Jupiter's Legacy (TV series)

This article is about the television series. For the comic book series, see Jupiter's Legacy (comic).

Jupiter's Legacy
Genre	Drama Superhero
Created by	Steven S. DeKnight
Based on	Jupiter's Legacy by Mark Millar & Frank Quitely
Starring	Josh Duhamel Ben Daniels Leslie Bibb Andrew Horton Elena Kampouris Mike Wade Matt Lanter
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Steven S. DeKnight Lorenzo di Bonaventura Dan McDermott Sang Kyu Kim
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	35–56 minutes
Production companies	Di Bonaventura Pictures DeKnight Productions Millarworld Productions
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	May 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)

Jupiter's Legacy is an American superhero streaming television series created by Steven S. DeKnight, based on the Image comic book series by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely, that premiered on Netflix on May 7, 2021. The series stars Josh Duhamel, Ben Daniels, Leslie Bibb, Elena Kampouris, Andrew Horton, Mike Wade and Matt Lanter.

Synopsis

Jupiter's Legacy follows the story of the world's first superheroes who received their powers in the 1930s. In the present day, they are the revered elder guard but their superpowered children struggle to live up to the legendary feats of their parents.

Cast and characters

Main

• Josh Duhamel as Sheldon Sampson / The Utopian, Grace's husband, Walter's younger brother, and the Union superhero team leader, who possesses flight, super strength, heat vision and super-hearing.
• Ben Daniels as Walter Sampson / Brainwave, Sheldon's older brother possessing telepathic abilities, as well as flight and super strength.
• Leslie Bibb as Grace Kennedy-Sampson / Lady Liberty, Sheldon's wife and one of the most powerful heroes on the planet.
• Andrew Horton as Brandon Sampson / The Paragon, Grace and Sheldon's son, who struggles to live up to his father's expectations.
• Elena Kampouris as Chloe Sampson, Grace and Sheldon's rebellious daughter, who is absorbed into a life of drugs and modelling.
• Mike Wade as Fitz Small / The Flare, one of the most valued members of The Union, now a retired paraplegic.
• Matt Lanter as George Hutchence / Skyfox, Sheldon's closest friend and teammate before turning against them after breaking the Code.

Recurring

• Tenika Davis as Petra Small / The Flare II, Fitz's daughter and a hero who shares her father's power to manipulate energy and fly. Despite coming to question the code after fighting Blackstar's clone, she remains steadfast with her friends.
• Ian Quinlan as "Hutch" Hutchence, George's son who uses Blue Bolt's teleportation rod to commit several crimes with his crew, attaining materials to make a portal in order to find his father.
• Meg Steedle as Jane, Sheldon's ex-fiancé who leaves as he starts the voyage that led to him becoming a superhero.
• Richard Blackburn as Chester Sampson, the father of Sheldon and Walter. Chester jumps to his death on Black Thursday after leveraging pensions with credit.
• Tyrone Benskin as Willie Small, Fitz's father and a worker at Chester's factory, who convinced Fitz to accept Sheldon's quest.
• Grace Dzienny as Ruby Red, a superhero who can create psionic armor around herself and Brandon's ex-girlfriend.
• Aiza Ntibarikure as Sierra / Ectoplex, a superhero who had plasma-based abilities, who has survivor's guilt and resents Chloe for breaking off from the team.
• Tyler Mane as Blackstar, an extremely powerful supervillain with an anti-matter heart, used to power his exo-suit.
• David Julian Hirsh as Dr. Richard Conrad / Blue Bolt, a member of the original Union who first used the power rod. He was found adrift and rescued by Sheldon's party, helping the group gain their powers through the trials.
• Conrad Coates as Captain Borges, the captain of the ship Sheldon uses to travel the Atlantic in 1933.
• Kara Royster as Janna / Ghost Beam, a friendly superhero who is old friends with Chloe, who dies fighting Baryon trying to uphold the Utopian's Code.

