Forget The Boys: Netflix’s Overlooked 6-Episode Superhero Series Supacell Is Even Better

If you’re feeling burnt out on capes and laser eyes, you’re definitely not alone. The Boys pretty much saved the superhero genre from itself, mostly by tearing it down and setting it on fire in ways only that show can. But while everyone’s busy arguing about Homelander’s latest outburst on Twitter, there’s another piece of superhero storytelling that’s been chilling on Netflix, mostly ignored—and it’s much more interesting than it gets credit for. Supacell dropped in 2024, and if you spaced on it, consider this your official reminder to fix that mistake.

What Netflix's 'Supacell' Is Actually Doing

So here's the setup: Supacell takes us to South London, where five strangers suddenly wake up with superpowers. These aren’t the usual Avengers-style heroes—they’re regular people with day jobs and ongoing struggles. You've got:

• A delivery driver (Tosin Cole's Michael) who randomly gains the ability to time travel
• A gang member who’s now practically indestructible
• A nurse
• A father
• An everyday teenager

What really links them? Not just geography, but a shared history of sickle cell disease running in their families. The show keeps that front and center—it’s not some random genetic lottery, it’s connected to real-life issues.

The interesting part, and where creator Rapman (the guy behind Blue Story) purposely zigged when everyone else zagged: these people don’t care about saving the world. They’ve got bills, complicated relationships, and, frankly, better things to worry about. In Rapman’s own words:

"I wanted superheroes who worry about rent before saving the world. I hadn’t seen that anywhere else."

That focus is what separates Supacell from the rest of the spandex-and-flying-cars pack. The whole thing kicks off when Michael (the delivery guy) peeks into the future and sees someone he loves die. His mission becomes trying to change that future, but he can’t do it alone—he’s got to find and convince four strangers, somehow make them care, and dodge a mysterious organization that wants to hunt folks like them down.

Supacell’s Suprise Rising

Supacell made a real splash at launch: it hit #2 globally atop Netflix’s Top 10, scoring 33.5 million viewers out the gate—beating established hits like Bridgerton, Sweet Tooth, and Queen Charlotte. Week 2? Climbed to #1 with another 11.8 million. That’s no small feat for a show with zero major stars and no franchise name recognition.

Rotten Tomatoes gave it the mythical 100% critical score, audiences found it, praised it...and then promptly moved on to whatever else was trending. Still, it broke through, which isn’t nothing.

Season 2: What We Know

Here’s the good news: Supacell is coming back. The second season started filming in 2025—yeah, there were delays, but Rapman posted on Instagram assuring fans it would be worth the wait. Netflix is eyeing a mid-to-late 2026 release. In the meantime, the show’s beefing up its lineup with Frank Bourke, Tiana Simone, Richard Keep, and Ed Allenby joining the cast. No other concrete plot details yet, but expect the series to get way bigger as the characters step further into their abilities.

How Supacell Does What The Boys Doesn’t Bother With

The Boys goes hard, episode after episode—everyone’s corrupt, everyone’s on the grift, and it never gives the audience a shoulder to cry on. You’re actually supposed to feel a little gross by the end of it all. Supacell? Whole different animal. The show asks what happens to people who suddenly get powers, but still have to worry about debt, family drama, and just navigating a city set up against them—oh, and historically, African and Caribbean communities in the UK have survived by sticking together, not going solo. The powers don’t solve their problems; they just stack on top of everything else.

Where The Boys pulls apart the genre and shows us the nastiness underneath, Supacell uses the same setup to talk about responsibility, community, and what it really costs to look out for the people you love. Rapman himself says that Season 1 of Supacell is basically his 'Batman Begins,' and Season 2 is supposed to let these characters become what they were meant to be.

Given how much the show crams into just six episodes, that’s a promise worth paying attention to—and honestly, there aren’t many superhero shows you can say that about right now.