Jupiter's Legacy: Season One   Books Included 
May 10, 2021 2:14 PM - Season 1 (Full Season) - Subscribe

The super-powered children of superheroes struggle to live up to the legendary feats of their parents. Based on the Image comic book series by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely.
posted by Karmakaze (13 comments total)
 
Well, I can feel Millar's style in this. It has the same "Morality is for Chumps" theming as Kick-Ass. Most of the reviews complain about the slow pacing. I didn't find the modern-day all that slow, but the 1929 storyline sure didn't need eight episodes to tell us what we could easily infer from the setting. They should have gotten it out of the way in a chunk early on, or had the flashbacks extend into the first few decades of heroics when "the Code" seemed to be working for everyone. I also found the whole "the Code" thing a bit of a strawman. "Let yourself be slowly murdered rather than apply lethal force" is such a ludicrous interpretation of the Comics Code eras Millar wants to deconstruct. Even in 2013 when the comic debuted, that was some well-tread ground.

I actually did like watching the younger generation. Hutch's scenes are fun to watch and I did have some sympathy for Brandon and Chloe. If the second season gets greenlit (and lukewarm reviews or not, I expect it will), I'll stick around.
posted by Karmakaze at 2:30 PM on May 10, 2021 [1 favorite]


I had read the comics when they came out but have only seen episode 1 of the series so far. I don't have much else to watch these days so I'll get through it eventually. I prefer the 1 episode per week format because then it becomes something to look forward to and it's a manageable chunk. It shouldn't make a difference if they just release the whole season at once because I could still watch just the 1 episode every week but it never works out that way. Now I can watch the episodes at any time before season 2 comes out and I'm ok.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:20 PM on May 10, 2021


Don't know the books at all, but found it both interesting and frustrating by turns. The show made the central conflict between the Code and anything else into a simple binary (killing is evil!), as opposed to exploring the wide range of potential options under which acting in self-defence might be reasonable. A little too black and white on that front.

Enjoyed the 1930s backstory more than anything else, though I have to admit I was hoping the Lovecraftian touches would lead to something more sinister behind what gave them these powers. Would love to know where all the other supers & villains came from; some of them are the kids of the original six, but that doesn't account for all of them. The story also veers wildly between being concerned about America only, and then acknowledging that it's a much bigger world out there with other countries - I'm not sure if that's a deliberate tension to exploit in later seasons?

The ultimate bad guy could have been a touch less obvious for me, but despite all my nitpicking, it was alright - I'd give a 2nd season a try.
posted by nubs at 7:35 AM on May 11, 2021 [2 favorites]


I found it interesting to compare and contrast this series with Invincible, also based on a comic series, with similar themes (a lead superhero's relationship with his powered son). I watched them back to back... and of the two, found Invincible wittier and more engaging.

I did like seeing Leslie Bibb in a slightly meatier role than those she's usually served, and the exploration of "Skull Island" was neat. But the plot towards the end was overly complicated and needlessly intricate, and I can't see superheroes sitting out WWII. I wish that they'd spent a little time in flashback on Skyfox's support of the Watts Riots, and his attempt to end the Vietnam War. Perhaps in the second series.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 3:19 AM on May 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


I've only seen episode 1 so far, but I laughed my head off at the ending.

Bad Guy: Beats up a bunch of supers. Kills a couple, beheads one.
Mom: Rushes toward bad guy with incredible speed, smashes into him, he throws her back
Dad: Pummels bad guy over and over trying to defeat him, tries to rip out his heart
Every other superhero: Tries to smash bad guy, fails
Junior: Smacks bad guy in head, kills him

Dad: WHY'D YOU DO THAT? WHAT ARE YOU, SOME KIND OF MONSTER?

I'm sorry, but the idea that all of the other supers, caught in this life-or-death situation, are trying desperately NOT to kill the bad guy is insane. I'm a quasi-buddhist non-violent hippie who tries to avoid killing spiders, and I would have stabbed the bad guy to death with zero guilt in this situation.

If Junior went too far -- i.e. incapacitated the bad guy and then kept beating him to a pulp -- I would understand, but as it is it just made me think that THIS is the logic of all of the first-generation superheroes.
posted by mmoncur at 5:38 AM on May 12, 2021


So, is mmoncur's synopsis a good example of the level of violence in this show?

