Supacell review – these superpowered Black Londoners are an absolute riot

Existential crisis … Tosin Cole as Michael in Supacell. Photograph: Netflix

When it comes to superpowers, there are two that are considered the most desirable: flight and invisibility. As the US writer John Hodgman once pointed out, people who would choose flight have nothing to hide and are selfless, competent and unashamed. People who’d choose invisibility are deceitful, fearful, perverts.

The subjects of Supacell don’t have the privilege of choosing the powers they are assigned. Instead, they find themselves reeling from sudden supernatural abilities. Sweet nurse Sabrina (Nadine Mills) is given telekinesis, young rapscallion Tazer (Josh Tedeku) can turn invisible and become a “ghost”, inept drug dealer Rodney (Calvin Demba) can run to Edinburgh in a few seconds, single dad Andre (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) has extraordinary strength and can lift cars without breaking a sweat, and the show’s heart and soul, Michael (Tosin Cole), can move through time and space in the blink of an eye.

The recently betrothed Michael is the closest thing the show has to a traditional hero – a hard-working man determined to build a comfortable life and own a car and a flat where he can watch Love Island on the sofa with his childhood sweetheart, Dionne (Adelayo Adedayo). He’s horrified to learn of his newfound abilities, and through him the series confronts the existential crisis that comes when unwanted superpowers are thrust upon you. Aside from the occasional perk of boosting the efficiency of your drug-dealing business or smashing open a cash machine when funds are low, this group of strangers are simply rolling with the punches as Black Londoners who want to live their best lives.

Showrunner and lead director Rapman’s sprawling sci-fi is an absolute riot, strikingly performed and bracingly plotted to a sensational soundtrack with five nuanced characters all battling complex problems. Michael’s arc – nice dude who wants to protect his fiancee – is the most simplistic, while Sabrina wants to defend her witty hot mess of a sister from the terrible men in her orbit. Tazer is aware that if he continues on his path of battling rival gangs, it will end in someone’s demise. Andre, most compelling of all, is struggling to hold down a job with a criminal record and prevent his teenage son from emulating him – and ending up dehumanised and degraded behind bars.

Thanks to Michael’s new time-travelling powers, the stakes are made clear early on when he gets a glimpse of a catastrophic potential future awaiting this ensemble. If these superpowered Black Londoners aren’t able to cohere as a group and defeat the dark forces targeting them, the future looks bleak and loved ones will be lost. It’s only unfortunate that in the five of six episodes provided for review, the shadowy threat is headed up by a sleepwalking Eddie Marsan who seems supremely bored at points.

Thankfully, the vast majority of the show is dedicated to the plight of our central misfits (pun intended, as Supacell seems to share DNA with the beloved Channel 4 show, going so far as to set scenes in the same distinctive Thamesmead estate). But even if the series has many touchpoints in terms of prior series and characters with supernatural abilities, it still feels wholly distinct, with the characters’ lives realised in a way that rivals the best of contemporary prestige television. It doesn’t quite reach the heady heights of Top Boy in terms of a sprawling portrait of Black Britishness, but neither did Top Boy in its debut season.

Even without seeing the final episode, it’s clear that this is a world crying out for more exploration. The intriguing sci-fi elements and the ingenious ways characters react to getting powers – from fighting off bailiffs to trying to prevent sexual violence – are just the beginning. This is not your typical superhero origin story, where preserving truth, justice and the American way is the primary concern. Instead, the characters are operating in a society where the odds are stacked against them, and they are all struggling to make ends meet and avoid violence. Their priority is to use the unexpected new tools at their disposal to even the playing field.

The action sequences are a little infrequent, with a good proportion of them consisting of Michael and Rodney using their powers to make a swift exit at the first sign of trouble. But hopefully, given how compelling and charming this cast is, there will be plenty more battles in future. They didn’t choose their powers – or to save the day – but when a show is this much fun it’s extremely good news that their powers chose them.

Supacell is on Netflix