I am so over superheroes. I’m done with universes and origin stories and mythologies and I’m most definitely done with movies that require a viewing of all previous fourteen movies to even comprehend the first ten minutes of the fifteenth. Done.
Superhero movies, with all of their complicated and intertwining stories and timelines, multi-dimensional, galaxy-jumping characters and eye-popping special effects, are partly to blame for the near-total disappearance of the small, intimate movies that don’t rely on CGI or portal-jumping pandemonium to hold your attention. Remember stories about real people, real problems and real relationships in 
THIS world?
Well, there may not be a way to put the superhero genie back into the bottle, and there may never be a way to make small, personal stories box office gold again, but showrunner and writer Emma Moran did find a way to mine the best of both worlds for her series Extraordinary (2023-2024), available on Disney+ and Hulu, and it’s a perfect formula.
Extraordinary is a series about a young Irish woman living in London who is struggling with all the things that twenty-somethings struggle with: her job, her dating life, her sense of self, her future. Her best friend is also having a crisis of confidence, as she isn’t sure she wants to stay together with her boyfriend, but doesn’t have the courage to break it off. It’s all pretty regular stuff, but the writing is great, the acting is excellent, and it is all very relatable and funny.
But here’s what Moran did to make Extraordinary truly extraordinary, and it’s what has made this already excellent series rise above, earning it its rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score: all the characters in this show live in an ordinary world except for one thing– everybody has a superpower. Some are really cool superpowers, like the ability to fly or to be invisible, but some aren’t as cool, like being able to 3D-print anything with your butt. Some powers are just straight-up odd, and some are downright hilarious. In this world, nobody is judged by their power, or laughed at or mocked, but you definitely can be made infinitely more popular based on what you can do.
What makes this so fun is that by adding this element to an already familiar setup, a premise we can relate to and identify with, it brings a level of absurdity and comic relief that not only breaks tension, but elevates the cleverness quotient sky-high. Oh, to have been in the writer’s room when they were inventing all these “superpowers” and figuring out how to reveal them in ordinary ways in the context of ordinary life.
I will not spoil the powers that our main characters have, because it’s so much fun to see them each get revealed, but I will say that the main plot of the show revolves around the fact that our heroine, Jen, played by Máiréad Tyers, is the only one whose power has not yet revealed itself, and that is yet another thing in her life to cause her anxiety. Jen is already cynical, sarcastic and self-absorbed enough—now she feels like a loser, too.
This show is not for everyone—it is most definitely targeted at a younger audience, so if you’re not interested in listening to twenty-somethings hem and haw about boyfriend problems and trying to find themselves, then this isn’t the show for you. But what kept me absolutely riveted was the beyond bonkers high concept that is executed with precision—and that is a rare feat indeed. The seamless integration of superpowers, with all of their CGI and built-in capacity for hilarity and distraction, with the stories of four young adults trying to figure out who they are and their places in the world is so well done and Moran deserves so much praise for two perfect seasons of television.
Unfortunately, the powers that be at Disney didn’t agree, as Extraordinary was cancelled last year, after two seasons (leaving it on a cliffhanger, I might add). So, unless another network or streamer picks it up, these 16 episodes that are currently available on Disney+ and Hulu are all we’ll have, so enjoy them while you can.
Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about Extraordinary is that it made me love superheroes again. Well, some of them at least.
2 seasons of Extraordinary are available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.