Jupiter's Legacy - What We Know So Far

Many people want to be a superhero, but we live in reality, so the next best thing is to produce a superhero film or TV series. But, building a unique superhero world filled with its own lore and history is a challenge. Sometimes it's just easier to adapt what already exists, especially if a team adapts a niche property, albeit one beloved by those who have read it.

Recently, Netflix teased a superhero series based on the graphic novel Jupiter's Legacy (no relation to Jupiter Ascending). The announcement features images transitioning from black-and-white sketches to full-color screen grabs presumably taken from the show, punctuated with images of drawing implements, efficiently illustrating (pun intended) the show is a live-action adaptation. But other than that, viewers are probably clueless about the upcoming show, especially if this is the first time they've heard of the property.

Here is everything we know so far about Jupiter's Legacy.

While odds are audiences, even Jupiter's Legacy fans, might not have heard about the Netflix adaptation before today, the show isn't just starting production. The announcement states Jupiter's Legacy will hit Netflix on May 7, 2021.

According to Writers Guild of America West, Jupiter's Legacy will consist of eight 60-minute episodes. These episodes were filmed between July 2019 (via Comicbook.com) and January 2020 (via Bleeding Cool), so the lion's share of legwork barely missed the start of social distancing.

As of writing, we do not know if the Netflix version of Jupiter's Legacy will receive a second season, which is important since the source material extends beyond a single album. The Jupiter's Legacy comic stands at two volumes with a two-book spinoff, Jupiter's Circle. The first season of the Netflix adaptation could cover all of Jupiter's Legacy Volume One, or it could stop halfway through that story. The show might even combine both volumes into one season. We just won't know until May 7.

Netflix might have just teased Jupiter's Legacy's impending release, but the company announced it would adapt the show — along with other works developed by the comic's creator, Mark Millar — in 2018 (via The Hollywood Reporter). The company has had more than enough time to film the entire season, and you can't film a show without actors.

Jupiter's Legacy features an all-star cast of players. Main characters will be portrayed by big names such as Josh Duhamel (Lennox in the Transformers movies), Ben Daniels (Adam Galloway in House of Cards), and Leslie Bibb (Christine Everhart in the Iron Man movies). The show will also star lesser-known actors in several prominent roles, including Elana Kampouris (Minnow Bly in Sacred Lies), Andrew Horton (Craig Guarisco in It Came from the Desert), Mike Wade (Rodney Jenkins in For the People), and Matt Lanter (Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: The Clone Wars).

Of course, these actors only fill a scant few roles. Jupiter's Legacy has way more characters than just the seven the above will portray.

When the Jupiter's Legacy show was announced, The Hollywood Reporter provided a basic synopsis based on the source material:

"The series is a multigenerational drama that follows the world's first generation of superheroes, who received their powers in the 1930s. In the present day, they're the revered elder guard, but their superpowered children struggle to live up to the legendary feats of their parents."

Depending on how closely the adaptation follows the comic, the Jupiter's Legacy show could potentially feature numerous story arcs and go far beyond the basic "superhero children living in the shadow of their superhero parents" plot. For example, the comic juggles numerous characters, their views on using powers, and ideas such as family legacy. Moreover, in the comic (minor spoilers), friends and family come to blows, and the distinction between superhero and supervillain is tested and potentially redefined.

Since sites such as Goodreads provide glowing reviews for Jupiter's Legacy, audiences can probably expect great things from the upcoming show. Of course, that partially depends on how closely the adaptation follows the comic.