Guest

• Sharon Belle as Iron Orchid, a supervillain who uses a powered suit to rob banks.
• Stephen O'Young as Barry Bishop / Tectonic, a superhero who can generate vibrations and control the earth and Brandon's best friend. He is killed by the Blackstar clone, leaving behind his wife and two daughters.
• Gregg Lowe as Briggs / Flaming Fist, a superhero with pyrokinetic abilities and one of Brandon's long-time friends. He is killed during the Blackstar clone's rampage.
• Humberly Gonzalez as Gabriella / Neutrino, a member of Hutch's crew who possesses electrokinetic abilities and Jacinda's lover.
• Jess Salgueiro as Jacinda / Shockwave, Gabriella's girlfriend who can emit shockwaves from her hands.
• Morgan David Jones as Jack Frost, a cryokinetic member of Hutch's crew who owns a magic van that once belonged to a magical supervillain.
• Robert Maillet as Big Man, a super-powered crime lord whom Hutch used to work for before killing him.
• Kurtwood Smith as Old Man Miller, a man with similar hallucinations as Sheldon's whom he encounters in Kansas after a long search.
• Franco Lo Presti as Nick of Time, a man with time-warping abilities who seduces Chloe in hopes of getting into the Union.
• Jake Lewis as Jay / Volcaner, a hero who can create and manipulate lava, who loses faith in the Code.
• Paul Amos as Dr. Barnabas Wolfe, a man with flight and inorganic matter-warping abilities who is an old acquaintance of the Union.
• Nigel Bennett as Dr. Jack Hobbs, one of the Utopian's old enemies, now serving as his imprisoned therapist.
• Chase Tang as Baryon, a supervillain previously affiliated with Blackstar, who can create energy blasts.
• Anna Akana as Raikou Sampson, Walter's daughter, a vigilante/assassin possessing super strength and telepathy, who also uses katanas.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Teleplay by	Original release date
1	"By Dawn's Early Light"	Steven DeKnight	Steven DeKnight	May 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)
In 1929, Sheldon Sampson and his brother Walter are working for their father's steel company and are living a privileged life. Things take a turn when the stock market crashes and their father commits suicide. In the present day, Brandon and Chloe, the children of Sheldon, now known as an aging superhero called The Utopian, struggle to live in the shadow of their father's legacy. Brandon pushes himself to prove he's a worthy successor to his father while Chloe cares less about her life. Heroes old and new fight to bring down an old threat that has broken out of the correction prison Supermax, or has he.
2	"Paper and Stone"	Steven DeKnight	Henry G.M. Jones	May 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)
Following the Blackstar incident, Sheldon scolds Brandon for going against the Code, despite the fact many people and law enforcement seem to support his choice. Brandon deals with the ramifications of taking a life and the loss of his friends. It is discovered that the Blackstar the heroes fought is not in fact Blackstar and no one knows where or how he came to be. Back in 1929, Sheldon confronts a reporter over an expose on the family business and discovers his father was not the man he thought he was. Later, at his father's funeral, Sheldon has a seizure and is hospitalized after having a vision of an island with a mysterious voice telling him to go there.
3	"Painting the Clouds With Sunshine"	Unknown	Morenike Balogun Koch	May 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)
A gang of villains, led by a man named Hutch, has a series of foiled heists in trying to complete a task for their boss. After what seems like a clean getaway they have a run-in with a drunk, disoriented Chloe who takes their ill-gotten goods. In 1929, after the funeral, Sheldon's brother and friends become consider on what looks to be a deteriorating mental state. Worried about Sheldon's uncharacteristic behavior, George visits him and is unable to figure out how to best help his friend while trying to deal with the turn in his fortune.
4	"All the Devils Are Here"	Unknown	Akela Cooper	May 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)
Grace snoops around and finds Sheldon’s drawings on the ship — she sees the map and a drawing of his father looking injured. Walter and Sheldon find her looking, and Walter is concerned about the drawings. He also finds the watch — they buried their father with the watch, and Walter gets increasingly irritated. But they cannot argue for long, as they rescue a man in the sea — he turns out to be a doctor. The man talks about a storm that suddenly comes from nowhere and wonders why it let him leave — he warns the others that the storm is here.
5	"What's the Use?"	Unknown	Kate Barnow	May 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)
At this stage of the story, there’s plenty of doubt aimed at Sheldon, and can you be surprised? Their lives are at risk in the middle of the sea. The captain gets worried and asks the engine room to turn back. Sheldon gets frustrated and tells them that they cannot turn around and that the doctor was in his vision. He tells them that they need to go straight through the storm. Sheldon looks crazy to everyone else as voices taunt him as he says, “get out of my head.” Grace states that Sheldon is talking to his father. They try and move Sheldon so they can navigate the boat, but he continues to fight.
6	"Cover Her Face"	Unknown	Sang Kyu Kim	May 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)
The code is well and truly under threat in episode 6. In the present, Grace heads to a crime scene while on patrol — she can hear Janna struggling. She finds Janna, who struggles to breathe — she’s dying; she claims Baryon did this to her, but she didn’t break the Code. An angry Grace approaches the supervillain to fight him — eventually, she gets him to the ground and punches him repeatedly — she tells the cops to call the coroner — they’ve lost another superhero. You can tell she is struggling with her inner-self because of the Code.
7	"Omnes Pro Uno"	Unknown	Julia Cooperman	May 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)
8	"How it All Ends"	Unknown	Steven DeKnight	May 7, 2021 (2021-05-07)

Production

Development

On July 17, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for an eight-episode first season. The series was created by Steven S. DeKnight, who is credited as an executive producer alongside Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Dan McDermott. On September 16, 2019, it was confirmed that DeKnight departed the series as showrunner over creative differences in the midst of the production for the first season. In November 2019, it was announced that Sang Kyu Kim was taking over as showrunner, following DeKnight's exit from the series.

Casting

In February 2019, it was announced that Josh Duhamel, Ben Daniels, Leslie Bibb, Elena Kampouris, Andrew Horton, Mike Wade and Matt Lanter would star in the series. In April 2019, it was reported that Tenika Davis had been cast in a recurring role. In August 2019, it was reported that Chase Tang had been cast as a supervillain. In September 2020, Anna Akana was cast in recurring role.

Filming

Principal photography for the first season was scheduled to initially commence in May 2019. Filming for the first season commenced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 2, 2019 and ended on January 24, 2020. Additional reshoots occurred in January 2021.

Release

On February 24, 2021, a teaser trailer for the series was released. On April 7, 2021, Netflix released the official trailer for the series. The official trailer for the series features "Play God" by British artist Sam Fender. The series premiered on May 7, 2021.

Reception

For the series, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 36% based on 28 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.48/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Despite some truly epic fights, Jupiter's Legacy is simply too overstuffed and slow-moving to land many narrative punches." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on 14 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

External links

• Jupiter's Legacy on Netflix
• Jupiter's Legacy at IMDb