The truth is, TV superheroism is now a genre all of its own, with its own tropes, rules and language that have for the most part left the comics far behind.
Netflix’s Supacell, written and directed by rapper, record producer and director, Rapman is best seen within the context of that TV superhero genre and lineage. The six-episode show revolves around the lives of five individuals who spontaneously begin exhibiting superpowers – incredible strength, incredible speed, teleportation, invisibility… all the classics are represented. Where it differs from other superhero narratives is that all the people who get these powers live in South London, and are Black.
Its closest relations are not the Avengers, or even the Arrow-verse spandex crowd, but shows like The Umbrella Academy (which has an identity all of its own, distinct from the comics that inspired it), Misfits, Heroes, The 4400 and even The Tomorrow People.
The Tomorrow People
Oh man, I loved the Tomorrow People as a kid.
They remade it a while back and turned everyone into identikit ‘teen dystopia’ people with the same teal and orange colour palette as every other ‘teen dystopia’. I didn’t watch the remake, maybe it was good.
