The powerful crashes, pows, and whammos we’ve seen over the years in every superhero movie or series have always lacked a lil’ something something. It’s some kind of empathy, I think. We always relate to the superhero before he becomes a superhero, before he’s the guy in a bespoke spandex suit who saves the planet with his laser eyeballs. But after that, he just automatically becomes less familiar and more admirable. More enigmatic. More… other.
Well friends, do I have a glint of something shiny in the back of my trench coat for you. Mark Millar has gifted us with a relatable superhero series – one with an absent father.
Based on Mark Millar’s comic book series of the same name about a dysfunctional superhero family, Jupiter’s Legacy introduces the Sampsons – including super-dad and ultra-patriot Sheldon “The Utopian” Sampson (Josh Duhamel) and super-mom Grace “Lady Liberty” Kennedy-Sampson, and their not-so-super-kids Brandon “The Paragon” Sampson and Chloe Sampson, who can’t even with this superhero stuff, dad, omg.
To find out more about the show, I got to talk about it with writer Mark Millar and star Josh Duhamel.
What was it like playing a superhero that’s a bit more seasoned rather than a young inexperienced one?
JOSH: Well, it was a lot of fun since I got to play two timelines at once since Jupiter’s Legacy jumps between young Sheldon and current Sheldon. I enjoyed having the weight of the world on my shoulders, funny enough, because I’ve never played a role like this before.
What was the biggest challenge for you in the role as The Utopian?
JOSH: The biggest challenge was probably sitting in that suit the whole day long! Those suits and all of the prosthetics and hair and stuff took a lot out of me but as soon as you’re in them you feel sort of wiser, and you automatically act a bit older and you walk with more purpose. It definitely gets you into your character though.
Why do you think the newer, darker take on superheroes has become so popular?
JOSH: I wouldn’t say Jupiter’s Legacy is super dark. I would say it’s sort of a human perspective on the lives of superheroes. Like. what my character is going through is trying to convince the world that what they’ve been doing over the last few years has been good, and what they’ve been doing is helping – but now he’s thinking that “what did we actually do for the world? Did we mess it up even more?”. And he’s struggling with his kids. I mean, he can spot a dime on the moon but he can’t relate to his 20-year old daughter, and that’s human and relatable.
You can get stuck on the moon with one other superhero who would it be?
JOSH: Hmmm. Catwoman. Definitely Catwoman.
How did Jupiter’s Legacy end up as a Netflix series?
MARK: It’s a funny story. Before I sold Millarworld to Netflix, I had actually thought about turning it into a movie and then maybe a trilogy. But then James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) said that this wasn’t even a movie or a trilogy, it’s 10 or 20 movies! So we decided to turn it into a series because we felt like it told the story much better, and you actually get a chance to get to know the characters.
When sitting down and writing yet another story about a badass comic book superhero and the unimaginable writer’s block happens – do you have a secret method of smiting it?
MARK: I have this friend of mine who’s a knee surgeon, and we get together for a beer or two once a week or so. One day I was struggling with exactly that, and I was complaining to him about how I have to deal with this every day. He looked at me and said “Well I’m a knee surgeon, I never get knee surgeon block.” And then I realised that the best way to get through it, is just to do it. No matter how little! I mean, he never gets to say that he doesn’t feel like operating on knees today.
Do you think that showing the influence of parents on children, but the superhero version, is important?
MARK: It’s just something I’ve been sort of obsessed with recently. Years after my father died, I found myself doing the things he used to do and liking the same shows he used to like, and I find that it’s not something that you can just escape. But with superheroes, it was fun to explore because you rarely even see them married – nevermind having kids. So seeing them worry about the same thing normal adults do was quite interesting to me.
Jupiter’s Legacy is out now on Netflix.