Just last week, Netflix released a teaser revealing that Mark Millar‘s new superhero series Jupiter’s Legacy would be arriving on the streaming service this May. However, it didn’t come with a proper first look at the series starring Josh Duhamel as Sheldon Sampson, better known as The Utopian, who helped shape the world of today as a full-fledged superhero. We now have a better glimpse at the comic book adaptation with a new teaser.
Jupiter’s Legacy First Look
Featuring sketches from the Jupiter’s Legacy comic book, this teaser provides a handful of photos with a sketchbook visual style inspired by the panels created by artist Frank Quitely. Netflix also provided the regular versions of these photos, along with a few more revealing looks at the superhero series.
Jupiter’s Legacy unfolds across two different time periods. One story arc takes place in the 1920s amid the Wall Street financial crisis. During this time, Sheldon Sampson (Josh Duhamel) takes his wife Grace Sampson (Leslie Bibb) and brother Walter Sampson (Ben Daniels) with George Hutchence (Matt Lanter) and Fitz Small (Mike Wade) on a journey to an island that Sheldon has been seeing in visions. It’s that journey that ends up giving them superpowers and inspires the formation of The Union.
With their newfound powers, Sheldon becomes The Utopian (center), Grace becomes Lady Liberty (left) and Walter becomes Brainwave. But in the photo above, they’re now around 120 years old. Not pictured is George Hutchence, who ended up turning against his friends and became the supervillain known as Skyfox.
In the present day, The Utopian and Lady Liberty also have children of their own. Above you can see Chloe (Elena Kampouris) and Brandon (Andrew Horton), but it sounds like the apples may have fallen far from the tree. Mark Millar discussed the concept of Jupiter’s Legacy with Entertainment Weekly and said:
“Imagine The Incredibles, but the kids were a nightmare. We’re cutting back and forth between this naive optimism of a guy [Sheldon] who utterly believes he’s going to save America by finding this island that doesn’t exist and this man [in the present] who ultimately knows he’s failed. He’s failed the country, he’s failed the world, and he’s failed his own family because the kids have ended up a mess.”
Along with the children of our heroes, there’s also Hutch (Ian Quinlan), who sparks a relationship with the rebellious Chloe, and he just so happens to be the son of George Hutchence. But does he truly have a villainous streak like his father? Or will The Utopian’s children be the ones who take a dark turn? Millar teases that the next generation of these superpowered heroes will start to shake things up in the world. He said:
“After almost a century of superheroes just maintaining the status quo the smart ones start wondering what happens if they break the rules the older heroes have held onto their entire lives. What happens if they step out of this repetitive cycle? This is our starting point and it just goes nuts from here.”
But superheroes possibly turning bad won’t be the only villains we see on Jupiter’s Legacy. There’s also Tyler Mane as Blackstar, looking unrecognizable under a bunch of prosthetic make-up. It appears he’s being held in some kind of prison, but we’re betting he won’t be stuck there for long.
Here’s the official synopsis for Jupiter’s Legacy, which premieres on Netflix on May 7, 2021:
After nearly a century of keeping mankind safe, the world’s first generation of superheroes must look to their children to continue the legacy. But tensions rise as the young superheroes, hungry to prove their worth, struggle to live up to their parents’ legendary public reputations — and exacting personal standards.
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