Entertainment
Josh Duhamel’s son’s candid critique of Jupiter’s Legacy superhero costume led to significant design change
Josh Duhamel has revealed that his superhero costume for Jupiter’s Legacy was changed after his son delivered his some useful constructive criticism.
Netflix’s upcoming TV series Jupiter’s Legacy, based on the Millarworld comic book series of the same name, stars Josh as Sheldon Sampson, a powerful hero also known as The Utopian.
Having obtained his superpowers in the 1930s, Josh and his wife Grace Sampson (Leslie Bibb), a fellow superhero also known as Lady Liberty, have to contend with the difficulties of raising their two grown-up children in the 21st century, all the while fighting evil forces threatening the world.
During a recent interview with Metro.co.uk and other press, Josh, 48, said that while he wasn’t ‘looking’ for a project like Jupiter’s Legacy when it came along, he was drawn in by the ‘family drama’ of the show, describing the narrative as ‘pretty subversive’.
When the time came to try on his costume, Josh had to know what his son Axl Jack Duhamel thought, who was five years old at the time and a massive fan of the genre.
‘He lives, eats and breathes superheroes. I had to take him to Target yesterday so he could get his Green Lantern action figure,’ Josh said.
‘But it’s funny because when we were first sort of putting on the suit and doing the whole thing and trying it on and doing everything, I brought him home some photos and some video of me trying it on.’
Josh said that when Axl first saw the pictures and videos, he ‘gasped’ as he ‘couldn’t believe I looked like a real superhero’.
However, when the Las Vegas actor asked the youngster what he thought, he received some constructive criticism.
‘He’s like, “Um, too white. It’s too white.” And I was like, “What do you mean it’s too white?” and he goes, “Too much white.” And I looked at it and I go, “You know what man, you’re right.” Because it was all white with the red thing in the middle,”’ the actor recalled.
And so, the Transformers star went back to those in charge of Jupiter’s Legacy and delivered his son’s feedback.
‘I went back and told the producers, “I don’t know if you guys care about this, but my son said that my suit was too white, and he’s pretty much an expert on superheroes.” And they looked at it and they went, “Do you know what,” and they agreed,’ he said.
That’s when Josh’s costume went from being ‘too white’ to having dashes of grey on the legs and arms, in addition to a sort of ‘alien language’ on the material, which the Transformers star said ‘broke it up a little bit’.
‘And I was like, “Oh my god, my little five-year-old just sort of helped us, just gave me a note on my suit and they actually took it.” And so, we got that, we can forever tell that story,’ he said with pride.
Josh shares his son Axl with Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie.
The couple started dating in 2004, before becoming engaged in 2007 and married a couple of years later.
Four years after Axl was born on August 29 2013, the couple announced that they had separated. Their divorce was finalised in November 2019.
Josh’s on-screen son in Jupiter’s Legacy, Brandon Sampson aka The Paragon, is played by Andrew Horton, while his on-screen daughter Chloe Sampson is portrayed by Elena Kampouris.
Also starring in the comic book adaptation is The Crown star Ben Daniels as Sheldon’s brother Walter Sampson, also known as Brainwave, and 90210 actor Matt Lanter as George Hutchence, otherwise known as Skyfox.
Jupiter’s Legacy drops on Netflix on Friday May 7.
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