Weekend Watch: Jupiter's Legacy
Mark Millar's superhero story comes to Netflix
Image Credit: Netflix
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Mark Millar’s take on generational superheroic angst. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite
Just in case you haven’t noticed, superheroes are still everywhere in popular culture. The MCU – when it can release films, at least – remains a big success, the DCEU continues to its thing, and on TV, there are costumed heroes aplenty, largely thanks to Greg Berlanti’s Arrowverse. Yet as long as these characters have existed, there have been other, less traditional takes on the concept, looking to poke fun or poke holes in some of the long-established tropes. Mark Millar, working with artist Frank Quietly and letterer Peter Doherty, brought out Jupiter’s Legacy in comics form in 2013, and it aims to explore the difficult bonds between different generations of superheroes.
The story, like the comics, is split into two linked narratives – one set in the shadow of the 1920 Stock Market crash, which chronicles how businessman Sheldon Sampson (Josh Duhamel) has visions of a mysterious island and, along with five others, charters a boat to find the place. There, they pass a test and are granted a variety of superhuman abilities, including flight, strength, mental powers, and more. The other story is set in the present, with Sampson (who has the alter ego The Utopian) and the others are long established as heroes, though their reputation has been tarnished by betrayal and seeming lack of real change. Some of them have had children, and they’re a mixed bag of those who have embraced their powers for good and others (such as Chloe Sampson, played by Elena Kampouris) happier spending time partying as a socialite and being an influencer, trading her name to the highest bidder in corporate sponsorship.
In the spirit of Alan Moore’s Watchmen, Millar’s story has more on its mind than just superhero squabbles and dysfunctional families. Capitalism – and its fallout, in both the twenties and today is explored, along with the dangers of holding so firmly to a credo that you and those around you break in the grip. Celebrity, expectation, and disillusionment are all considered. And yet, with such weighty topics on the brain, the actual experience of watching the show is that of a slightly missed opportunity. Naturally, the story here has had to be compacted and condensed, even with the more generous running time of a TV series compared to a film. And the themes are cranked out with some very expected dialogue – if you were to look up the dictionary definition of parent/child interactions, you might find what comes out of Chloe Sampson’s mouth here. The ideas also come across as less than original, a tribute act rather than the actual group.
It doesn’t help that the visual style can swing between effective and silly, Duhamel’s old age make-up, in particular, giving the whiff of someone cosplaying as Father Time. Other elements work – the Skull Island-inspired locale where Sheldon and his comrades score their powers is creepy and appropriately sweeping, and the 1930s detailing is well observed.
The performances also run the gamut – Duhamel and Leslie Bibb as main couple Sheldon and Grace Sampson are fine (Bibb doesn’t always get enough to do), while Ben Daniels puts in good work as Sheldon’s brother Walter (AKA Brainwave). And there’s a fun, brief turn from Paul Amos as Barnabas Wolfe, a charming character whose background I won’t spoil here.
Yet there’s promise here, that Jupiter’s Legacy can evolve past its early stumbles to become a great superhero show. With luck, it might actually be given that space to grow.
Jupiter’s Legacy hits Netflix today. I’ve seen the entire first season.