Four Things I Liked About The Netflix Hit Series: Supacell

Why You Should Watch The All Black Cast of Netflix’s Series Based in South London

“Supacell,” is a Netflix series directed by Andrew Onwubolu, also known as Rapman. It’s about a group of ordinary black people from South London who get superpowers and as they do, they figure out how to live their normal lives, help their loved ones and stay alive as an agency’s targeting them.

What I enjoyed about Supacell is getting to watch a superhero series which comprises of an all-black cast. I also liked watching these characters live out their normal lives while still coming to terms with having powers. Then, there is the leading cast of black women with their interesting personalities and also there’s an awareness of sickle cell disease.

1. A SuperHero Series with a Majority of Black Castmates

I’m used to watching superheroes in the cinemas. That’s superhero movies like Superman, Spiderman, the Hulk and Thor. Then, we have a few superhero films with leading black actors like the late Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther and then, we got to see Letitia Wright take the leading role in Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever . Then, other superhero films include Will Smith in Hancock and Men in Black. So, I was pleasantly surprised to watch a Netflix series about a group of black people with different superpowers. This is new as we don’t typically see such genres as a series.

It was fun to watch the black cast such as Tosin Cole as Michael who can time travel, Nadine Mills as Sabrina Clarke who has telekinetic abilities and Calvin Demba as Rodney Cullen who has super speed and healing powers. Then, there’s Eric Kofi-Abrefa as Andre who has super-strength and Josh Tedeku as Tazer who is invisible.

From watching these characters, I thought it was humorous how Rodney immediately went from shocked to excited and eager about his power of speed when we watched him run from London to Scotland and then tried to but failed to show his friend his power in his apartment.

Then, there’s Josh Tedeku as Tazer who is a gang leader and when he finds out his power, his friends seem to get a kick out of it and were not at all frightened about how he’s in one place at one moment and then out in the next. It was entertaining to watch the scene where he is with his gang and he shows them his powers. He disappears and comes back and they are astounded.

2. A Plot Based on The Supernatural and a Normal Life

Another thing I enjoyed about Supacell is that though the show is based on characters who have superhuman powers, we still watch them live their normal lives.

There’s Eric Kofi-Abrefa as Andre who has super-strength. As he tries to figure out his powers, we watch him go through the difficulties of figuring out his life after coming out of prison and wanting to be a good father to his son. Then, there’s the difficulty of finding work due to his criminal record and the dilemma of his choosing to work for an agency that seeks to catch and trap those who have powers like himself.

As for Nadine Mills, she plays the role of Sabrina Clarke who is a nurse and as she figures out her powers, she tries to keep it under control while working at the hospital and going through a break-up. Then, she also looks out for her sister: Rayxia Ojo who plays the role of Sharleen Clarke who is dating who would be considered the villain: Krazy.

Then there’s Tosin Cole, the main character who plays the role of Michael: a mail delivery man who is eager to propose to his girlfriend but his powers take him by surprise and affect his life completely. As he time travels, he realises his girlfriend would die sooner than expected and he sees that there would be a battle between those who have these powers.

We also watch Josh Tedeku as Tazer who is part of a gang and uses his powers of invisibility as part of his gang activities. He goes through his set of challenges as he worries about his grandmother who raised him and then, there’s his friend who gets shot and ends up in the hospital with the possibility of never being able to walk again.

It’s great to watch these characters in action and also see them face everyday challenges in their lives.

3. An Awareness About the Sickel Cell Disease

Another thing I found particularly great about this series is that it brought to light an awareness of sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease is said to be an inherited group of disorders, red blood cells that turn into a sickle shape. The cells die early, leaving a shortage of healthy red blood cells and can block blood flow causing pain, stroke, eye problems and infections. The disease is said to be a lifelong illness and a bone marrow transplant is one of the only cure for sickle cell disease.

In the series, we find out that Michael’s mother has sickle cell disease and Andre’s father passed away from the disease.

The fact that this disease is often mentioned in the film creates more awareness about it and because these characters with superpowers come from parents who had the disease, this creates a unique element of seeing them as powerful. The illness is depicted in a somewhat empowering light which is what the Director Rapman intended.

4. A Dynamic Cast of Black Women

In Supacell, I like the different personalities of black women we see in this series. There’s Michael’s girlfriend: Adelayo Adedayo who plays the role of Dionne. Dionne is a concerned social worker and a caring and supportive fiance who tries to understand her boyfriend’s powers to help him. Though Michael doesn’t want her going too in-depth about what it all pertains to because he knows what the future holds.

In Dionne’s role, though viewers are heartbroken to know she will die, we do take note of her strength in accepting her faith and wanting to be there to help Michael and find out more about those who have the powers.

Then, there’s Nadine Mills as Sabrina Clarke. Her character is determined in her role as she wants to keep her powers under control while at the hospital as a nurse. Also, there’s that endearing scene where she feels she would be sanctioned for the mistake of attempting to give a patient too much of a drug but she instead finds out she’d be promoted as the head/senior nurse.

Still on Sabrina’s character, there’s her sister Rayxia Ojo who plays the role of Sharleen Clarke. Rayxia’s character is a bit more feisty than her sister. She’s in a relationship with Krazy, a gang leader who uses his powers to hurt others. Though Sharleen doesn’t make the best decisions, she’s still outspoken in the way she conducts herself as she encourages her sister Sabrina to find out that her boyfriend cheated on her.

What I Wanted More Of/ What I Look Forward to In Season 2

Even though I said that one of the things I enjoyed about Supacell was that we get to watch ordinary people have superpowers, I felt these characters were too quick to accept it. There wasn’t enough of a development of the characters understanding why and how they got their powers. It just seemed as though, well they got it and now, how can they use it to their advantage? Sabrina’s character seemed more realistic because she was taken aback and trying to figure out how to manage it. But Rodney was quick to see how he could use it to sell drugs and Tazar was going to use it to fight against another gang and even threatened to kill the leader.

Also, like most viewers, I didn’t want to see Dionne die and I hope that we could have seen more of her relationship with Michael develop. But in Season 2, I look forward to finding out more about what Michael wants to do to take down the Hooded Figures as he travels back and forth in time.

Then, of course, I want to find out more about how Sabrina manages her powers in her workplace and what happens to her sister Sharleen? Also, it might be interesting to see if she’s given powers too because it could be entertaining to watch what she would do with it...

As far as their regular lives, I’m curious about Rodney’s story and his relationship with his mother and biological father. What happened there? Rodney says that his mom’s husband is a racist but I want to know more about his story. Then, of course, there’s Andre. I wonder how he would manage his powers if his son were to find out. Whether he’d ever get a normal job and would he end up back in jail? We hope not!

In Conclusion

Supacell is a fun series on Netflix that you should watch and re-watch as we get to see ordinary black people from South London get superpowers and figure out how to manage it in their everyday lives.

From a mail delivery man who can time-travel to a nurse who has kinetic powers, a drug seller who can run fast, an ex-con mate who has superstrength and a gang member who is invincible. These character’s powers are fascinating and as we watch them figure out how to use their powers, live their ordinary lives and stay alive while being targeted by an agency that wants to cage them, we’re in awe, we’re excited, we’re contemplative and we’re certainly rooting for them!

I look forward to Season 2.