Welcome to Multiversity Comics’ coverage of Netflix’s latest foray into the world of superheroes- Jupiter’s Legacy. We’ll be bringing you reviews every Tuesday and Friday for the next 4 weeks and I, for one, am looking forward to processing some complicated feelings with you.
1. Some Context
Jupiter’s Legacy is an adaptation of comics writer Mark Millar’s eponymous 2013 comic book- the first in a series of mini-series that are concluding later this year. Millar’s humble goal with the “Jupiter’s Legacy” comics was to create the biggest superhero story of all time. Whether or not he succeeded in that isn’t fully relevant to this series or this review but it is important to understanding what’s in the DNA of this show. Also important is the fact that Millar is a polarizing figure in the comics community to say the least. His writing is often seen as, well, Not Good. His independent comics are often adapted into movies which isn’t an intrinsically bad thing but he also writes them in such a way that they seem like first draft scripts and über-detailed story boards for the silver (or plasma) screen. He’s also not the best at anything in even the extended family of nuance. On a personal note, I can recognize these things in a Millar comic and in most Millar adaptations but I was also a big fan of Millar when I was first getting really into comics. In middle school and the first couple of years of high school I, found myself reading more comics in a shorter span than I ever had before. At the same time, Millar was putting out the many of his creator-owned works, works whose lack of subtlety and predisposition toward violence were not only not-disqualifying but actively endearing for a 12-16 year old. That baseline affection for Millar and his creations colors my views on his works in important ways. It also means that the not goodness of Netflix’s Jupiter’s Legacy is a bit heartbreaking even though it isn’t all that surprising.
2. Welcome to Super-Family Therapy
It’s very clear from about 7 minutes into this episode that this is a show about family. Not in the uplifting Fast and Furious sense but in the messy, angst-ridden Six Feet Under sense. This universe’s Superman analogue is named Sheldon Sampson and known to the world as The Utopian. His brother, Walter, is called Brainwave, his wife, Grace, is Lady Liberty, and his son, Brandon, is The Paragon. Then there’s Chloe, a socialite and model who’s fond of drugs and alcohol and has no interest in being a hero despite having powers. Together, they form a remarkably dysfunctional family. Unsurprisingly, the core of that dysfunction is the world’s savior sitting at the head of the dinner table. When your father is the most famous hero in the world and often needs to be off saving people, what kind of pressure does that put on you? When you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, how can you ever feel like your superhero kid is ready to take your place? Plus, as one of the only people in the world who can save anyone at a moment’s notice, it’s impossible to be present for your kids when they’re kids. On top of all of all of those inherent tensions, you’ve got the fact that Sheldon, Grace, and Brandon have all been around one another for about a century. It makes them well adjusted in some ways but it also means the lifelong problems have been going on for a very long time. This is a well-cast show so despite some extremely hokey scripting, the core group makes it work. Josh Duhamel, Leslie Bibb, and Ben Daniels all do especially well, easily finding a groove and communicating who their characters are. The family drama extends to early-ish 20th century when Brandon and Sheldon were young men working at the family steel business which suffers in a financial crash. The historical elements of the show are notably less compelling but they’re minimal this episode and they could always go somewhere.
3. A Valiant Thematic Effort
The core moral dilemma of <Jupiter’s Legacy is an interesting one: how much responsibility should heroes take over people’s lives on a grand scale? In Sheldon’s view, they’re around to inspire people- to solve immediate crises and let people take charge of their own lives and take care of themselves and one another. In Brandon’s, when you have the power to save the world from all its problems, it’s your responsibility to do so. What’s the point of having the power to end wars and feed the hungry and house every human on the planet if you don’t do it? It’s fascinating as a thought exercise and the show deserves credit for doing something genuinely thought-provoking.
Continued below4. Yo Netflix Series is So Ugly
Let’s be honest, this is an ugly show. It has the basic visuals of a well-funded fan film which is fine on YouTube but less so on the largest streaming platform we’ve got. The costumes are weird looking, somehow managing to be tight and bulky at the same time. They also have the aesthetic quality of New Balance sneakers which look fine when your dad is wearing them but less good when they cover your entire body. And then there’s the hair and makeup which is an extremely mixed bag. Leslie Bibb pulls it off because it’s minimal and she’s Leslie Bibb. Ben Daniels almost looks okay but there’s something unsettling about his appearance. Josh Duhamel, my sweet 2000s rom-com starring prince, looks actually awful. His long, grey wig looks more like a wig than any wig has ever looked like a wig. His beard looks like it was hastily taped on. His face looks aged but also not which is bizarre. It’s weird that this show would be so bad looking given the platform it’s on but this is what we get and it sucks.
5. This Show Doesn’t Get Itself
There’s a version of this show that has a stellar pilot. The casting is on point, the moral question it poses is interesting, the basic idea of exploring a superhero universe through the lens of a superhero family works very well! All the pieces are right there but somehow Steven S. DeKnight doesn’t manage to put them together. Some of that comes from the horribly over-dramatic tone. The show is entirely self-serious in a way that its quality doesn’t allow. If this had high quality drama it could be as serious as it wanted but it doesn’t and so it can’t. The villain at the beginning of the episode feels like she’s from a different, better version of this pilot. She’s funny and just a little campy. She seems just real enough to imagine running into in the real world. But nothing else in the episode strikes that tone and the show is already suffering for that. With 7 episodes to go, Jupiter’s Legacy has plenty of time to find itself and I’d truly love it if it did. But something (by which I mean everything) is making me feel less than optimistic.
