2024 - Supracell: how do the powers work in the Netflix series?

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In season 1 of Supracell, on Netflix, we meet carriers of a mutation that gives them powerful powers. In just six episodes, what do we know about these powers?

Sort of a mix between Heroes And MisfitsNetflix’s new urban series, between science fiction and fantasy, takes off to the top 1 of the platform. The six episodes of Supracell have been online since June 27, 2024. In this London odyssey, people develop supernatural powers. But where do they come from? Spoiler alert.

The powers of Supracell and sickle cell anemia

In just six episodes and with just as many characters, season 1 of Supracell doesn’t have time to develop his theme in great depth. THE season finale ends with a colossal number of questions unanswered. Among them, the functioning of the powers remains rather vague, but we still have some elements.

We know, for example, that powers are linked to an illness: sickle cell anemia. This plot element is posed quite early, when we learn that Michael’s mother (Toshin Cole) suffers from this disease. Sickle cell anemia is a real disease, genetic, hereditary, which affects 300,000 births each year. This is a mutation of a gene.

The series therefore inserts a fantastic twist concerning this disease: the mutation goes so far as to provide powers to carriers of sickle cell disease, a mutation then nicknamed “supracell” in the series (because, in English, sickle cell disease is called sickle cell) . Anyone can get sickle cell disease, but as the series points out, the prevalence of the disease is higher among black people (“ It was basically about turning a weakness into a strength. (…) And this strength is to raise awareness among people about this subject. “, explained the showrunner, Rapman, in an interview.).

When the power is triggered, the irises turn an orange-yellow. // Source: Netflix

When the power is triggered, the irises turn orange-yellow. // Source: Netflix — When the power is triggered, the irises turn an orange-yellow. // Source: Netflix

But how do the powers trigger? Part of the explanation is given during episode 5 by Ray (Eddie Marsan), one of the senior officials of the secret organization that is tracking Michael and the others. According to his explanations, direct proximity to someone whose supercell is already activated. And indeed, we remember that the first time Michael’s power was activated, Tazer (Josh Tedeku) was a few meters away.

Ray specifies, however, that this is the “most frequent” activation. This means that other vectors exist. Being in danger, or an extremely strong emotion, seems to be one of them. This is the case for Sabrina (Nadine Mills), for example, whose power is triggered when she learns that her boyfriend leads a double life; or Andre (Eric Kofi-Abrefa), when he can no longer find a job and is afraid of not being able to provide for his son.

What are the powers in Supracell ?

The powers identified so far:

Michael: time travel (past, future, stop), teleportation
Sabrina: telekinesis (she can fly, push objects away, etc.)
Andre: strength
Rodney: speed
Tazer: invisibility
Krazy: electricity

The entire team of supracell bearers. // Source: Netflix — The entire team of supracell carriers. // Source: Netflix

Michael appears, to date, to be the most powerful of all the supracell wielders. But the tragedy, at the end of the season, faced with Dionne’s death, also reminds us that their powers have limits: a sort of energy gauge, which prevents them from using the power indefinitely. Because, in fact, Michael is incapable of going back in time to save Dionne; as he had just done to save everyone else from Krazy.

We also know that the powers can be blocked by the technology developed by this mysterious research center tracking the carriers of the supracell. Likewise, they have glasses to reveal Tazer’s invisibility. This center, headed by a certain Victoria, already knows a lot about this mutation.