Netflix’s Jupiter’s Legacy Review and My Thoughts on its Cancellation
Jupiter’s Legacy started off very promising. With the concept of “The Code” to keep heroes in-check, in addition to the variety of heroes, this seemed to be a live action Justice League show.
To start off, I thought Jupiter did a great job with its special effects and the superpowers. It also did a great job with each hero’s costume design and with the aging makeup used to contrast between the present and the flashbacks. The first two episodes, I was really excited about this show. Then the next two episodes followed, and comparatively, they just fell short by being drawn out and, quite simply, boring.
It became clear that the series was going to draw out the flashback story Arrow-style throughout the entire season, when in reality, it could have been wrapped up in only two to three. I really thought the backstory had potential, with the main heroes’ story beginning in 1929 with the stock market crash. But the way the flashback story was drawn out quickly made me lose interest, until they got to actually explaining how they received their powers in episode 7 of the 8-episode season. That was interesting, but even then, it really only explained how they got there and then it jumped to an epic shot of them all suited up and flying with the Sun silhouetting them from behind.
I would have loved it if this explained where their powers came from, how other people in the world got their powers (did they go to the island too?), and what the powers actually came from. All it explained was that on the island, they put aside their differences and proved they were worthy, then were teleported to a Jovian moon and saw a machine there. That’s it. I thought after building it up for an entire season, there would have been more and there just wasn’t. If this backstory had wrapped up earlier, we could have seen more of the Union in their early days of superheroing. We got a glimpse of this in the finale and I really enjoyed it. Seeing more of their early days would have given us the insight we needed about the characters, instead of getting it from the flashback sequences prior to reaching the island.
Another complete miss for me was the story about Chloe, the Utopian’s daughter. She started off as an unlikeable character then just continued on in a downward spiral. It never explained why we were seeing her story and I’m not sure how it fits into the overarching story, if at all. Maybe they were planning on having a redemption arc for her in future seasons to come, but her story felt out of place in the show to me.
This show was a classic example of an interesting idea with bad execution. It could have cut a good chunk of unnecessary content out and instead filled it with relevant story and explanations. It seemed like it just didn’t know what it wanted to be, and because of that, suffered. And this is coming from a guy who loves everything superhero.
It was recently announced that Jupiter’s Legacy was cancelled and that they would not continue on with season 2. I can’t say I’m entirely surprised, it just feels like a missed opportunity. Unfortunately, season 1 left off on a cliffhanger, but even that didn’t make complete sense. The lead actor made a humorous post after the show was announced to be cancelled featuring a shirtless picture of himself with the long white hair and beard saying “What’s up, Hulu?”
Now, I’d guess nothing would come of this but hey, stranger things have happened. Many shows have gotten axed only to be revived by a different channel or platform (except for Firefly). At least Duhamel was a good sport about it.
Overall, I’d rate Jupiter’s Legacy 3/5 stars. I know I had a lot to critique, but it was still an OK show that had potential and fell short. I liked the idea of “The Code” and the question of if it still applies today like it did almost 100 years ago, back in the Golden Age of heroes. And maybe it won’t be picked up by another network or platform, but I hope it gets another shot. Like I said, Jupiter definitely has potential and maybe getting renewed elsewhere would be the wake up call to get it back on track and headed in the right direction.