How Netflix Fans Really Feel About The Utopian From Jupiter's Legacy
Superhero stories have a long, rich history of exploring daddy issues. They're constantly prevalent throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe as everyone from Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) seems to have issues with their fathers. This theme gets taken up a notch in the latest Netflix superhero show — "Jupiter's Legacy" — as the literal legacy of The Utopian (Josh Duhamel) is constantly placed under a microscope.
As we learn throughout Season 1, Sheldon Sampson a.k.a. The Utopian went to great lengths to give himself superpowers and bring a new kind of hero into the world. Throughout the decades, he's kept a watchful eye over the world, but along the way, he's maintained some steadfast rules, the most prominent one being, "No killing."
This causes plenty of conflict right from the start as we see his son, Brandon a.k.a. The Paragon (Andrew Horton), take a life in order to save numerous others. It's also clear his strict rules have gotten on his daughter's nerves as well, considering how she doesn't want anything to do with him or even take up a superhero mantle. It's clear his kids don't think much of him even though he went through so much to get these amazing powers. But what do casual viewers think of him?
It's safe to say he's not winning any "Dad of the Year" trophies any time soon.
Netflix fans can't stand The Utopian's strict rules
There's a common thread in many superhero stories where the hero refuses to kill because that would make them just as bad as the villains. There are points for and against such an ideology, but it appears as though most people agree that when it comes to killing one supervillain who's about to murder potentially hundreds, perhaps such codes are outdated. A lot of people who watched "Jupiter's Legacy" thought precisely that during the big fight scene in the first episode. Blackstar (Tyler Mane) is about to detonate, which will apparently kill all of the heroes in the midst of the battle as well as anyone else nearby. The Paragon takes him out, and for the rest of the season, The Utopian scolds him for it.
Apparently, not a lot of people through The Utopian had a point as numerous Redditors expressed their attitudes of his mindset online. Just take it from u/Rogue_Nucleosome who stated, "The fact Utopian gets mad at his son for killing a freaking monster about to nuke an entire state and who had just decapitated a fellow superhero when nobody gave a single s*** about it came across as ridiculously forced." Then you have u/horuseth_ echoing that sentiment: "How can someone write a script so frustrating when Utopian keep scolding Paragon for saving lives?"
In general, a "no killing" policy is probably a good idea for heroes most of the time, but it seems like pretty much everyone agrees the fight in the pilot for "Jupiter's Legacy" was an extreme situation. And The Utopian's unrelenting ways made a lot of people not care for him, like u/MyFriendMadison, who wrote, "I also REALLY hate the Utopian character and kept wishing someone would just off the guy already."
With a second season likely (although not yet confirmed), hopefully, The Utopian can win a few more fans with his next outing.