Netflix: Series “Supacell”: The wretched as superheroes

The young marijuana dealer Rodney (Calvin Demba) is actually just supposed to run a few blocks through South London as quickly as possible in order to deliver his package of cannabis to a customer in time. But once Rodney starts running, a few seconds later he suddenly finds himself in Edinburgh, Scotland. What is happening? he asks himself. But he’s not the only one who is surprised to discover that he has superpowers in the science fiction series “Supacell” on Netflix.

The parcel delivery man Michael (Tosin Cole) can suddenly travel through time, nurse Sabrina (Nadine Mills) sends objects flying through the air. The unemployed Andre (Eric Kofi-Abrevfa) is just extremely strong and Tazer (Josh Tedeku), a member of a youth gang, can suddenly become invisible. What these five young people, who are barely coping with their everyday lives, working precarious jobs and almost all struggling to survive financially, have in common: They are black and their parents suffer from sickle cell anemia. This hereditary disease is mainly widespread in black communities, which is why there has been debate for years, especially in the USA, about the extent to which two-tier medicine also promotes structural racism here. There is comparatively little research into the disease.

The six-part series by musician and filmmaker Andrew Onwubolu, who himself comes from black and Jamaican South London, counteracts common superhero stories.

In “Supacell,” the offspring of sickle cell anemia patients instead inherit superpowers. Of course, they want to use this for their own benefit first. Michael, who learned during a trip into the future that and, above all, when his fiancée Dionne (Adelayo Adedayo) will die, desperately wants to prevent her death. Rodney uses his “Red Lightning” powers to make money from the drug trade. Andre plans a heist with a friend to collect his rent and child support for his son. Sabrina shows her lover, who is cheating on her, where the hell is. And Tazer wants to win a war between rival street gangs. Only over time do the five superheroes find each other, and their abilities initially scare them because they can’t control them. And of course there is also a state authority that knows about it, wants to control the phenomenon and benefit from it. That’s why a group of mysterious hooded men are soon on the trail of the five South Londoners, while at the same time they discover that there are more and more young black people who are missing.

The six-part series by 35-year-old hip-hop musician and filmmaker Andrew Onwubolu aka Rapman, who himself comes from black and Jamaican South London, counteracts common superhero stories such as those in the blockbusters from Marvel and DC Comics for a mass audience be told. But there is no heroic self-sacrifice here, but rather a comparatively realistic approach to the question of what city dwellers under massive economic and social pressure would do if they suddenly had superpowers. In this respect, the series is largely a somewhat too stylish social drama from the Brixton district about everyday racism with a lot of hip-hop, soul, pop music, gang crime, wild club parties, lots of drugs and actors that are a bit too attractive throughout.

In “Supacell,” there were mostly non-white people not only in front of but also behind the camera, which many participants found very pleasant, as they explained to the BBC. »Supacell« is a well-crafted science fiction series, but above all it offers a fascinating look at the superhero genre and ends with a cliffhanger. It is not yet clear whether the fight of the black superheroes will continue in a second season.

Available on Netflix