Roye Okupe on Creating ‘Iyanu,’ an Authentic Nigerian Story, for Everyone
When Roye Okupe started YouNeek Studios in 2015, the driving force was his passion for comics and animation. There wasn’t exactly a clear roadmap to surefire success but he simply started plugging away. Nearly a decade later, YouNeek has published about a dozen graphic novels and comic books, signed a publishing deal with the iconic Dark Horse Comics, and launched its own app where subscribers can experience up to 2,000 pages of content, and more.
In 2025, Okupe and YouNeek will be releasing their long-awaited debut animated series, Iyanu, which is adapted from the Dark Horse-published graphic novel, Iyanu: Child of Wonder. In the story, the titular character, a young orphan, uncovers her newfound powers and uses it to save her people from an ancient curse.
Iyanu is produced by the black-owned animation company, Lion Forge Entertainment, and will be available to watch in 44 African countries via Showmax when it premieres. In the U.S, the series will be shown on Cartoon Network and Max.
It’s a huge leap from the self-published animated pilot for Malika: Warrior Queen, based on the graphic novel of the same name.
“This has been one of the biggest opportunities of my life, if not the biggest,” Okupe tells OkayAfrica in an interview. As the show’s creator and one of its executive producers, Okupe tried to make sure Iyanu would be an authentic story, as it’s inspired by the Nigerian and Yoruba culture. He also wanted to make a show that would be universally relatable.
“One of the biggest things that's important to me is that I tried to make Iyanu for everyone,” he says. “I never want to get lost in the fact that you want to be very authentic to Nigerian culture, Yoruba culture, but I want Children and adults all over the world to be able to see themselves in our characters.”
The series stars Serah Johnson in the lead role, while the rest of the voice cast includes popular Nigerian actors including Adesua Etomi-Wellington, Stella Damasus, and Blossom Chukwujekwu.
Below, Okupe talks to OkayAfrica about the process for Iyanu, as well as his mission to empower African creatives and African storytelling.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo courtesy of YouNeek Studios.
Roye Okupe has been trying to get the animated series for 'Iyanu' since 2019 when the graphic novel was released.
OkayAfrica: How long has this been in the works for you?
Roye Okupe: I released my first animated short film in 2008, so that's how long I've been trying to create an animated series on broadcast television. In terms of the story itself, we've been trying to get the animated series since the book came out in 2019. It's been a very long five year journey, but I'm very grateful for each step, and I'm really, really happy with where it is now and I can't wait for people to see what we've been working on.
The show is set to reach a wide audience, why was the arrangement for access so important to you?
As somebody who creates, it's always important to get your stories to as many people as possible. I think one of the things that's really exciting for me personally is that, even though I live in the United States, I was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. I moved here in 2002. The biggest thing that's the most exciting part of this is, yes, we got to create a Nigeria show that's inspired by Nigerian culture, specifically Yoruba culture, for a global audience.
But it's been done in a way where it's not just people in the U.S. or people in the UK that are gonna be able to watch it. It's everybody all over the world, including people in Nigeria as well. I think it's important that the people that are being represented have access to see their stories being told on a global level.
What would you say was the main guiding point for the series?
I always tell people [that] growing up, I didn't fall in love with Spiderman because he was American, I fell in love with him because of his characteristics, because of what he stood for and because of the way he carried himself as a superhero. It is one of my greatest desires to be able to create a character that's truly inspired by Nigerian culture but people from all over the world can be inspired by that character.
Photo courtesy of Lion Forge Entertainment.
Roye Okupe wants “Iyanu” to be a unique, Nigerian story with a global appeal.
How did you make sure Nigerian and Yoruba culture were shown in the series?
I always say, you know you're creating a show with Nigerian culture, so you need to have Nigerians that are speaking and acting like Nigerians. And giving credit where it’s due, Cartoon Network, Lion Forge and, and all the other producers, they welcomed that. I'm very proud of the fact that we were able to bring people from different parts of Nollywood. So it's not just the big stars, there are people that are super talented and are just getting on this type of platform. I'm very excited for people to see Serah [Johnson]. She has done an incredible job with this character, and just about every member of the cast. Nigeria is well represented, I couldn't be more proud of the work of the voice actors.
What other ways are you tapped into the creative side of Lagos?
I think, obviously, one of the ways that I stay connected is that I continue to work exclusively with Nigerian artists on my comic books and graphic novels. It's something that I want to keep going for as long as I can, because it's one of the ways that I can expose Nigerian talents to a global audience. Another thing that I tried to do (although I haven't done a lot of it recently), I have a YouTube podcast called The YouNeek Show, and one of the things I try to do is tell the story of how I've gotten here and give as much knowledge as I can in terms of what I did. It's something that I hope I can continue to do.
And then, hopefully in the future, I can do it on a larger scale where there's an opportunity to actually create a platform where I can pass on the knowledge that I've been able to acquire over these last 10 years. One of the things that was very difficult for me when I first started out was finding resources and answers to some of the big questions that I had.
What is your ultimate goal for when ‘Iyanu’ is finally out?
I was gonna make a funny joke about if I get $1 billion, but to be honest, what's most important to me is that Nigerians and Africans all over the world would see this show and they would have a smile on their face. They would see this show and it would be something that makes them proud to call themselves Nigerians, to call themselves Africans.
Again, this is a show that I'm doing for a global audience, so it's not like I don't want other people to enjoy it. But I really want my people to, to be proud when they watch this and, and to be proud to promote it and to be proud to recommend it to other people. To me, I think that's the benchmark for success.