America’s obsession with superheroes goes way deeper than ours with saas-bahu soap operas. The latest Netflix Original, Jupiter’s Legacy is just another proof of this. It is an adaptation from a comic book that I have not read nor do I intend to read in the future, hence closing this debate before it gets started. The show could easily be Netflix’s answer to Amazon Prime’s The Boys but it fails to live up to its expectation because of worn-out genre tropes and extremely slow pace.
Jupiter’s Legacy Season 1 Plot
It’s 2021, 90 years since Sheldon Sampson (The Utopian) and his friends found their superpowers after an intense ordeal somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. The world has changed drastically but The Utopian is still clinging on to his age-old precept of the Code. He is getting old, and so does his team of first-generation superheroes. Will their children, the next generation of superheroes, be able to live up to the legacy of their parents? This is the main trope of Season 1 as this epic superhero drama series tries to navigate through the dynamics of power, family, relationship, and loyalty.
In a superhero series or a movie, you wish to see a lot of fight scenes, nerve-wracking action, and suspense. Jupiter’s Legacy, unfortunately, lacks these elements. The fight scenes are too few and short; the action is in limited supply; while there’s hardly any suspense involved as we can easily guess what’s coming next.
The only good unexpected twist came in the last episode that we never expected throughout the much-predicted season. We see an important member of the House of Justice betraying The Utopian. Much of it will be shown in the upcoming season that I think will or should have to be better than this one if this show ever has to make it to the public memory.
For me, the best episode was Episode 07, Omnes Pro Uno. I love the choreography, special effects, and the exciting and tense ethereal background score of this episode as we get to know how the House of Justice members got their powers. In a way, it was a perfect penultimate episode before the season finale.
Acting, Characters, and Technical Aspects of the Series
The show has a great quality making when it comes to camerawork and the background score involved. The cast is good, particularly the young guns have impressed me a lot. Elena Kampouris as Chloe, the troubled child of our superhero couple, is worth watching. We can easily see the tone of generation conflict in the way leading characters conversate or interact with each other. The fight scenes are good. I wish there was more focus on them than showing daddy issues in most parts of this season.
The OST of Jupiter’s Legacy is definitely worth remembering as it finds its way to my Best Hollywood OSTs/Soundtracks playlist on YouTube. The editing is crisp and acceptable. However, I would have preferred a bit lighter screen color in the island scenes. It was a bit too dim and dark, maybe intentionally.
The World of Movies Verdict
Jupiter’s Legacy offers nothing novel but the same old cliched storytelling. I am giving this Netflix Original 7 out of 10. The show lags at too many places, and the idea of showing two timelines in the same 8-episode season does not click for me. Also, Jupiter’s Legacy Season 1 conveniently fails to explain or at least throw light on Skyfox’s interestingly malicious character arc. I binge-watched this show the entire last night and would only recommend this if you have not been able to find anything else for your weekend.
*Note: At the time of publishing it is been confirmed that Netflix has canceled Jupiter’s Legacy’s Season 2.
The World of Movies Rating 07/10
Title: Jupiter’s Legacy
Year of Release: 2021
Based on: Jupiter’s Legacy by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely
Jupiter’s Legacy Cast: Josh Duhamel as Sheldon Sampson / The Utopian, Ben Daniels as Walter Sampson / Brainwave, Leslie Bibb as Grace Kennedy-Sampson / Lady Liberty, Andrew Horton as Brandon Sampson / The Paragon, Elena Kampouris as Chloe Sampson, Mike Wade as Fitz Small / The Flare, Matt Lanter as George Hutchence / Skyfox, Tyler Mane as William Henry Bendal / Blackstar, David Julian Hirsh as Richard Conrad / Blue Bolt, Ian Quinlan as Hutch Hutchence.
Developed by: Steven S. DeKnight
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Web Series, Superhero
Number of Seasons: 01
Number of Episodes: 08
Episode Length: 35-55 minutes each
Original Network: Netflix
Production Companies: Di Bonaventura Pictures, Image Comics, Netflix
Distributor: Netflix
*Images created from screenshots captured from the series.