Ivan Radford | On 18, Aug 2024

“You’re a social worker, you haven’t got any power,” someone tells Dionne (Adelayo Adedayo) early on in Supacell. It’s a harsh blow that’s fundamentally untrue, but it also gets to the heart of the show’s superb story: it’s a sci-fi thriller that explores what power means in modern society, as we follow five Black South Londoners who all suddenly develop special abilities. “I got all these powers, but what good are they?” sighs Michael (Tosin Cole), a delivery driver and Dionne’s boyfriend, after he discovers he can teleport through time. Their relationship kicks in motion an exhilarating, thoughtful blockbuster of a show.

Michael is the first character we meet to unearth his powers, which disrupt all manner of scenarios – his proposal to Dionne, a delivery trip to an estate where he almost gets stabbed – and set the stage for the stakes at hand: a flashforward to a showdown that requires him to find four other super-individuals before its too late.

The next hero in waiting is Taser (Josh Tedeku), a gang leader who’s increasingly clashing with the more established Krazy (Ghetts). When Taser is lured into a trap, he realises he can turn invisible. Sabrina (Nadine Mills) is a nurse fighting for recognition. When she stands up to a cheating boyfriend, she discovers she has telekinesis. Andre (Eric Kofi Abrefa) is an ex-convict attempting to raise and look after his son while working in a call centre. When he angrily hits an ATM, he discovers has super strength. Rodney (Calvin Demba) is a low-key weed dealer wanting to grow his business. When he tries to run to make a desperate deal in time, he finds he is super fast.

Writer-director Rapman – who previously brought us the brilliant Blue Story and Shiro’s List – never loses his ability to balance big and small, even as he makes the most of the expansive budget and canvas he has to play with. He ensures that every character’s abilities provide opportunities to improve or change their lives, then watches each one grappling with whether they should or shouldn’t use them. For Andre, his strength makes him a weapon that can easily rob a gang, even as he tries to set a strait-laced example for his boy to follow. For Taser, his invisible streak makes him a formidable ghost in a fight, even as he loses sight of his way without a role model to guide him. For Rodney, his speed opens up a 10-minutes-or-less discount offer that he supposedly can’t lose. For Sabrina, her powers give her a way to protect her sister, Sharleen (Rayxia Ojo), who’s blinded by the spoils of dating Krazy.

It’s Sabrina and Rodney who emerge as the more altruistic of the group, as they seek to use their abilities to help others rather than forward their own standing in the world. Whether they’re trying to be heroes or not, the ensemble are uniformly superb, bringing out the characters’ uncertainties, darkness, hopes and fears – by the time we get to the point where they’re together in one space, we’re already firmly sympathetic and invested in their array of unique situations.

What ensues is a six-part web of love, loyalty, bailiffs, broken relationships, criminal rivalries, unfair employees, microaggressions and violence. Should our group correct inequalities? Avoid conflict? Or simply try to stay alive? In a society of systemic unfairness, there’s a potent and timely edge to their respective dilemmas, as they navigate the difference between power and agency, between empowerment and control. Holding all those strands together is a remarkable lead turn by Tosin Cole, who repeatedly stole scenes in Doctor Who. He’s heartfelt, vulnerable, strong and compassionate, and his determination and instantly convincing chemistry with Adelayo Adedayo’s Dionne ground the expansive saga in Michael and Dionne’s genuine bond.

In between some exciting set pieces – including a barnstorming climactic car park confrontation – Rapman gradually peels back the reasons behind all these characters’ powers, introducing us to the sinister Victoria (Siân Brooke) and calculating Ray (Eddie Marsan). The scientific and social threads that tie together the show’s lore open up a world that threatens to go beyond the slickly shot locations in Peckham, Lewisham and Deptford. The result immediately recalls Misfits, but also the intimate dynamics of Raising Dion, the coming-of-age angst of Chronicle and the beautiful richness of Luke Cage. Yet there’s a unique voice, humour and heart to this British blockbuster that asks a pointed question: if these superheroes can’t make ends meet or save the people they love, what does their power actually give them? Roll on Season 2, which promises to answer that with even more nuance and thrills.

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