Report: Jupiter’s Legacy beset with pitfalls before, during, and after production

Jupiter’s Legacy was supposed to be Netflix’s shining star (to mix a metaphor). The first series coming from the streaming giant’s megadeal with Millarworld -- comic book creator Mark Millar’s publishing company -- the team behind the show originally hoped to lay down the building blocks for a franchise that could eventually compete with the likes of Star Wars or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, per a new report from The Hollywood Reporter.

But alas, it was not meant to be. Shortly after its first season received subpar reviews, the show was canceled (with a promise of creating a spinoff series, Supercrooks, in its place). However, apparently it wasn’t just the poor reviews that sank the show. The report says that the series was plagued with problems behind the scenes: from the production going over budget, to a change in leadership at Netflix, to its original showrunner sparring with executives at the streaming giant before parting ways with the project. 

Per the report, which cites unnamed sources: 

“It wasn’t long into shooting that the show found itself overbudget and running behind, with [original showrunner Steven] DeKnight, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, according to people who have worked with him, clashing with Netflix over ‘creative differences.’ The production was shut down about halfway through its eight-episode shoot; DeKnight was replaced by Sang Kyu Kim, who then had to retool the first batch of episodes.”

The story goes on to relay that the problems continued even after production wrapped, with the show spending “an inordinate amount of time” in post-production and Netflix execs from the ‘Too Little, Too Late’ Department bringing in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance director Louis Leterrier to help steer the ship in the right direction.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the leadership change at Netflix included the executive who originally greenlit the project leaving the company. But with everything going against the show, you know what wasn’t? Viewership. Yeah, apparently it had pretty decent ratings. Go figure. 

All told, it’s a fascinating read on a show that had problems from well before it went into production. So, give it a read, then wonder if and when we’ll be getting that Supercrooks series anytime soon.