The creator of a popular Netflix series about a group of black people from South London with superpowers caused by sickle cell anaemia hopes its success will spark a conversation about the condition in the UK and remove the stigma attached to it.
The hit series Supacell is now at number 1 in Netflix’s global top 10, with over 18 million views in its first few weeks on the platform.
In the series, a group of South London residents begin developing comic book powers – superhuman strength and speed, telekinesis, the ability to teleport and fly, and the ability to have premonitions – while being tracked by Health & Unity, a shadowy organization that offers to “help” those affected.
The show has been praised for its subtle interspersing of real issues affecting black Britons, from the everyday racism faced by black women on reality TV shows to prejudice in the healthcare system. But the biggest real undercurrent in Supacell’s fantasy world is the inclusion of sickle cell anaemia in the storyline.
Creator Rapman, aka Andrew Onwubolu, the director behind Blue Story, wants it to be a springboard to better understand the condition – which affects 17,000 people in the UK and can be fatal.
“Ask anyone for Supacell about sickle cell disease and one in five people know about it. It’s crazy how unknown it is, especially for a disease that affects so many people,” Rapman said.
“I wanted to raise awareness and make people with sickle cell disease feel seen and heard. I get messages from young people and parents about how they feel seen and before they didn’t want to talk to their friends about it and now they’re interested.”
Sickle cell disease changes the shape of blood cells into crescents or sickles, which can cause very painful episodes, resulting in coma and even death. Those who suffer from it have a life expectancy that can be 20 to 30 years shorter than in the general population, and it mainly affects people of African descent.
The world of Supacell may be science fiction, but in countries like Nigeria and Zambia, where the disease is common, it is changing the way people date, work and plan their futures.
In 2023, there were calls to recruit more black blood donors (patients with sickle cell disease may need a blood transfusion), while people with the condition have long complained that their requests for painkillers are not taken seriously and that they have to wait hours in the emergency room before getting relief.
But in the UK there have recently been some optimistic signs regarding treatment for the disorder.
The sickle cell unit based at Manchester Royal Infirmary opened earlier this yearthe first unit of its kind in the country to provide specialized care to patients in the Northwest, while a “life changingThe drug Voxelotor has been made available through the NHS to around a quarter of sickle cell disease patients in the UK.
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John James, CEO of the Sickle Cell Society, was pleased with Supacell’s success, saying his organisation has seen an increase in applications of around 20%.
“Sickle cell disease gets very little attention,” he said. “People who know very little about the condition think, ‘Wow, this is a different way to portray this condition.’”
James also praised the fact that Supacell had a character with a mixed background and sickle cell disease, which showed the “diversity” of the communities affected by the disease.
“There are thousands of people living with sickle cell disease and they don’t know,” he said. “That’s because people used to keep it a secret, there was a stigma around talking about it within families.”
James added that the superhero element of Supacell didn’t feel out of place and resonated with some people’s experiences with the disease.
“Sometimes because of the challenges that come with this condition, they have to summon a superpower to manage the pain and the complications,” he said. “They have to summon something from within that is almost a superpower.”