In a world teeming with superheroes, where absolutely everyone has their own special power, imagine being the only poor schlub who’s an ordinary, baseline human. That’s the high concept underpinning the new comedy series Extraordinary, which hits Disney+ on January 25.
Created by Emma Moran and set in bustling London, the eight-part series puts us in the shoes of 25-year-old Jen (Máiréad Tyers, who was great in Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast), who lives in a world where everyone gets some kind of superpower when they turn 18. Unfortunately for her, Jen seems to be a late bloomer—she’s still waiting for her origin story to unfold.
So, while all about her can fly or see through walls or what have you, our Jen must navigate young adulthood armed with nothing but her own wits and her sardonic sense of humour. But the question remains: will Jen ever manifest her gifts, or is she doomed to remain ordinary in a superheroic world?
The essential set up is not a million miles away from Disney’s Encanto —in fact, we’re reminded of the diabolical plan by The Incredibles villain Syndrome to democratise heroism by giving everyone technology-based powers (which the movie thinks is a bad thing—The Incredibles is weird like that), but the UK setting means we’re flashing on the unjustly obscure 2008 British series No Heroics, which put a similarly comedic spin on cape capers.
Extraordinary is a kind of quarter-life-crisis, coming-of-age tale, with Jen’s feelings of inadequacy in the face of her powered peers feeling very familiar to anyone who has looked around and wondered why everyone else seems to have their act together while they flounder with the responsibilities of adulthood.
Co-starring Sofia Oxenham, Bilal Hasna, Luke Rollason, Siobhan McSweeney, Robbie Gee and Safia Oakley-Green, Extraordinary has flown onto our screens faster than a speeding bullet.
