Netflix Renews 'Supacell' For Season 2

There was a time — short-lived, but it happened — when a Netflix series meant quality. From House of Cards to The Crown, these shows were well-acted with spectacular casts, gorgeous costuming, and sets; series designed to outperform HBO during the premium cable's peak. But by 2017, those in charge of streaming service had decided this was not going to work, and quantity was what was needed. Nowadays, Netflix's premium programs are few and far between — with the lion's share of those renewed going to utter junk, while the good stuff rarely lasts more than a single season, sacrificed to the almighty algorithm. 

That's why it was a genuine surprise (though a welcome one) to see Netflix's critically lauded Supacell, the only show released this year by the streaming service with a current perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes, get a second season, even if it took Netflix almost the whole summer to decide to move forward with it.

It helped that the series was a sleeper hit for Netflix, released with almost zero major marketing other than what creator Rapman (real name: Andrew Onwubolu, awarded an MBE by the late Queen in 2022) drove via his personal fame. Rapman, who, as his name implies, rose to fame as a hip-hop artist in the U.K., has been directing since 2018, when he took his Blue Story trilogy of albums and turned it into first a YouTube series and then a feature film. Supacell, which Rapman created, wrote, and directed with the help of Sebastian Thiel (Dreaming Whilst Black), is a brilliant mashup of a comic book superhero story, a meditation on growing up Black in the U.K., and a celebration of the unique British Black culture that has developed in the country since World War II.

Set in modern-day South London, the series revolves around five friends, unified by carrying the marker for sickle cell disease, which, it turns out, accidentally triggers latent superpowers within them. The ensemble cast stars a who's who of rising Black talent both in front of and behind the camera, with a gorgeous use of visual effects.

Though the renewal (which came in the form of a tweet) revealed little in the way of where the show goes from here, the poster for Season 2 confirms that the core ensemble will return.

The main cast from the poster includes Nadine Mills (Sliced) as Sabrina Clarke, Tosin Cole (Doctor Who) as Michael Lasaki, Calvin Demba (The Rig) as Rodney, Josh Tedeku (Boarders) as Tayo, Eric Kofi-Abrefa (BMF) as Andre Simpson, and Giacomo Mancini (Top Boy) as Spud. Adelayo Adedayo (The Responder) is also expected to return as Dionne Ofori, Michael's fiancée. The rest of the cast and official returnees will be announced in due course. Rapman will return to write all episodes and will most likely split helming duties with Theil again. He also serves as an executive producer alongside Anna Ferguson and Steve Searle for Netflix, and Mouktar Mohammed and Henrietta Lee for New Wave.

Season 2 does not yet have a production schedule or release date, but knowing Netflix, it will probably film in 2025 and arrive by early 2026.