Next year will see the release of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely's Jupiter's Children; a 12-part superhero sci-fi epic which the writer apparently hopes will be his Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings. So, no pressure then! "It’s a story I've been thinking about for the past five years," the writer tells The Hollywood Reporter. "It's a massively ambitious project and planned as an enormous trilogy, the first one being I think the best thing I've ever written."
Thanks to the site, we have the following character descriptions (note: those aren't their names and we don't know their powers at this point) from a series which Millar reiterates will be his most ambitious project yet. "From Superman: Red Son to The Ultimates to Wanted to Kick-Ass, I guess I've been kind of training for this one. I love Batman and I love The Avengers, but they're either set in Gotham City with a solo lead or we're talking about maybe seven superheroes fighting a single antagonist. What I'm proposing here is a universe of characters, who have been around for a while and a vast network and world we can play with...This kind of scale, this event-level storyline...This is what I've been building to."
The lady in red
The lady in red, along with the guy in the parka, are a sister-brother duo of B-list wannabees who didn't make the A-list. "They'll do anything to get on the cover of the magazines and are only too happy to spread rumors and cause trouble as rumblings in the community start to spread," says Millar.
The Oldest Living Superhero
"He's had his powers since he discovered a mysterious island back in the Great Depression, but he's a curiosity now," describes Millar. "His altruistic ideals, like his costume, are just out of synch with all the young heroes."
Eagle-crested super-heroine
The lady who looks like she stepped out of a Legion of Super-Heroes story is "the old hero's wife and they've had this perfect marriage for almost 80 years," says Millar. "They're the last two superheroes with secret identities. They're old school and we love them for it, but they don't understand their children."
The Hero's Brother
"He isn't as strong or as handsome as his famous sibling and lacks charisma, but he's thoughtful and very aware of his legacy as he hits old age," says Millar.
"He's looking around at the financial crash and wondering if he can help in ways other than rescuing kittens from trees and all those nice things superheroes do."
The Cool Guy
Says Millar: "This guy is our Han Solo. He's the son of the biggest super-villain in the world and running drugs in from off-world. Incredibly funny, cool and likeable and, to make things quite complicated, in a secret relationship with the daughter of the world's greatest hero."
The Duo
Says Millar: "These guys are the kids of the old couple. They're both in their twenties and completely live in the shadows of their perfect parents. I like the idea of exploring what it would be like to grow up as the kids of the two most famous and beloved people on the planet. This side of things has a very Postcards From The Edge feel and there's enormous tension between them all"
The Man in the Parka
This is the brother of the lady in the red chaps. The two are B-list wannabees who didn't make the A-list. "They'll do anything to get on the cover of the magazines and only too happy to spread rumours and cause trouble as rumblings in the community start to spread," says Millar.