I used to be a big fan of the superhero genre. I’d eagerly wait for the next Marvel film, booking cinema tickets for the opening night. My siblings and I would dissect the films in great detail afterwards and dive into social media conversations and theories. In the past few years, though, the superhero genre has become tedious, predictable and dominated by a couple of large-scale studios. The blockbusters just aren’t hitting anymore and I can’t remember the last time I sat down to watch a superhero-supernatural film or TV show. Well, until now.

Netflix’s Supacell is a series that brings a welcome breath of fresh air to the genre while also highlighting an important and under-represented health issue: sickle cell disease. The sci-fi series follows several Black Londoners from different backgrounds who find themselves developing different superpowers.

As they uncover their abilities, they use them to navigate the challenges they face in their daily lives while going toe to toe with a mysterious agency that seeks to capture, control and maybe even kill them. Over the course of the series, we find out that these superpowers are a mutation of the sickle cell genetic condition.

One of my favourite parts of Supacell is that each of the five main characters still has real-world problems to navigate because life doesn’t stop just because you can travel through time, move at the speed of light or become invisible. There’s no spandex, masks or capes, which serves as a reminder to the audience that these are real people and not gimmicks.

This was an important part of the series, as its creator Rapman told Netflix’s Tudum: “I want to tell a story about powers, but with normal people [who have] relationship problems, problems with their children, problems with their siblings, problems at work, problems on the streets.”

Another big part of why I loved Supacell so much is because of its diverse Black-majority cast and the fact it serves as an ode to south London – representing the reality of many Black British Londoners. Even though it sits in a fantasy world, it balances realism and escapism and pushes the boundaries of a seemingly stagnant genre.

Supacell is gritty, emotional, witty and very entertaining. Each character’s storyline is rich, developed and, most importantly, not confusing for the audience. A big problem with many of the Marvel or DC films and television shows is that there are far too many Easter eggs or plots you need to know and remember to understand what’s going on. But Supacell is not that. The plot is clear but never simple or boring, and it gripped me from the first episode. It’s been a while since I finished a whole series in a day, but this series is one worth staying up until the early hours of the morning for.

Images: Netflix