Nigerian-born, U.S.-based author and director Roye Okupe is on a roll with the second season of his animated superhero series “Iyanu” launching March 21, just as he sets his sights on his next big project, “Malika: Warrior Queen.”
“Iyanu,” which recently scored three nominations at the NAACP Image Awards, has introduced U.S. and international audiences to a new type of superhero: a teenage orphan from Yorubaland — the region of the Yoruba people in West Africa, mainly Nigeria — who discovers he has divine powers.
Set against a world rooted in Nigerian mythology, “Iyanu” ranks as the No. 1 series among kids 2-12 on Cartoon Network and is a top 10 kids and family series on HBO Max. Produced by Lion Forge Entertainment and adapted from Okupe’s graphic novels, it is also the top kids’ show on the Showmax streamer, which operates in 44 African countries.
Okupe is now looking to take African storytelling to the next level with the anime-inspired “Malika: Warrior Queen,” which reimagines 15th century West Africa through the rhythm of Afrobeats — blending “breathtaking action, political intrigue and deeply human storytelling,” as the synopsis puts it.
Below, Okupe speaks to Variety more about “Malika: Warrior Queen” and his hopes that the success of “Iyanu” will help African creators break new ground.
How significant is “Iyanu” for you and for African storytelling?
I’m excited about the way the show has been received — the fact that we’ve gotten two seasons, the fact that we’ve also gotten two spinoff movies as well. Not a lot of creators can say the same thing about an IP. And especially for me, as a first-time creator and showrunner. But I think what this means is that shows with authenticity can still sell; they can still travel. I’m always very quick to explain to people that we are very proud that this story is inspired by Nigerian culture. It’s something that every single day we want to make sure we honor in the right way. And we don’t want to make compromises that take away from people or the culture that this was inspired by.
Talk to me about your next project, “Malika: Warrior Queen.”
“Malika: Warrior Queen” is a historical fantasy story that takes place in a pre-colonial West Africa. One of the things I wanted to do with this story was really show what an African kingdom looked like in the pre-colonial setting. But it also integrates fantasy on top of that. It started off as a graphic novel that has been successful. We got a 20-book deal with Dark Horse. In 2018, I made a short film based on the graphic novel that went viral. It has almost a billion views on YouTube. “Malika” was actually the first thing I went out with, but unfortunately, I couldn’t get it off the ground. Luckily, “Iyanu” is something I was able to get greenlit, so I put “Malika” on the back burner. But now that I’m coming off “Iyanu,” I’m partnering with one of the producers that was on the Honor [former DreamWorks exec] Doug Schwalbe, and together we are taking it out.
What we’re trying to do with this story is bring together two things that are very popular in the industry right now, which are anime and Afrobeats. Nobody has brought together Afrobeats and anime into one project. So music is a big part of what we’re doing with “Malika.” It’s not quite “KPop Demon Hunters,” where people are actually singing. But at the same time, music drives a lot of what we’re trying to do with the emotion and storytelling, and we’re also trying to lean in into anime. In “Iyanu,” we paid some homages to anime. But because it’s a kids and family show, there are certain restrictions that we couldn’t get past. But with “Malika,” we are really blowing the doors open. We really want to lean into what a lot of people admire about anime, which is obviously the mature storytelling, the more complex characters that go on these journeys. With “Malika” we’re putting this warrior queen in a position where she feels like strength is the only thing that can save our empire. But she then learns very quickly that compassion is her true strength.
What stage are you at with “Malika” ?
We are in development. I’ve written the first draft of script. Now, it’s really about trying to find the right partners that that can help us tell the story the right way.
What’s your take on the current state of African storytelling for the screen?
African storytelling goes back thousands of years. But part of the way stories were being passed down was orally, like natural storytelling around the campfire, with the community. Africans are very communal, so storytelling is ingrained very, very deeply into the culture. Now we are finally getting to see more African creators. I think “Black Panther” was sort of like a watershed moment because up until then, it felt very niche for African storytelling. But when you have a company as big as Marvel investing hundreds of millions of dollars into a theatrical movie that really honors the African culture in a way that a lot of people hadn’t seen before, I think that opened the doors to people saying, “OK, what more can we see from the continent?” So there has been a rise of people, producers and investors who are more interested. There was a moment where you had shows like “Iwájú” or “Kizazi Moto” on Disney as well as “Supa Team 4” on Netflix — all these African shows created by African creators and a lot of momentum was building. But unfortunately, we are seeing a sort of by regression now where there is less interest. Africa is at a point now where a lot of people have their eyes on it, but there is still skepticism about whether African projects can travel. I think shows like “Iyanu” prove that they can.
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