Deftones

DJariya

This is coming May 7th. This is from the showrunner of Spartacus and the first season of Daredevil and the director of Pacific Rim 2 Steven DeKnight.

Tom Banjo

The comic synopsis of this says it is about 2nd gen superheroes struggling to live up to the deeds and reputations of their parents. It’s a good concept that isn’t new to comics, but hasn’t really been adapted in previous movies and shows. Maybe The Runaways would count, and the MCU is quickly heading into a similar direction with legacy characters.

fujishig

That's kind of right, though it's a little more involved than that (unless they completely changed the concept for the show). I mean it is about legacy and the divide between an older and younger generation of heroes. But remember this is a Mark Millar property.

We do see that theme in something like Stargirl as well as Young Justice. Even the upcoming Invincible, in some ways. In general the move to make heroes/comic book characters eternally young has capped this kind of stuff at the knees for a lot of comic book properties.

PhantomStranger

It's Mark Millar's spin on Kingdom Come.

Josh-da-man

I remember thumbing through the comics a while back, and they didn't do anything for me.

About fifteen or twenty years ago, Mark Millar stopped writing comics and started writing illustrated tv and movie pitches. Everything he's done since his first round of "Millarworld" titles has been nothing but "high concept" junk.

I think he sold his Millarworld company to Netflix for eight figures, so he got what he wanted.

Deftones

IBJoel

So from that trailer, it reinforces my problem with a lot of TV. There's a lot going on there: celebrity, anti-authoritarian protests, the changing nature of heroism, living up to a standard, parent/child drama... Pick like, two of those things and do a deep dive. I can't help but feel that so many speculative fiction (especially superheroes) shows, even mini-series, just refuse to really explore any bigger themes because they need to be a four-quadrant hit, so they make the core of the show the interpersonal drama or the mystery or the whatever, rather than the more important message.

Note: I haven't read a Mark Millar comic since Kick-Ass, so I'm unfamiliar with the story. Although they likely changed it in some regard, knowing how Millar writes.

DWilson

As is often noted, Millar tends to write Comics properties that read like "Spec" scripts. I've read the two series and the spin-off series and honestly, while they were "readable" in the moment, I remember very little of any of it. It's not that different than many of the "Post-Watchmen" series that have been done by just about everybody. That being said, I'll give this a shot and we'll see if it can differentiate itself from "The Boys".

L Everett Scott

I won a digital screening for the first episode and just finished watching it. It's impossible to say how good the season is going to be based on just the premiere, but from what I've seen it's just passable, not something that I'm going to gush about. This opening for Jupiter's Legacy didn't grab me the way the first episode of Invincible did; for that matter, I thought series premiere of The Boys was better even though that show didn't set my world on fire right away.

Episode one of Jupiter's Legacy features some fairly stock standard superhero action at the beginning and end with a whole lot of family drama sandwiched in between. After a brief prologue, the story starts in the present with Paragon aka Brandon Sampson (Andrew Horton) trying to stop Iron Orchid (Sharon Belle) from stealing a gold bullion shipment. (Do bars of gold get moved around in Brinks trucks these days?) We get a sense of Brandon's issues as a crime fighter during this sequence as he charges in alone and focuses on the villainess without ever giving thought to the dozens of injured and dying people on the street. This is before we find out why Orchid isn't quaking in her boots when confronted by a superhero.

Later, Brandon goes to have dinner with his parents, Sheldon (Josh Duhamel) and Grace (Leslie Bibb) aka Utopia and Lady Liberty. Also at the Sampsons' place is Sheldon's brother, Walter (Ben Daniels), who does his superheroing as Brainwave. They talk and act like a normal family would with Grace asking Sheldon about how things are going with Brandon while briefly mentioning their wayward child, Chloe (Elena Kampouris). Meanwhile, Brandon confides in Uncle Walt about not living up to his father's expectations. Chloe arrives late to dinner and we get a pretty good idea of how far she's removed herself from the superhero business despite inheriting her parents' powers. The Sampsons' dinner plays like a pretty typical TV drama except when Chloe takes off, she really takes off.

Brandon then asks Uncle Walt what his dad was like before he got his powers. This is really helpful (for the narrative) because we get to flash back to 1929 Chicago, specifically the site of Sampson Steel. Sheldon and Walt help their father run the business but have different views: Sheldon and Sampson Sr. are eager to expand so their company can grow, but Walt's instincts tell him that they need to exercise caution. For those of you who know what happened in 1929, you'll be able to guess which side is right.

