Netflix are pretty familiar with episodic projects based on comic books at this stage, but ever since their little Marvel experiment ended, the streaming service has been focusing more on lesser known properties and turning them into household names.
It’s worked out pretty well so far for them, too, with the company bringing us some major hits in the form of The Umbrella Academy, Warrior Nun, Raising Dion, Locke & Key and more. The latest to join the roster of comic book adaptations on the platform is Jupiter’s Legacy, which arrived yesterday on Netflix.
Coming to us from Daredevil showrunner and Pacific Rim: Uprising director Steven S. DeKnight, the series brings the world created by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely to life with a tale centring around generational conflict. And though reviews have been a bit mixed so far, it seems that a lot of subscribers are loving it, with Jupiter’s Legacy currently the #1 TV show on Netflix.
For those unfamiliar, Josh Duhamel suits up for the lead role of thinly-veiled Superman riff The Utopian, with The Crown‘s Ben Daniels playing his brother Brainwave, who has psychic powers and political aspirations, and Leslie Bibb portraying Lady Liberty, who attempts to strike the work/life balance between saving the planet and doing her day job at a law firm.
Admittedly, it’s not a perfect adaptation, but there’s much to like in Jupiter’s Legacy and it certainly shows promise, with Netflix no doubt hoping it’s the start of another big franchise for them. Whether that’ll be the case or not remains to be seen, of course, but for now, it’s doing pretty well and sitting pretty on the Top 10 most-watched TV series list. Which is certainly an impressive feat.