It happened with Stranger Things, Squid Game and recently with Baby Reindeer. Every so often, a series appears on Netflix that arrives without any promotion and quickly manages to carve out a place among the platform's subscribers and become one of the most-watched.

This time, the surprise has come from Supacell, a British series that has managed to stand out in a genre as worn-out and exhausting lately as superheroes, and which has arrived with a perfect rating from critics, who have given it 100% positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.

According to the official synopsis, the series follows a group of five ordinary people in South London who suddenly develop superpowers. The only apparent connection between them is that they are all Black. A man, Michael Lasaki, must unite them if he wants to save the woman he loves.

Starring Tosin Cole (Bob Marley: One Love, Doctor Who) and Eddie Marsan (Operation Fortune, Inside No. 9), along with a cast including Adelayo Adedayo, Nadine Mills, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Calvin Demba, Josh Tedeku, Rayxia Ojo, and Giacomo Mancini.

With a season of only six episodes, the series premiered on June 27 and debuted in the top 5 most-watched series on Netflix in over 90 countries. It is currently at number 3 on the list in Spain.

'Supacell'

Behind the Scenes

Supacell is created and written by Rapman, the artistic name of Andrew Onwubolu, a British rapper, record producer, screenwriter, and filmmaker known for addressing social issues and his unique storytelling style through rap.

Rapman rose to international fame with his three-part YouTube trilogy Shiro's Story (2018), which gained a cult following in the UK music scene and led him to sign with Jay-Z's Roc Nation.

He made his debut as a screenwriter and director with Blue Story (2019), an adaptation of his YouTube series of the same name. His other film and television credits include American Son, the remake of the 2009 French crime film A Prophet, and this new series.

In 2022, Rapman was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honors for his services to theater and music through rap and film.

Critical Reception

With a 100% positive rating, critics highlight Rapman's work, able to revive a genre that shows signs of fatigue. "In a sea of white noise television, this is propulsive and compulsive viewing," writes Alex Godfrey in Empire Magazine.

In the same vein, the Financial Times points out that "Instead of being another superhero story, this is a tale that uses the genre to consider how power - its presence, its absence, its denial - specifically affects the lives of Black people in a society still plagued by prejudices and inequalities."

It has also pleased Daniel Feinberg of Hollywood Reporter, who states that "Supacell has the specificity needed to be a great superhero drama," and Irish Independent calls it "excellent."

*This article has been translated automatically using artificial intelligence