6-Episode R-Rated The Boys Replacement Is One Of Netflix's Biggest Sci-Fi Shows In History

3 hours ago 8

Published Oct 15, 2026, 1:00 AM EDT

Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock.

Netflix was notoriously reluctant to share any of its viewing figures with the public until very recently, but the streamer is slowly coming around to releasing those numbers. In 2023, Netflix started publishing a report called “What We Watched,” which discloses viewership data and reveals which shows are performing the best on the platform. So, viewing figures on Netflix shows only go back to 2023, so any claim about the most-watched titles “in Netflix history” really only refers to the most-watched titles since 2023, so the data is a bit manipulative.

If we’re including Netflix’s full history, the charts would probably be dominated by House of Cards and Orange is the New Black and early seasons of Stranger Things. But in this post-2023 world, more obscure titles like Resident Alien and the remake of Lost in Space can take a top spot on the charts. The most-watched sci-fi show on Netflix is Black Mirror, unsurprisingly — Netflix took a niche little satire on Channel 4 and turned it into a global phenomenon — followed by The Thundermans, The 100, 3 Body Problem, and A Discovery of Witches.

Supacell, a British superhero show that originally released in the summer of 2024, holds the #7 spot on the top 10 list. According to the charts, it’s clocked a whopping 51 million views and 265.7 million hours watched since it debuted a couple of years ago, which is no small feat.

Created, written, and co-directed by Andrew Onwubolu, better known by his hip-hop stage name Rapman, Supacell puts a contemporary spin on classic superhero mythology. Set in South London, Supacell revolves around five Black British characters, all tied together by a family history of sickle cell disease, who suddenly develop superpowers and get hunted down by a shady organization intent on capturing and controlling them.

Supacell Has Been Renewed For A Second Season

Supacell main cast exchanges looks in official Netflix poster

Supacell initially premiered its six-episode first season on June 27, 2024, and by August, Netflix had enough confidence in the show to renew it for a second season. Usually, Netflix can’t wait to cancel a promising show after its first season, and a show really has to hit to score that renewal, so Supacell must’ve done really well for Netflix. But it’s been more than two years since that announcement, and we’re still no closer to seeing that second season.

However, Supacell season 2 might arrive sooner than it seems. Rapman confirmed that the second season was filming in October last year, so the editing process must be close to done by now. Since we don’t have a trailer or a release date, it could still be a few months before we finally see these new episodes. If it’s anything like the first season, Supacell season 2 will be worth the wait.

When Supacell premiered two years ago, it was an instant hit with critics. Rave reviews praised the show’s style and its unique take on the superhero genre, but also picked up on deeper themes that the story was touching on. Supacell used a comic book-inspired superhero story to comment on humanity’s increasing reliance on technology and the fractures that individualism has created within Black communities.

Supacell was essentially Netflix’s answer to The Boys. The Boys is a much more juvenile and darkly comedic show, but they both take a decidedly grownup approach to typical superhero tropes, and bring a gritty sense of realism to their superpowered spectacle. With any luck, Supacell will be able to maintain its greatness as it goes into subsequent seasons, and won’t go downhill like The Boys did. Fingers crossed, Netflix will finally give us some official updates on Supacell’s upcoming second season before too long.