Tyler Mane on ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ and What Makes Supervillains Fun [Interview]

For years now, Tyler Mane has graced our screens with iconic roles in films such as the X-Men series and Halloween. Now he is taking on his biggest role — literally — yet; Blackstar on Netflix’s new series Jupiter’s Legacy.

I had the pleasure of talking with Mane about his new show and what makes up the psyche of a supervillain. 

Right off the bat, he was excited to discuss the premise of Jupiter’s Legacy, a Netflix Original Series that centers on a group of superheroes and their children — or legacies. 

The Union of Justice’s biggest foe is “Dr. William Henry Bendel, who is cocky, sarcastic, snide, [and] intelligent.” According to Mane, he is their “biggest challenge” because of the “anti-matter battery in his chest, that can go nuclear at any time.”

Tyler Mane can play these larger-than-life characters because he stands about 6’8″. His character of Blackstar is definitely on the larger side — he towers above the heroes during battle.

When asked how he manages to get into the mindset of a supervillain, Mane said, “I reflect on myself and everybody’s a product of their environment.” 

“I’m not saying that I’m a villain or anything, but I was a tall, skinny kid with glasses and braces and slightly dyslexic. I was picked on and ridiculed throughout my whole upbringing because of it.” Mane added that he always felt, “I have something more to prove. I have to prove myself; I have to constantly prove myself.”

This led to Mane discussing that mindset is exactly what makes a great supervillain. “They’re trying to change the world. They’re trying to prove that they’re on the right path. Which is what I keep going back to.”

While Jupiter’s Legacy is the latest in a string of superhero concepts to grace our screens, Mane believes this show goes even deeper than that. With its ties to current events, the show allows itself to make a more solid impact on the lives of the viewers. 

“It’s dealing with morality; whether it’s black and white — which is not its objective. The Utopian, who is the head of the Union thinks that it is objective, and he’s got a code that you can’t kill, you’re not allowed to kill. [Blackstar] puts him to the test on his code,” Mane explained. 

“Jupiter’s Legacy [also] deals with family relationships. The Utopian has to decide whether he’s going to choose his code or his family.” 

One of the really fascinating things about Jupiter’s Legacy is the focus it gives to the origin story of all members of the Union and the struggles they had to work through before gaining their powers. For example, all these members were alive when the Stock Market crashed in 1929 — which can definitely be understood in today’s world.

“I think it’s very relevant in what’s going on today, especially with people having to go through these tough times. [Jupiter’s Legacy] even touches on political aspects, whether or not the superheroes should have stepped in and dealt with some political issues. So it crosses pretty much everything that we’re dealing with in today’s society.”

While TV is usually seen as an escape for viewers, sometimes that escape needs a bit of reality to really draw us in. This is why the show succeeds as both a fantasy escape and a realistic alternative to today’s world. 

“It’s a great escape for what’s going on in today’s world. You get to get lost in these eight episodes, following these superheroes and villains through what they’re going through,” Mane said.

Since Mane is known for playing those characters that tend to lean more toward the villain side of the spectrum I asked him about what really excites him about these kinds of characters.

“They get to push the boundaries,” Mane was quick to answer. “Playing a character like that — to get to push those buttons — is a dream come true for me.”

Another dream come true for Mane comes through his production company, Mane Entertainment. He talked about their latest project and why comic books and graphic novels mean so much to him.

“I optioned a novel, which is called The Last Spartan and we are going to be doing a graphic novel about the last part which is about an MC enforcer. So it’s basically Sons of Anarchy meets The Punisher meets human trafficking.” Mane explained.

He went on further to explain that as a kid growing up comic books and graphic novels were his lifeline because as a dyslexic he could “look at pictures with only a few words.” These books opened up his world to the excitement of heroes, villains, and being tough in a tough world. 

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Be sure to catch Tyler Mane on Jupiter’s Legacy streaming now on Netflix.

You can also follow Tyler Mane on Instagram: @therealtylermane, Facebook: @Tyler.mane.9, and Twitter: @TYLER_MANE.

 

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