The British superhero series “SupraCell” has been available on Netflix since June 27, and has taken the top spot in the best series on the platform.
Five ordinary South Londoners seemingly develop superpowers overnight. The group is not only linked to these powers, but also to the sickle cell disease that runs in their families. And of course, who says superpowers means a secret organization that wants to control them and that those involved will have to fight against as well.
One of them, Michael (Tosin Cole), desperately needs the help of the other four to prevent his girlfriend from dying in the near future. This series is SupraCell, the new superhero series from Netflix, which took the number one spot in the Top 5 list.
Is this an original story or adapted from a comic book? SupraCell is the work of British hip-hop artist Rapman, who is the showrunner, creator, writer and director of part of the series.
A new look at this genre
The cast of SupraCell is not well known on this side of the channel. We can therefore spot Tosin Cole, Adelayo Adedayo, Jasmine Monet-Prince and Eddie Marsan (who needs no introduction). The Dream while Sebastian Thill from Black co-directs the series with Rapman.
SupraCell takes a fresh and very cool look at the tropes and symbols of superhero stories, mixing social and political commentary with spectacle and comedic edge. But the question is: is SupraCell a comic book adaptation or an original creation?
Netflix
SupraCell is not based on a comic book.
The series is an original creation and not inspired by any particular comic book. Like M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable or James Gunn's Super, it follows the conventions of superhero comic books, without being an adaptation.
Rapman created the series from scratch and wrote all six episodes. This is not the norm for American productions, which typically call on an army of writers to flesh out much longer seasons, but it is common for a six-episode British television production to follow the singular vision of one screenwriter.
Netflix
But it is inspired by other superhero movies and series.
Although SupraCell is an original creation and not a specific adaptation of a comic book series, it fits into the long history of superhero stories in film and television.
The way the series grounded superhero narratives in a familiar reality can be traced back to the semi-realistic superhero stories of shows like Heroes and Misfits. The idea of presenting superhero tropes in the most realistic way possible can also be traced back to Unbreakable, which revolutionized the genre upon its release.
