Back in 2017, Netflix bought Mark Millar’s Millarworld banner, which Millar pointed out was the third time in history that a studio had acquired a comic book company. Now, the streamer is finally seeing some bang for its buck as it prepares to release its first adaptation of Millar’s Jupiter’s Legacy as an eight-episode series. The show will follow a new generation of superheroes struggling to live up to their super parents’ legendary reputation. As with Millar’s other work, it’s got plenty of graphic violence and subversions of the usual tropes.
In an interview with Empire magazine, Millar himself has described Jupiter’s Legacy as “part 2001 [A Space Odyssey], part Avengers, part Godfather II.” While the Avengers comparison is obvious – it’s a superhero series with a big ensemble cast, after all – the comparisons to 2001 and The Godfather Part II are interesting. Like 2001, Jupiter’s Legacy will be a sci-fi spectacle spanning a huge section of human history. And like the Godfather sequel, it will focus on the differences and similarities between two generations in the same line of work.
Along with Zack Snyder’s four-hour cut of Justice League, Jupiter’s Legacy is contributing to making vast, sprawling superhero stories the norm. The adaptation has been developed by Steven S. DeKnight, who previously shepherded Netflix’s Daredevil series to the screen (although he departed as showrunner after season 1). The series will star Josh Duhamel as Sheldon Sampson (a.k.a. the Utopian), the leader of the super-team the Union, with Leslie Bibb and The Clone Wars’ Matt Lanter rounding out the supporting cast. According to Millar, “It’s a 50-year story self-contained inside one franchise. It’s got a cast of 50 or 60 super-characters. The story starts in 1929 and runs until the end of time. It runs through all time and space and explains the mystery of human existence, all tied into a superhero story.”
Despite the massive scope of the story, according to Millar, there was never any pushback from Netflix executives. Millar said, “There hasn’t been one conversation where someone said, ‘Can we make that explosion slightly smaller?’ Ambitious ideas are being rewarded.” This is very much in character for the monumental streaming service. Netflix’s The Crown, which chronicles the reign of Queen Elizabeth II over a span of decades, set a new record for the most expensive TV show ever made and when it concludes with its upcoming sixth season, it will have covered more than half a century of the history of the royal family.
Elsewhere on the Millarworld front, the Kingsman franchise is still going strong, with a prequel movie, TV spin-off, and third installment in the mainline series all on the way. Meanwhile, screen adaptations of Nemesis, Superior, American Jesus, Empress, Chrononauts, and Super Crooks are all reported to be in various stages of development. There’s also been talk of a Hit-Girl spin-off starring Chloë Grace Moretz for years, but that one’s starting to seem unlikely.
Jupiter’s Legacy is set to premiere on Netflix on May 7, 2021.
Source: Empire
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