One of Netflix’s most costly investments in original programming not to get a second season, Jupiter’s Legacy‘s cancellation has been attributed to a range of different factors. Although we may yet be receiving movies to continue the story, and the platform is far from finished with Mark Millar’s work, fans wanting to see fresh episodes are likely to be disappointed. Star Josh Duhamel has made the news a bit more frustrating, then, by claiming that season 2 would have been very fun to do.
The actor, who’s been quite positive on where things ended up with Jupiter’s Legacy, told CinemaBlend that he was looking forward to playing some of the darker sides of The Utopian:
“You know, it’s just disappointing, I’m not gonna lie. We all worked very hard on that and promoted it very hard and thought we made a really good show, and I think [with] the audience, it performs so well and continues to do really well. We were a little bit surprised by it not getting renewed. For me, I never saw it going more than two or three seasons because that would have fulfilled whatever graphic novels were written for it. And that second season was going to be so much fun because it had the makings of this modern tragedy where some pretty dark stuff happens to The Utopian. And I was excited creatively to do that. I’m not sure the reasoning for it. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have done it, and I think we all did a really good job on it. But this is the way of the business, you take your lumps. I don’t know if we’re ever going to see him [The Utopian] again. Though it sure would have been fun to do that second season. I think they should do a feature, just encapsulating what would have happened in the second season. Not do the full season, but just a feature. . . . I don’t know if they’ll do it or not, but all those costumes are ready to go. And they weren’t cheap, I’ll tell you that much.”
Discussion of a feature film, then, seems to be the most logical option for giving closure on the cliffhanger we received in the finale. A similar enthusiasm from viewers led to Sense8 getting a send-off, and we can’t imagine why Netflix would be particularly against investing in a one-off special. While the company’s budget isn’t bottomless, they certainly have a reputation for granting the majority of their shows a long enough lifetime to properly realize their ambitions.
The other possibility that could happen is that members of Jupiter’s Legacy cast will appear in upcoming Millarworld series Supercrooks, at least in cameo form. Nothing has been confirmed yet, though, for the future of the property, and given the amount of money that Netflix reportedly lost on it, it will probably take some time for anything to move ahead.
However, a spike in views of the existing instalments, or a better performance by Supercrooks, wouldn’t hurt the chances of this happening. As someone who felt Jupiter’s Legacy didn’t merit the poor critical reception it attracted, I’d certainly be happy to see Duhamel and co. get the chance to finish out the plot.