Jupiter’s Legacy was canceled after one season at Netflix, though the world of the show will continue. Based on the comic of the same name by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely, Jupiter’s Legacy tells the story of an aging superhero team called the Union of Justice passing on the torch to a younger generation. In doing so, they realize some of their ideals may be out of touch. Apparently, the show was out of touch with audiences as well.
The series, starring Josh Duhamel, Ben Daniels, and Leslie Bibb, was Netflix’s first entry in the Millarverse. The streaming service bought comic powerhouse Millarworld in 2017 and has ambitious plans for projects inspired by Mark Millar. Among Millar’s many comics are Kingsman, Kick-Ass, and Huck. The comic book icon was also behind some of Marvel’s biggest-selling storylines, including Civil War, which inspired Captain America: Civil War, and Old Man Logan, the inspiration for Hugh Jackman’s last Wolverine movie, Logan.
The end of Jupiter’s Legacy comes surprisingly just one month after its May 7th release on Netflix. Granted, the show was troubled from the get-go, with showrunner Steven S. DeKnight (Marvel’s Daredevil) leaving midway through filming the debut installment over creative differences. Though the series spent a fair amount of time in Netflix’s Top 10, it was plagued by bad reviews before getting axed. Still, its legacy will somewhat carry on. Millar announced he’s already working on Supercrooks, a live-action show that takes place in the same fictional world but focuses on villains.
It turns out, Netflix and Millar were going in opposing creative directions with Jupiter's Legacy. So with "IP and the talent options soon expiring," the streaming service let the cast out of their commitments. Another reason for the cancelation may be the cost of the series. Viewership-versus-cost is a major factor when Netflix decides whether or not to cancel a show. With reports that Jupiter’s Legacy cost $200 million to produce, a quick cancelation makes more sense. Whatever the viewership for the poorly reviewed series, it's clear it wasn’t worth $200 million.
Jupiter’s Legacy was perhaps doomed from the start. The show was panned for its boring storyline, sluggish pacing, and cheap-looking special effects. Though it scored much better with audiences, the show could only muster a 38% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. The story simply dragged out a beloved Mark Millar comic to the point where fans —at least those who could keep their eyes open—just couldn’t recognize it. It also took itself far too seriously for a series that used such cheesy wigs. Of course, being forced to finish post-production during the pandemic didn't help. But when words like “slow motion” and “awful” follow a series around in reviews, it’s clear something missed the mark.
Fans of the show won’t have to mourn long. A live-action Supercrooks leaves room for characters from Jupiter’s Legacy to return. In addition, an anime version of Supercrooks is also on the way. Netflix is basically all-in on Mark Millar. Besides Supercrooks, several other Millarworld projects are said to be in development, including American Jesus, The Magic Order, and Sharkey the Bounty Hunter.
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