toggle caption Marni Grossman/Netflix
L to R: Walter/Brainwave (Ben Daniels) and Sheldon/The Utopian (Josh Duhamel) agree to table their discussion in Netflix s
Jupiter s Legacy. Marni Grossman/Netflix
You d be forgiven for wondering how Netflix s
Jupiter s Legacy compares to other recent entries in the glut of Wait, what if superheroes . but, you know,
realistic? content currently swamping streaming services. (To be fair, this realistic superheroes business is something we comics readers have been slogging through for decades; the rest of the culture s just catching up. Welcome, pull up a chair; here s a rag to wipe those supervillain entrails off the seatback before you sit down.)
JUPITER S LEGACY Volume 1 Review; [It] Feels Like A Prologue To A Much Better Series
The entire first season of
Jupiter s Legacy arrives on Netflix today, and while there s a lot to like about Volume 1, it ultimately feels like the best is yet to come for the Millarworld adaptation.
JoshWilding |
5/7/2021
Kick-Ass) and Frank Quitely (
Batman & Robin),
Jupiterâs Legacy is the first in what looks set to be an entire slate of âMillarworld properties adapted for Netflix. With that in mind, all eyes are on this show to lay the groundwork for what could be the streaming serviceâs own comic book universe, something it desperately needs in order to compete with Disney+ and HBO Max, the homes of Marvel and DC content on the small screen. This series is certainly a decent enough start, but one that shows thereâs still plenty of room for improvement, particularly when it comes to how a story like this is told in an episodic format.
The responsibility of heroism gets a fresh look in Netflix’s “Jupiter’s Legacy,” a show that will admittedly pale in comparison to more escapist and accomplished recent deconstructions of superhero culture like Amazon Prime’s “Invincible” and “The Boys,” but that has long stretches of complex drama and interesting performances that hold it together enough to make me curious to see a second season. So much of the eight episodes in the first season are dedicated to telling parallel origin stories that it can sometimes get weighed down with the burden of that structure, but there are interesting themes weaved through this adaptation of the comic series of the same name by Mark Millar ( Wanted, Kick-Ass ) and Frank Quitely. Originally developed by Steven S. DeKnight (the kingpin of the Starz “Spartacus” shows), the creator was replaced in the middle of the season by Sang Kyu Kim due to creative differences, and that tonal uncertainty and inconsistency can be felt