Netflix - Jupiter's legacy: Our impression of this new Superhero series

By Mulder, 07 may 2021

"My one and only ambition was to create the biggest and best superhero story of all time with these books. A great standalone Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones with superheroes. I worked at Marvel for 10 years, I did Superman at DC, and I just wanted to take all the skills I had learned reinventing their characters and use them to create the biggest franchise I could imagine. It starts in the 1920s and goes all the way to the end of time, so the story predates Marvel and DC Comics, and covers everything from the meaning of life to the biggest secret in the universe, with literally a hundred different characters" - Mark Millar

We have to acknowledge that the streaming platform Netflix has a real know-how to offer us quality series that are perfectly in line with what the viewers expect. While Marvel Studios and DC Entertainment share undeniable successes in offering both live-action series and impressive blockbusters celebrating the comic book characters that have marked our memory, Netflix seems to continue to want to offer a different approach to superheroes by showing them in a new light. All comic book fans know Mark Millar as the creator with John Romita Jr of the Kick Ass universe but also with Dave Gibbons of the Kingsman comics which a new adaptation is announced finally in the cinema in the coming months see also his participation in the creation of the Ultimate Fantastic four comics with Brian Michael Bendis and Adam Kubert and Civil War with Steve McNiven.

The comic book series Jupiter's Legacy published by Image Comics and written by Mark Millar, drawn by Frank Quitely, colored and lettered by Peter Doherty was an undeniable success and sooner or later it was going to be adapted either to the cinema or as a series. In this case, considering the complexity and the different arcs of this comic book series, we have to recognize that a series as shown here Jupiter's legacy is the perfect form to give enough substance to the different characters but also to put solid bases to develop an attractive and successful series. We had the chance to discover several weeks before its release on Friday, May 7 on Netflix this new series and we were completely conquered.

Composed of eight episodes that follow each other to form a single story, this first season wins our support despite several negative reviews that severely challenge an excellent idea poorly exploited. We can understand that some will prefer a predefined mold privileging the action to the psychological development of the characters but it is this approach that made us conquered. Jupiter's legacy is not just a simple epic superhero drama that crosses the decades and navigates the complex dynamics of family, power and loyalty, it is above all a way to bring a human approach to these new kind of superheroes who doubt their real usefulness as much as their place in a world they can no longer understand.

Certainly, when following this film, one will think of more or less visible borrowings from DC Comics superheroes such as Superman but also the Thing from the Fantastic Four. However, Mark Millar shows once again that his knowledge of the superhero universe is able to move us but also to hold our breath. While most of the recent adaptations tend to play on the card of a protrusion of outrageous digital special effects and a scenario that is too simplistic at times, Jupiter's legacy plays with a formidable efficiency the contretemps and delivers us throughout the eight episodes two stories taking place in parallel in the 30's and nowadays.

The main characters played by Josh Duhamel (Sheldon Sampson / The Utopian), Leslie Bibb (Grace Sampson / Lady Liberty), Mike Wade (Fitz Small / The Flare), Matt Lanter (George Hutchence / Skyfox) are the first superheroes forming the group The Union. This first season explains the strong links between them but also the origin of their powers. They also have to deal with a whole new generation of superheroes played by actors Ben Daniels (Walter Sampson / Brainwave), Elena Kampouris (Chloe Sampson) and Andrew Horton (Brandon Sampson / The Paragon). We can think of Justice League as well as other superhero teams such as The Avengers and X-men to name only the most famous.

Certainly Jupiter's legacy is a series that we can only encourage you to discover from the 7th but on Netflix (in original version of course).

Synpopis :
After keeping humanity safe for nearly a century, the world's first generation of superheroes must turn to their children to continue the legacy. But tension mounts as the young superheroes, eager to prove their worth, struggle to live up to their parents' legendary public reputation - and their exacting personal standards.

Jupiter's legacy
Created by Steven S. DeKnight
Based on Jupiter's legacy by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely
Directed by Charlotte Brändströn, Christopher J. Byrne, Marc Jobst, Steven S. DeKnight
Produced by Steve Wakefield, Brook Worley, Morenike Balogun
Executive Producers; Steven S. DeKnight, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Dan McDermott, Sang Kyu Kim
Screenplay by Julia Cooperman, Steven S. DeKnight, Henry G.M. Jones, Brian Gunn, Mark Gunn
With Josh Duhamel, Ben Daniels, Leslie Bibb, Elena Kampouris, Andrew Horton, Mike Wade, Matt Lanter
Music: Stephanie Economou
Cinematography : Danny Ruhlmann, Nicole Hirsch Whitaker
Editing: Josh Beal, Henk Van Eeghen, Tirsa Hackshaw
Production: Di Bonaventura Pictures, DeKnight Productions, Millarworld Productions
Distributed by Netflix
Original Network: Netflix
Release date : May 7, 2021 (Worldwide)

Rating : 3.5/5