Hated The Boys? This Superhero Series with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes Is Its Complete Opposite
It's a superhero story told from a very different perspective.
Today, there are so many superhero movies and TV shows that the genre as a whole needs a rethink and a new approach. Peacemaker, The Boys, Gen V and Invincible have already ironically and brutally poked fun at the absurdity of superheroes.
About a year ago, Emma Moran from Northern Ireland wrote a script for a typical sitcom about young friends in London, submitted it to a competition and won. Then, quite unexpectedly for the debutant, the series was ordered by Disney+ and a superhero topic was added.
Even before the premiere of the first season, the project was renewed for a second season. Extraordinary was 2023’s biggest comedy gem and deservedly received a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
What is Extraordinary About?
In an alternate world, everyone over the age of 18 has superpowers. Sometimes absurd, sometimes useful – from the ability to read other people's minds and force them to tell only the truth, to turning everything into a PDF file and pulling fish out of water.
Jen is 25, she works as a saleswoman in a holiday costume and mask store, and lives in the same apartment with her best friend, Carrie, and her boyfriend, Kash. Carrie has the ability to let the souls of the dead into her body and allows the living to communicate with ghosts, while Kash can rewind time.
Jen, on the other hand, belongs to a small group of people who have no abilities, which is why the main character feels like a loser.
Extraordinary Breaks All the Common Superhero Rules
Extraordinary is fresh and exciting because it excludes the Avengers, the X-Men, and everyone else – in the world of Extraordinary, there is no team of superheroes to help the poor and unfortunate.
Extraordinary brings to the screen eccentric and charming characters whose lives have plenty to be sad about, and whose lack of superpowers is merely a consequence of unresolved psychological issues.
Superpowers in Emma Moran's project are a metaphor for growing up, it's not for nothing that they appear at exactly 18 years of age. The screenwriter produces both an interesting deconstruction of an overly serious genre and an original sitcom with plenty of hilarious episodes. It is hard to find another show today that will make you laugh so often.