Jupiter's Legacy Creator Says Series Is Avengers Meets The Godfather, New Image Release

Netflix has released a new image from its upcoming epic superhero series Jupiter's Legacy. The series is an adaptation of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely's Image Comics superhero comic of the same name. The story follows a family of superheroes who change the world and their children, who grew up wanting nothing. Millar tells Empire magazine that the generational drama and the epic superhero action combine, along with high concept sci-fi in its roots, to create a story that is "part-2001, part-Avengers, part-Godfather II". That's a lofty elevator pitch, but Millar seems entirely comfortable with it as he explains the series to Empire.

"It's a 50-year story self-contained inside one franchise," Millar says. "It's got a cast of 50 or 60 super-characters. The story starts in 1929 and runs until the end of time. It runs through all time and space and explains the mystery of human existence, all tied into a superhero story… There hasn't been one conversation where someone said, 'Can we make that explosion slightly smaller?' Ambitious ideas are being rewarded."

Millar isn't shy about positioning Jupiter's Legacy alongside some of the epic stories in popular culture. In a previous interview, he said he set out to make the superhero equivalent of The Lord of the Rings.

"[When I] did my first ever superhero book I had to do something bigger than Avengers or Civil War or Logan or Superman: Red Son. That was my plan when I sat with the blank piece of paper," Millar told EW. "I wanted to do one story that would become the biggest superhero epic of all time. I wanted to do the superhero Lord of the Rings that would be timeless and just a bumper collection of books people would be reading in 50 or 100 years time."

Here's Netflix's official synopsis for the series: "After nearly a century of keeping mankind safe, the world's first generation of superheroes must look to their children to continue the legacy. But tensions rise as the young superheroes, hungry to prove their worth, struggle to live up to their parents' legendary public reputations — and exacting personal standards. Based on the graphic novels by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely, Jupiter's Legacy is an epic superhero drama that spans decades and navigates the complex dynamics of family, power, and loyalty. From executive producers Mark Millar, Frank Quitely, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Dan McDermott, Steven S. DeKnight, James Middleton, Sang Kyu Kim. Jupiter's Legacy stars Josh Duhamel, Leslie Bibb, Ben Daniels, Elena Kampouris, Andrew Horton, Mike Wade, Matt Lanter and Ian Quinlan."

Jupiter's Legacy will debut on Netflix on May 7th.