I ran across Jupiter's Legacy over the weekend, and sort-of wanted to watch, but I was afraid this was going to be Netflix's version of The Boys, and I noped hard on that one based on descriptions here on the purple.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:32 AM on May 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


From my recollection, there is actually very little violence...big fight scene in the first episode and again in the last episode, but it is largely super-powered people standing around and talking for long stretches. I haven't seen much of the Boys, but I would say the violence & gore level is dramatically lower.
posted by nubs at 11:16 AM on May 12, 2021


Oh, there is one extended fight scene in one of the middle episodes as well.
posted by nubs at 11:18 AM on May 12, 2021


It's not in the realm of the Boys or Invincible for violence and gore but it's definitely rougher than you'll see from the Marvel or DC franchises.

I'm sorry, but the idea that all of the other supers, caught in this life-or-death situation, are trying desperately NOT to kill the bad guy is insane.

There's a point later where a character essentially lets a villain kill her rather than escalate to lethal force and gasps out in the last moment that it's ok, she kept to the code.

It's such a straw version of the "heroes don't kill" ethic that it kills the whole theme of the proper application of power the show purports to be exploring.
posted by Karmakaze at 12:24 PM on May 12, 2021 [1 favorite]


This show is really half baked and not good. The scene where the hero gasps as dying about upholding the code is one of the cringiest things I've ever seen, I do not believe I am exaggerating.

This was preceded by the person who found them tip toeing slowly and looking around WHILE SCREAMS WERE HAPPENING in the background. They can move super fast. They move super fast right after this!

I don't know why I watched so much of it except that... I dunno, I'm in a weird mood waiting on a game and two other shows to release Thursday/Friday and kinda punished myself.

I think we can reduce the number of cocaine binges by a factor of 100 and still have the most in almost any show.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 1:23 PM on May 12, 2021 [3 favorites]


I've finish watching and I think my overriding feeling was that Netflix has obviously put a fair bit of money into this when the comic probably doesn't deserve such lavish treatment. I enjoyed the comic but that had more to do with the fact that Frank Quitely is probably my favourite comics artist than anything else - like I didn't read more than an issue or two of the series that took place in between the two arcs of Jupiter's Legacy. I'd say that at least 75% of the reason that Millar's comics sell as well as they do is because he is able to get great artists to work with him, much the same way that Jeph Loeb was able to have a career writing high profile titles even though he is terrible.

In the comics I didn't really care about any of the characters in the first arc, it was all people with super powers being shitty to themselves and each other. It wasn't new for the time or even for Millar. The second arc is where the series actually had an emotional centre and cliffhangers that actually made me be excited for the next issue. This series looks like it is going to show the first arc over two seasons, probably in an effort to make us care about Sheldon and Grace and to give context to the events at the end of the first comic arc. In the comic it was abrupt but at the same time you understood that things had been leading up to it for some time. Here we really get to see the tensions within the Union as well as with the new generation. I really hope this doesn't mean that a 10 issue comic series is going to play out over 4 seasons of a TV show though.

The casting of Chloe is spot on, the actor looks about as close to a comic character drawn by Frank Quitely as someone can while still looking good enough to be on TV. He draws people weird, but after a while you get used to it and enjoy his ability to actually give them expressions, most other comic artists only able to show neutral, pout, and snarl. I've got no complaints about any of the actors really, and it was fun to see the original Union members as both 20-somethings and senior citizens. Is it makeup, CG, some combination of the two? I don't know and don't really care to know but the actors looked realistic at both ages so whoever was responsible did a good job.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:08 PM on May 17, 2021 [1 favorite]


It was watchably entertaining enough, but with so many loose threads I'm not optimistic any conclusions will justify the setup.

None of the modern day versions of the characters really grabbed me--the 1920s team had some moments, but I was engaging in terms of the ensemble rather than invested in any individuals. So the final reveal didn't pack much of a punch.

I wish that they'd spent a little time in flashback on Skyfox's support of the Watts Riots, and his attempt to end the Vietnam War.

That sounds interesting. Did I miss it when it was mentioned? Or was it in the comic?
posted by mark k at 8:27 PM on May 24, 2021


I cared way more about the 1929-30s stuff than the whole rest of the plot. I think though some of that is I found the “George/Skyfox” character delightful and entertaining and of course he was absent for the rest.
posted by corb at 11:13 AM on September 8, 2021


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