Jupiter’s Legacy review round-up: The Netflix series is ‘admirably acted and exceptionally costumed’

Jupiter’s Legacy, which began streaming on Netflix on Friday, is receiving mixed reviews. The American superhero drama is based on the comic book series of the same name written by Mark Millar. It follows the story of the world’s first superheroes who received their powers in the 1930s. But as they pass the torch to their children, tensions arise as the young superheroes, to prove their worth, struggle to live up to their parents’ legend in a world where the old rules no longer apply.

Starring Josh Duhamel, Ben Daniels, Leslie Bibb, Elena Kampouris, Andrew Horton, Mike Wade, Matt Lanter and David Julian Hirsh, Jupiter’s Legacy is an 8-episode series. It has been created by Steven S. DeKnight, known for the movie Pacific Rim: Uprising, web show Daredevil and TV series Spartacus, among other projects.

CNET’s Richard Trenholm wrote in his review, “While the modern-day story is more about characters and relationships, the old-timey plotline is driven by a clear goal. But comics readers know the destination of this story, making it paradoxically the most and least interesting part of the show. And even if you aren’t familiar with the source material, you still pretty much know where this plotline is going, because it’s a flashback from the present-day events unfolding in front of you.”

ComicBookMovie.com’s Josh Wilding noted, “Jupiter’s Legacy Volume 1 feels like a prologue to a much better series, but there are some fresh ideas to be found here, and a great cast mostly helps to elevate a disjointed story to not quite super, but still heroic levels.”

David Griffin compared the new series with recent hits like The Boys and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. In his review on IGN, he opined, “Jupiter’s Legacy doesn’t quite reach the theatrical-quality heights of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but it does do an adequate job of capturing the spectacle of demigods trying to tear each other apart.”

Daniel Fienberg from The Hollywood Reporter, however, panned Jupiter’s Legacy. An excerpt from his review read, “Throughout, I kept feeling like I’d missed key pieces of plot or character development and I kept checking to see if I’d skipped episodes.”

Amelia Emberwing from What To Watch looked at the brighter side. She wrote, “At the very least, Jupiter’s Legacy is admirably acted and exceptionally costumed. Season one tells two stories and only finishes one of them. At least the one that gets an ending is the one worth watching.”