The first generation of superheroes has kept the world safe for nearly a century. Now their children must live up to their legacy in an epic drama that spans decades and navigates the dynamics of family, power and loyalty.

Mark Millar’s ongoing superhero comic book series makes the transition to the small screen in Netflix’s flashy new eight-part series, but beware that there’s a lot of world-building and a lengthy list of characters to get acquainted with.

Playing in two time zones – now and 1929 – we follow leader of the Union of Justice, Sheldon Sampson, as he works with his father on Wall Street just before the Crash, and tries to pass the baton of his superhero responsibilities onto his children in modern times. It marks a significant gap in time (90 years) and because some of the characters operate in both periods, they’re saddled with some heavy, old-age makeup. Some of these transformations are more successful than others.

Josh Duhamel (Transformers series) plays Sheldon Sampson/ Utopian, a surfer dude Superman, joined by his brother Ben Daniels (The Exorcist) as Walter/Brainwave and Leslie Bibb (Iron Man) as Grace/ Lady Liberty. The Sampsons’ son Brandon is trying to live up to his father’s reputation and yet cannot get the recognition he desperately seeks, while daughter Chloe wants nothing to do with the family business. Things come to a head when supervillain Blackstar escapes from the Supermax prison, requiring the team to come to together to contain him, with tragic results.

Episode 2 picks up with the fallout of the Blackstar carnage, except that Blackstar (Halloween’s Tyler Mane) is still in prison. So who was killed on the battlefield? Back in the 1920’s, the Sampson boys are coming to terms with the death of their father and some unsavoury revelations being hawked by the press. Sheldon suffers a fit and receives a message to visit a mysterious island, and presumably this is where the superhero powers will originate.

The show takes no prisoners, throwing a lot of information at the screen. If, like me, you aren’t familiar with the source material, you may need to need to supplement your viewing with some character profiles. That’s not to say the show skimps on its exposition, there’s just a lot to absorb in a short period of time.

Verdict: The leads are all engaging, there’s enough of a mystery hook to bring you back from more, and the prospect of a full origins story is tantalising. 8/10

Nick Joy