Summary
Jupiter’s Legacy eases the story to the viewers gracefully, without dousing them with a plethora of exposition — this is a sensible yet satisfying superhero story.
Well…what can we say about superhero stories on streaming services at present? There’s certainly plenty of them. After serving the ever-popular The Umbrella Academy, Netflix has decided to throw its hat in the ring with another comic-book adaptation — Jupiter’s Legacy, which conveniently nestles in a week after the finale of Invincible.
Admittedly, I know little about the source; however, from what I’ve read, the story steeps itself in American ideals. That can be felt in this series; despite being a flagrant superhero narrative, there’s plenty of contentious themes about the world we live in today and the values we hold as a society. The story follows the Union of Justice — six superheroes that created a moralistic code and are now passing their principles to their young children while straining to maintain a divisive society.
Bringing the older to younger generation conundrum creates a flavorsome theme. There is an imbalance to how things are, to how things were, with both sides of the argument repeatedly clashing with each other in an intoxicating manner. Sheldon (The Utopian), the leader of the Union of Justice, expects his children and their acquaintances to uphold the Code; this Code is absolutely the center of all the character’s problems. It runs through the narrative like a sharp blade.
But that’s not all Jupiter’s Legacy season 1 brings — it’s not only a display of moralistic problems and generational gaps. It’s also an origin story; throughout the eight episodes, the Netflix series flits between the present and 1929 to make the audience understand how these superheroes came to be. And while we have been batted around plenty of similar tropes in modern-day pop culture, Jupiter’s Legacy eases the story to the viewers gracefully, without dousing them with a plethora of exposition — this is a sensible yet satisfying superhero story; it’s not a plot by plot account.
Once you gauge the characters, their powers, and individualistic traits, Jupiter’s Legacy becomes engageable rather quickly. Despite the plentiful of characters, it never feels overloaded or suffocating.
At the same time, while I do not believe in superhero fatigue, this is a prosperous time for comic-book adaptations, and there is this small anxiety that our investment into Jupiter’s Legacy will be short-lived. I do hope that Netflix markets extensively, giving the series the chance to surpass one season. It certainly deserves more; the cast and the writers have upheld their end of the bargain — they’ve brought a familiar superhero story and made it feel fresh, and we can only hope we get more. Let’s hope so.
