Mark Millar explains how Jupiter’s Legacy’s season 1 finale is only a precursor to more sinister events to come in Netflix’s superhero TV series.
Spoilers follow for Jupiter’s Legacy season 1. Jupiter’s Legacy is a superhero TV show that subverts viewers’ expectations on more than one occasion. There are numerous big twists throughout Netflix’s adaptation of Mark Millar and Frank Quitley’s comic books, but the series’ most shocking moment is reserved for the season 1 finale – and it’s an ending that hints at a darker narrative to come. Ahead of the release of Jupiter’s Legacy on Netflix, TechRadar sat down with Millar to discuss episode 8’s biggest moments, including that villainous turn, and how the finale’s events set up a potential second season. Walter Sampson, aka Brainwave, isn’t the man (or superhero) that audiences thought he was. As the season 1 finale reveals, it’s Walter, and not George Hutchence, aka Sky Fox, who is behind the series’ major mystery. As we find out, it’s Brainwave who cloned the supervillain Blackstar, with the latter killing a bunch of superheroes, including Tectonic, during episode 1’s major battle. That led to Walter’s nephew Brandon Sampson (Paragon) killing the Blackstar clone in order to save his dad – Sheldon Sampson (the Utopian), who is also Walter’s brother – and leads to Brandon breaking the Union’s ‘no killing’ rule. It’s a move that causes Sheldon to lash out at his son and forms a rift in their relationship. That’s not all. Brainwave is also the individual who frees the original Blackstar from his prison cell in the finale, which results in Sheldon further alienating Brandon after the duo team up to take Blackstar down. Sheldon hesitates when Blackstar, who is holding Brandon captive, baits Sheldon to kill him in order to save his son. Sheldon doesn’t as he wants to uphold the Union’s ‘no killing’ rule, which – after Blackstar is defeated – leaves Brandon feeling even more distant from his father. Ultimately, Walter’s plan is to destroy Sheldon and Brandon’s relationship until it’s irreparable. In doing so, he hopes to convert Brandon to his cause, overthrow Sheldon and the other superheroes, and install himself as the Union’s new tyrannical leader. This plays out in a similar way to the events of the comics, too, so long time Jupiter’s Legacy fans won’t feel that there’s been a major departure from the source material. To cause further instability within the Union, Walter claims that Sky Fox, the world’s greatest supervillain, is the one behind Blackstar’s clone and who released the original from his cell.
