Superheroes reinvented: ‘Supacell’ is about to change the game

 Wormholes, spectacular VFX and Avirex jackets as far as the eye can see. No, this isn’t Marvel. We’re behind-the-scenes on Netflix’s new superhero epic ‘Supacell’. It’s a genre-twisting slice of London life that’s giving us superpowered heroes as we’ve never seen them before. And it’s the handiwork of Peckham’s own Andrew ‘Rapman’ Onwubolu.

‘Supacell’ is a long way from the rapper-writer-and-filmmaker’s guerilla-style ‘Shiro’s Story’. That attention-grabbing YouTube short signalled the arrival of a significant new talent back in 2018. If the bullish Londoner has anything to do with it, there’s a lot further to go. 

‘I know the ting’s levels above anything we’ve seen come out of the UK,’ Rapman says of his new superhero series. ‘I’m going big! I’ve put everything into this and I’m expecting to get everything back: the accolades, the numbers, the critical acclaim. I want all of it.’

He’s staying true to his roots, which is why I’m talking to him on a freezing November day on a set in Hounslow and not in, say, Hawaii. Like ‘Shiro’s Story’ and his headline-grabbing feature debut ‘Blue Story’ — another urban drama that, uniquely, featured a rapping Greek chorus — ‘Supacell’ is set in the streets and estates of Deptford and Peckham, his old turf. ‘Top Boy’ meets ‘X-Men’? Maybe.

Super civilians

‘Supacell’ follows five South Londoners who mysteriously gain superpowers and have their worlds turned upside down. For drug dealer Rodney (Calvin Demba), super speed solves his distribution worries, but for recently engaged delivery driver Michael (Tosin Cole) time-travelling alone won’t be enough to save the love of his life. Then there’s telekinetic Sabrina (Nadine Mills), strongman Andre (Eric-Kofi Abrefa) and Tazer (Josh Tedeku), a teenage gang leader with the power of invisibility

Mo’ Powers, Mo’ Problems

‘Supacell’, though, isn’t just the ‘Peckham Black Panther’. Rapman wants to make that clear right at the top.

‘Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Captain America… there are so many stories about people getting superpowers and using them to save the world,’ he says, ‘but I wanted to tell a story about what it would look like when people like us get powers

Putting South on top

As a teenager, Rapman spent his idle moments hanging out in his neighbourhood of Deptford, formative years that saw him crafting his spoken-word storytelling style. It found its voice in 2019’s ‘Blue Story’, a unique mix of London gang thriller and Greek tragedy.

‘They say to write what you know – and I know South London,’ he laughs. ‘I’ve never lived anywhere else and I still live there now. I know the energies, the personalities and the surroundings – and they know me. They remember how I used to run through these streets as a little kid and now I’m shooting a big show there.’