‘Iyanu’ Creator Roye Okupe on Combining Anime and Afrobeats in Next Project ‘Malika: Warrior Queen’: ‘We Are Really Blowing the Doors Open’

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…