Jupiter's Legacy's failure shows the challenges of Netflix creating franchises from scratch

Observer

Netflix reportedly spent "around $200 million" making Jupiter's Legacy after forking over $100 million to acquire comic book publisher Mark Millar's Millarworld in 2017. The result was a superhero show canceled less than a month after its debut, though a Supercrooks series from the Jupiter's Legacy universe is in the works. "It’s clear that Jupiter’s Legacy, which was met with mostly negative reviews, failed to meet expectations," says Brandon Katz. "Why does this matter, outside of the immense sunken cost it represents? In April, we wrote about how Netflix was hoping to become a Disney-like entity by developing its own original intellectual property into multi-pronged franchises. First, this would lessen the streamer’s reliance on costly licensed IP, which is rapidly shrinking as nearly every major Hollywood studio reclaims its content for in-house streamer. Second, it would provide increased engagement for subscribers across multiple prospective projects, rather than individual weekend binges with no funnel into follow-up programming. But creating franchises from scratch is far more difficult than recycling IP from 100-year-old libraries. It remains unclear if Netflix is capable of developing the same sort of universe-spanning franchises that support multiple projects in the same way that its studio rivals (Disney, Warner Bros., etc) do. Jupiter‘s Legacy was meant to be a launching pad in that vein. Instead, it’s a costly misfire with an uncertain future...There are no spinoffs publicly planned for Stranger Things. Bridgerton Season 2 will arrive without the show’s breakout star. What does it mean for the expensive IP if The Witcher companion series flops? Disney isn’t facing the same sort of questions for established franchises such as Marvel and Star Wars. Netflix, on the other hand, is attempting to turn new-to-screen brands and concepts into full-fledged blockbusters."