Jupiter's Legacy

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: May 7, 2021
Metascore
45

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 17
  3. Negative: 5 out of 17

Critic Reviews

  1. The Detroit News
    Reviewed by: Tom Long
    May 7, 2021
    75
    The proliferation of characters can be disorienting and super-Bibb is criminally underused, but “Jupiter’s Legacy” works for the most part if your idea of entertainment leans that way. Glittering costumes, eyes that shoot laser beams, explosions and destruction galore. That’s entertainment circa 2021.
  2. RogerEbert.com
    Reviewed by: Brian Tallerico
    May 7, 2021
    70
    So much of the eight episodes in the first season are dedicated to telling parallel origin stories that it can sometimes get weighed down with the burden of that structure, but there are interesting themes weaved through this adaptation of the comic series of the same name by Mark Millar ("Wanted," "Kick-Ass") and Frank Quitely.
  3. Empire
    Reviewed by: James Dyer
    Sep 20, 2021
    60
    More straightforward than The Umbrella Academy but lacking the playfulness or bite of The Boys, this is a decent enough stab at superhero deconstruction, if one that takes itself far too seriously.
  5. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Lucy Mangan
    May 7, 2021
    60
    It’s all engaging enough, but a certain airlessness constrains the entertainment value. ... The problem is that it comes perilously close to taking itself too seriously. Any opportunity for fun is shut down by perpetually morose teens, action set-pieces we have seen many times before and clunky speeches about the state of the world.
  6. Polygon
    Reviewed by: Samantha Nelson
    May 8, 2021
    50
    There are plenty of problems with America, and with the superhero genre’s relationship with violence and politics, but Jupiter’s Legacy doesn’t really address any of them. Like The Utopian himself, the show’s creators are stuck looking back at an imagined Golden Age, with no way to move forward and build something better.
  7. CNN
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    May 7, 2021
    50
    For a series about superheroes, Jupiter's Legacy moves in what feels like slow motion. The result is a Netflix drama that's impressive in its scope -- adding to the growing roster of dark comic-book tales -- but frustrating in its sluggish pacing, oscillating between twin timelines over the course of its eight initial episodes.
  8. Paste Magazine
    Reviewed by: Allison Keene
    May 7, 2021
    50
    There are interesting sparks of narrative interest here, but they are all but snuffed out over and over again by the flat, shallow scripts and the way the show’s women and minority characters are handled about as well as they would have been in the actual 1930s.
  9. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Bob Strauss
    May 7, 2021
    50
    The story is ultra-convoluted and has what feels like an ever-expanding cast.
  10. The Playlist
    Reviewed by: Mike DeAngelo
    May 7, 2021
    42
    This series might have felt revolutionary nearly a decade ago (when the comic series was originally published), but today it just treads on tired and well-worn territory.
  11. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Danette Chavez
    May 7, 2021
    42
    A slack, derivative story with flat visuals and action. It’s a show so utterly disinterested in its present that it wallows in the past for lengthy stretches of each of its eight episodes, and then bets everything on the final moments of its season finale.
  12. Radio Times
    Reviewed by: David Craig
    Dec 2, 2021
    40
    The source material is perfectly sound, but this adaptation doesn’t do it a shred of justice. The fleeting moments that work are far outweighed by an uneven cast, lame script and agonising pace, the latter of which is fast becoming a systemic problem suffered by most Netflix original series.
  13. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    May 7, 2021
    40
    Ultimately, it's not much of anything beyond a slowly unreeling plot played out by thinly realized characters sometimes accompanied by some decently realized special effects.
  14. Salon
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    May 7, 2021
    30
    There are a few reasons to root for "Jupiter's Legacy" notwithstanding its wince-worthy shortcomings. Duhamel and most of the cast turn in decent performances, especially considering the material they're working with.
  15. Decider
    Reviewed by: Joel Keller
    May 7, 2021
    30
    While it’s a valiant try at starting a new superhero franchise, Jupiter’s Legacy can’t wrangle its sprawling mythology well enough to make a coherent and cohesive first episode.
  16. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Daniel Fienberg
    May 7, 2021
    30
    This eight-episode drama is one of the weakest and most forgettable entries in the busy genre. It’s a derivative bore, without even visual inspiration to compensate.
  17. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Ben Travers
    May 7, 2021
    25
    Unconvincing in its high-falutin talking points as it is with its wigs and wirework.
  18. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    May 7, 2021
    20
    It is a stultifying mess of a show on pretty much every level. It’s meant to be viewed with utmost seriousness, yet it feels like a parody where someone forgot to insert the jokes.

Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Most Discussed TV Season of 2021

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 74 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 74
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 74
  3. Negative: 18 out of 74
  1. MrMuppe
    May 8, 2021
    3
    This is Netflix attempt at creating their own Superhero thing after loosing the Marvel shows, that is oh so clear.
    However this show makes    This is Netflix attempt at creating their own Superhero thing after loosing the Marvel shows, that is oh so clear.
    However this show makes only a few things right while everything else wrong.

    That good thing.
    The origin part is actually good, if that had been the entire show it could have easily been a 7 or 8.

    The bad.
    Attempt at a dysfunctional family. This is for me a big question, let along the question of why every single superhero waited about the same amount of years before having said kids. There is no reason for it and there to much focus on it. Oh and the drama is just bad drama as if ripped from some random show.
    The daughter. This character is bad, so bad. I started skipping her scenes because I did not want my eyes to roll out of my head. It is a painful attempt to pretend to be edgy. She comes of at a brat playing a rebel without a cause.
    Those damn kids. Ya, the kids are on a general basis annoying, and those attempt at edgy parties are annoying. Ya, basicly the kids are annoying though not everyone as annoying as the daughter character.
    More drama close to zero action. This is a superhero show with almost no action. The focus is so heavy on the bad drama that the writters busy smelling their own farts almost forgot to add any action at all. There is a way to balance these things, just look at almost every other superhero show out there and you will see.    … Full Review »
  2. MauriceT
    May 8, 2021
    1
    This show is absolute garbage. The makeup is amateurish. The costumes are hokey. The dialogue sounds like it was written for 7 yr olds. AndThis show is absolute garbage. The makeup is amateurish. The costumes are hokey. The dialogue sounds like it was written for 7 yr olds. And it's boring.… Full Review »
  3. marconeves
    May 8, 2021
    10
    I LOVED it. The 1929 storyline is far superior than the comic storylines. I'm also glad they toned down the woke aspect. Critics areI LOVED it. The 1929 storyline is far superior than the comic storylines. I'm also glad they toned down the woke aspect. Critics are naturally annoyed by that. In my opinion, this story, lore, universe and characters are far better than The Boys. GREAT show. Thank you, Mark Millar!… Full Review »
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