that I enjoy it more and look forward to seeing how it progresses compared to the present story. For those that watched the CW's “Arrow”, it too used flashbacks to tell a related side story, but I thought it was a terrible structure for storytelling, hence my surprise of my enjoyment. Again, this story follows Utopian and Brainwave when they were just Sheldon and Walter Sampson in the 30's as they fight to save the family business and overcome personal tragedy. Thus far, it has been paced pretty well and the character dynamics makes me yearn for more of this timeline. It also is slowly introducing some of the present day characters and, well, the meetings are not exactly how I would have pictured them happening. There is a lot of inherent mystery in this storyline, not a whodunit type, but just unanswered questions that create a lot of intrigue. I think this story succeeds where the present-day storyline fails in making me care about the characters.

So far, the first three episodes indicate to me that Netflix is not serious about establishing this universe as a major contender. Sure it has some graphic violence and adult themes, but it feels like it is much closer to “Sky High” than “The Boys”. I specifically thought about “Sky High” during the big action piece in the first episode as it came off really campy and with unnatural sounding dialogue. The effects, costumes, and makeup/hairstyling are B-level at best a lot of the time and some of the acting performances feel disconnected from the tone of the show. Perhaps Netflix raised its own bar too high, but I am not seeing the resources being poured into this initial Millarworld adaptation. I can only hope that the remainder of the episodes build a strong enough story (and for the past sequences, continue on its strong foundation) to keep this from being a tape measure for disappointing comic adaptations. It has done BARELY enough to keep me interested in continuing to watch, so if you are not a big comic fan of any kind, this may be one you end up skipping.

---

RATING (EPISODES 1-3): 🦸🏻 🦸🏻.5 / 5