Prolific comic book writer Mark Millar shaped Marvel’s grittier titles in the 2000s, writing Civil War and adopting a grittier tone with the Ultimates comics. He went on to launch his own original franchise called the Millarverse, including titles like Kingsman and Kick-Ass. And last year, Netflix bought the film and TV rights.
There’s been a lot of speculation about which Millarworld title would get the Netflix treatment first, and now we have our answer. According to this new Instagram teaser, it’s Jupiter’s Legacy, “An original series about Golden Age superheroes having kids…and those kids becoming angsty millennials.” Former Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnight is in charge of the adaptation.
It will be interesting to see how Jupiter’s Legacy pans out alongside HBO’s upcoming Watchmen series, since both comics are self-aware, adult-rated superhero stories that provide commentary on the genre’s historical roots.
Netflix wasted no time in announcing a whole raft of Millarworld adaptations. While we won’t see new material for better-known titles like Kingsman or Wanted, we’re getting three standalone movies and a Spanish-language TV drama after Jupiter’s Legacy. Here are the plot summaries, as per Netflix’s Instagram post:
Empress: An original film about a space Empress on the run.
Huck: This movie wonders if the greatest super power is just all the friends we made along the way.
Sharkey: Adapted from an upcoming comic, a film about a bounty hunter. In space. Named Sharkey.
American Jesus: A comic-turned-Spanish-language TV show about a boy who may or may not be the second coming of Jesus.
Empress is adapted from a sci-fi comic about a woman married to a galactic dictator, who decides to leave him and take their children with her. Huck is about an everyday superhero who lives in a small town, and whose life is turned upside down by unwanted media attention.
When Netflix refers to Sharkey as an “upcoming” comic, that’s because the studio’s Millarworld deal also includes publishing new books. Netflix is branching out into comics, beginning with a six-issue fantasy miniseries called The Magic Order.
Netflix didn’t share any further details about these shows and movies, but we can expect hear more during San Diego Comic Con this week.