The story is grounded with inspired-by-real-world-headlines about unemployment continuing to rise while Congress debates a stimulus package and police getting injured during protests against the 'North America Accord'. Netflix doesn't have sponsors to worry about so people drop four-letter words at will and the violence goes straight into TV-MA territory with faces being torn off and holes being punched through people. But quality-wise, the effects don't measure up to The Boys.

Also falling short in the effects department is the aging makeup. They establish early on that the elder Sampsons are over 100 years old so they have some grey...but not a whole lot else. Apparently, being a superhero in this universe means you get to keep your looks past the century mark, especially if you're Grace who looks exactly as Leslie Bibb looks now except with a silver wig. In some shots, the aging makeup for Ben Daniels is pretty obvious while Josh Duhamel looks as though he's going for a tryout for The Grateful Dead. Bear in mind that the screener I watched was in SD; I can't imagine the issues with the makeup being improved with an HD viewing.

I think I noticed these details because the story didn't grab me. It isn't terrible, but it's a few city blocks short of great...or even very good. I get that slowing things down to let characters breathe is absolutely necessary for their development, but it just seemed to me that the energy level drops considerably outside of the action, which again isn't top tier.

It's probably best to approach this first episode as a middle-of-the-road family drama rather than a superhero show because that's the way it feels for the most part. The pace might pick up in subsequent episodes and the drama might become more engaging as the storylines develop for the present-day Sampson clan and for the origin story from the mid-twentieth century. As it is, this premiere for Jupiter's Legacy is OK, but when the credits began to roll, I wasn't exactly disappointed at not having the next episode to watch. I strongly suspect that some other folks are going to find a lot more to like in this first episode than I did, but I would still caution anyone who wants to give this show a try to temper their expectations.

Why So Blu?

The series is live.

Why So Blu?

Just knocked out the first episode. Good stuff. Surprising to see how much practical effects they're using in some of the fights and flying. The flying looks stilted at times, because it's the actor actually doing the stunt as opposed to a CGI double or something.

The 4K DV/Atmos was also terrific.

johnnysd

I enjoyed this. Definitely improved as the season went on. I can't stand the MCU or the DC movies so I have a pre-disposition to like things like this and the Boys. Would definitely watch a second season. As I have said before I am not into comics, probably will never watch another MCU property so I expect the more hard core comic people might have a different view but I thought this was well done. My negative would be that the first "volume" is essentially all set up and there is no real resolution on anything but that could be in a second season's favor.

Eric F

Hmm. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

Draven

My wife and I binged it in two days. Overall I enjoyed it - good action with consequences, good effects, good actors, interesting powers for some of them. I’d be in for a second season!

Why So Blu?

Binged it yesterday. Enjoyed it a lot. I do think the worst parts of it involve the daughter. She's a self destructive pain in the ass.

johnnysd

She is but I thought her character was pretty realistic. She was very much like a lot of people I have known in my life.

The Antipodean

This seems to be getting pretty terrible word of mouth. I'm not a Millar fan really (he had about three good ideas in his comics career, and then went on to repeat them over and over)

Draven

I'm not sure why - it's pretty good overall and downright great at times (there is one fight in particular that is pretty insane).

spainlinx0

I'm up to the last episode, and I like it. I will say the effects are quite bad at times, but I live with it because I like the characters, and it has an interesting premise. I also enjoy the structure of jumping back and forth. I'm actually quite happy this focuses more on the original heroes rather than their kids because I am not as interested in those characters.

Someone mentioned not liking the daughter, but it's the son that does absolutely nothing for me. What a bland actor. The daughter at least has presence.

Dr. DVD

Last night I finished "Invincible" on Prime and have watched two episodes of this one. While they are pretty similar in setting (world of superheroes and villains, young heroes trying to live up to their predecessors), and this one is live action and obviously has more money behind it, it's just not gripping me like the other one. Is there any episode where it really starts to ramp things up a bit?

spainlinx0

I'd say it stays pretty even, but I do like that it goes more into how these characters got their powers. That was the part of the show I think I liked best.

devilshalo

I'm trying to get into this series.. but I just can't seem to feel interested. It looks and feels like a CW show that crossed over with DC Universe writers. Who/What gave them their powers and why were they chosen? And the power struggle between the brothers...

Superman07

I’m only one episode in, but this is iffy…

Im intrigued to watch a few more (probably all since it’s a short season), but this didn’t do a lot to grab me. They have been better off ending the first episode with the pause in the big fight.

Claerly something happened to give the brothers powers. Or do they already have them and we don’t know?

I will say the effects are awful. My friend warned me, but I chalked it up to taste. I can only imagine it’s a stylistic choice, or they couldn’t afford a good effects house….?

whotony

Looks really low budget.

That fake beard is especially bad.