‘Supacell’ creator Rapman thinks superheroes need to keep it real

The artist known as Rapman long dreamed of telling a superhero tale, but he wanted to do it differently.

The artist known as Rapman long dreamed of telling a superhero tale, but he wanted to do it differently. Identifying himself as “a massive fan of the genre,” Andrew Onwubolu, who goes by Rapman, recently told CNN that he “always wanted to tell the stories about superpowers,” but was never seeing those in a way that he thought seemed believable. “It was just the things that the people in these stories kept on doing. Getting powers and getting a cape and the spandex, and then seeing the world,” he said. “It’s just like, I love it for the saving the humanity part, but realistically, don’t you have bills to pay first?” That desire to lean into the realism of life – even if the character has outlandish powers – led to the buzzy Netflix series “Supacell,” which Rapman created and serves as its showrunner. “Supacell” has been topping the charts on Netflix and the British rapper, producer and filmmaker is being hailed for his creativity. The series, set in south London, tells the story of a group of Black citizens who suddenly develop superpowers that they must adapt to as one man seeks to unite them to help save his girlfriend.