Netflix’s Jupiter Legacy is ‘Lord of the Rings for Superhero Fans’

Within the framework of IGN Fan Fest 2021comic book veteran Mark Millar joined us to talk about his new Netflix project, Jupiter’s legacy. If it’s not already on your radar, his description of the story can instantly grab your attention: “This is Lord of the Rings for superhero fans,” he tells us. Jupiter’s Legacy was born out of Millar’s plan to “create the greatest superhero story, something you’d get from 20 years of Marvel movies combined into one story.” The comic book series, published by Image, began in 2013 and consists of two main volumes, as well as two prequel volumes known as Jupiter’s Circle. The story centers on Sheldon Sampson, aka The Utopian, who is played by Josh Duhamel in the Netflix series.

Watch the full panel of Jupiter’s Legacy from IGN Fan Fest below:

“It goes from the 1930s to the present day,” explains Duhamel. “I can play this young, ambitious, naive and vulnerable guy who just went through a terrible tragedy with his family after watching his father die in the worst possible way, and then go on this trip where he literally loses his mind.

“He loves America,” Millar adds. “And in his dreams he starts having these hallucinations coming from this weird island telling him how he can fix America.” He basically has to find that place that doesn’t exist and assemble a team of friends to accompany him on this journey. This is a man obsessed with coming back and fixing the country he loves.

The structure of Jupiter’s Legacy spans over 100 years. In the comics, it falls into two storylines: one set in a period setting after the Wall Street crash and a second in modern times. These were released in two chronologically ordered volumes, but for Netflix series executive producer Steven S. DeKnight changed the structure.

“The two books that I wrote, [DeKnight] sort of merged them into one storyline, ”says Millar. “And what he did was have flashbacks and flashforwards, using the Godfather 2 structure where you saw the son’s life and the father’s life at the same age in parallel, and what was happening to each. of them. It gives it incredible weight.

Much of that weight will come from portraying The Utopian as a failed superhero. “We went to 100 years later where he’s this superhero, this Superman guy and he kind of failed,” says Millar. “How sad is the story. Because America faces as much trouble as it ever did in 1929, and in some ways even more difficult. He looks at his children and he knows that in the end, they will never fix the world either. He is a man full of optimism at the start and a man full of regret at the end of his life. And that’s what the story is, it’s about a superhero watching his life and he failed.

While the sprawling, saga-like nature of the 100-year-old story helps fuel the idea of ​​“Lord of the Rings for superhero fans,” much of the show’s material will deal with interpersonal relationships.

“He’s actually in therapy on how to deal with his own daughter,” Duhamel says of his character. “He’s a guy who can fly, who can do just about anything. It’s family dysfunction that I think makes it different from anything like that.

Regarding this angle of the family, Millar sums it up as “like the Incredibles led by Martin Scorsese”.

“What would it be for Superman to try to have children?” Millar said. “That was the basic idea I had for it when I first started doodling. Superman has always been able to control everything, but when it comes to matters of the heart, it doesn’t matter if you can fly or have x-ray vision, that doesn’t make you the perfect parent.

Netflix also announced on Saturday that Ian Quinlan has been cast as Hutch (son of George Hutchence), David Julian Hirsh has joined the series as Dr Richard Conrad aka “Blue Bolt”, Gracie Dzienny will play Ruby Red and Tyler. Mane will play Blackstar. .

For more information, see our Jupiter’s Legacy comic review, and the news of the other Mark Millar comics adapted by Netflix.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK news and entertainment editor.