Tazer, Michael, Rodney, Sabrina and Andre start to realise the potential of their new powers.

After watching the enjoyable if slightly overcrowded and breathless season opener to Netflix’s new superhero drama, Supacell, my worry was that it would struggle to wrestle so many disparate strands to the ground, and collapse into the usual morass of overblown confusion.

Rapman – you wonder! – I offer my humblest apologies for doubting you. This is a terrific series. In the second episode centred on Tazer’s bid to harness his power of invisibility to elevate his crew from a small time neighbourhood gang to a South London drug empire, the fusion of nascent superpowers with the grim realities contemporary knife and gun crime makes for a heady cocktail.

A few streets away, Andre’s newly acquired superstrength is helping him to overcome the crushing sense of failure as a father; cheeky weed dealer Rodney can see how his superspeed abilities can make deliveries the quickest in the neighbourhood; and nurse Sabrina’s telekinetic powers allow her to tackle male violence and sexual abuse. Tying all the strands together is Michael, learning to control his teleporting skills and bring the new cohort together to fight an as yet unknown threat to come.

What distinguishes Supacell from its superhero competitors is that it has its feet planted firmly in the real world. My disaffection with the superhero genre is that these days, when I see the landmarks of New York or Washington, London or Paris being totalled, I yawn and shrug because I know they’ll be back to fall again in the next movie. Blockbuster Superheroes are all immortal so I don’t even care when they get killed…

What Supacell does with such skill is give its special powers to people who have nothing and whose objectives are modest in the grand scale of things. This is something I can be far more invested in than a CGI of the Eifel Tower collapsing.

Verdict: I’m genuinely excited to see how Supacell develops especially after a flawless third episode where everyone’s challenges are economically and sharply defined, and two sets of antagonists appear over the narrative horizon. Cracking stuff.

Episode 2 – 8/10  Episode 3 – 10/10

Martin Jameson

www.ninjamarmoset.com