If You're a Fan of Fight Club, Give The Boys a Shot

1999’s Fight Club is the epitome of a dark comedy. It gave us an apparently ordinary world where nothing was what it seemed, the hero of the story was fully obscured and it demonstrated the power that can be wielded by the average person. Fight Club is unapologetic, violent, gritty, twisted, and catches you off guard with its wholly obscene humour (the bag of fat, anyone?)

Now what happens if you take the feel of Fight Club and you add superheroes? You get the depraved look at beloved heroes you didn’t know you were missing: The Boys.

Welcome to a universe where superheroes are managed by corporations and are the main export of a for-profit industry. Superheroes spend their nights fighting crime (on a predetermined schedule, of course) and their days endorsing products and making movies.

The Boys

The Boys, currently streaming on Amazon Prime, is based on the graphic novels by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The Boys themselves are a group of normal (normal meaning they don’t have super powers - they are abjectly not typical anti-heroes) people who work to tear down the supes and the populism power they hold over civilization.

To keep this spoiler-free, there isn’t too much that can be said about The Boys as individuals. Each of them have been wronged by the community of superheroes that currently hold sway over the mob’s opinion. In addition to the powered types, The Boys are up against money, power and a rock-solid PR team; it might seem like a losing battle but The Boys consistently get themselves out of unwinnable situations (there are two seasons with a third on the way, that’s as much of a spoiler as you're going to get).

The Mentor

The Narrator (Edward Norton) meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) unexpectedly on a flight. This seemingly chance encounter sets The Narrator down a path that irrevocably changes the course of his life as he embraces the darkest and repressed aspects of his personality. In The Boys, Hughie meets Billy Butcher at the (currently) lowest point in Hughie's life. Butcher, leader of The Boys, has a burn the world style reminiscent of Tyler Durden - if Durden had been trained by the SAS. When it comes to enacting vengeance, Durden and Butcher truly have nothing left to lose.

Like Durden does for The Narrator, Butcher peels back the gauzy top-cover of the world to show the moldy scum of what lies beneath. This radicalizes Hughie and pushes him away from what is currently expected and acceptable in society. In both stories, the mentors and mentored have a complicated relationship. No father-figures here. Hughie and The Narrator both push back and resent the feelings (or the actual instances) of being manipulated and used. They combat a desire to be recognized and part of the team with the need to break away and follow their own moral compasses. Ultimately, both Durden and Butcher will leave you questioning what’s right, what’s wrong and what’s human.

(Side Note #1: Butcher is played by Karl Urban; he is absolutely brilliant in this role! Under that beard you would recognize him from some ComicCon favourites like Dr 'Bones' McCoy from the Star Trek reboot, Skurge from Marvel’s Thor: Ragnorak and as Judge Dredd himself in 2012's Dredd.)

The Seven

The Seven is the top-tier group or alliance of superheroes. Those that are familiar with the Justice League and the Avengers will notice some intended satirical similarities. Where they differ is that the Seven is managed by Vought International. Imagine, if you will, legions of bureaucrats and administrators at Stark Industries or Wayne Enterprises doing PR, management and tech support for their respective teams, all at the overall benefit of the board and shareholders. If at this point you’re not itching for Tyler Durden to show up and start taking down this industry, you might not have met enough bureaucrats in your lifetime.

A New Brand of Superheroes

The Boys introduces us to multiple new, yet familiar, superheroes. These are just a few examples of similarities to our most loved comic book characters. How many more can you spot in the show?

Queen Maeve has powers that are equal to Wonder Woman, and a look reminiscent of Xena the Warrior Princess.

Black Noir is a terrifying counterpart to Batman with a nod to GI Joe’s Snake Eyes. He is a mystery even to the rest of his team.

A-Train is your resident speedster, look to DC’s The Flash or even Marvel’s Quicksilver for inspiration. Comic book universes love heroes moving at supersonic rates, even WandaVision’s Tommy is based off of the character Speed in Marvel’s Young Avengers comic series.

The Deep, played by Gossip Girl’s Chace Crawford, can speak to marine life and breathe underwater, just like Aquaman. As much as Jason Momoa did his level best to make Aquaman cool, the character has long been the butt of jokes within the DC universe. That’s no different here. Just wait until you see what’s under The Deep’s super suit (bonus points if you guess the Patton Oswalt connection!)

Homelander’s blue eyes and blond hair make him the ideal poster boy for Vought and the Seven. He is seemingly perfect: he is strong and invulnerable, he can fly and he has laser eyes. Classic superhero. Homelander is summed up aptly by Gamestop:

The leader of The Seven has the powers of Superman and the over-patriotic mindset of a deranged Captain America.

The first season’s tagline was “Never meet your heroes” - if you meet Homelander when the cameras are off and see past that dazzling smile and immaculate hair-do, you may never sleep soundly again.

A Love Story?

Fight Club is a love story. Yes, there's a lot more to it than that, it's not a rom-com. But...Fight Club is still a love story. Marla and The Narrator find each other while searching for a way to feel anything. There are classic romantic ups and downs: Marla gets with the wrong guy (haha, poor Marla) they fight, they apologize, they fight again before realizing that "hey, maybe I've found the one." The ending leaves the audience hopeful that they've got a chance at real happiness. It's a bizarre ray of sunshine in the twisted maze that is Fight Club.

Hughie and Annie have the same unexpected sunshine feel in an otherwise extremely deranged world. Annie, AKA Starlight, is the newest member of the Seven. She and Hughie meet in a chance encounter without any pretext. Both still reeling from trauma, they find comfort in each other on a random park bench in the sun. As The Boys are set in direct conflict against Vought and the Seven, Hughie and Annie appear to follow a fated Romeo and Juliet trope. Despite that, they remain awkwardly wholesome and frustratingly endearing. It can't be dark the whole time, right?

NSFW

Fair warning to everyone, The Boys is not for the faint of heart or those with delicate sensibilities. Like Fight Club with its well-deserved R rating, The Boys is definitely NSFW. There is blood and violence, there is swearing, there is sex and there is wildly unnecessary gore (disclaimer: no whales were harmed during the filming of The Boys). The show is rated 18+ and the creative team holds nothing back. Absolutely nothing. Season 2 briefly introduces a character named Love Sausage….

A Bonus for Supernatural Fans

If you loved Supernatural, then definitely check out The Boys. Eric Kripke is the creative genius behind both shows. Fan-favourite Jim Beaver even makes a guest appearance in The Boys as US Secretary of Defense Robert Singer (maybe The Boys is just one of Chuck’s multiple worlds after all?) and lastly, the big news for Season 3 is that Jensen Ackles, the one-and-only Dean Winchester, is making an appearance. He’s been cast as Soldier Boy, a role inspired by Captain America, but you can expect a lot more vulgarity. Get ready, get excited!

Waiting for Season 3

Season 3 has started filming but there is no published release date as of yet. You have time to get caught up! The best part about a show based on graphic novels is the enormity of source material for you to get your hands on and really sink your teeth into.

Support your local comic store or borrow them from the library, there are a total of 72 issues to enjoy. Be warned, The Boys sometimes diverges from its source material; the original is even darker and more disturbing. Want more? Check out Fight Club’s inspiration: a novel of the same title written by author Chuck Palahniuk.

(Side Note #2: Simon Pegg is the inspiration for Hughie in the comics. Even better, Simon Pegg plays Hughie's dad in The Boys. Diabolical!)

Let's Wrap This Up, Shall We?

Fight Club is considered a cult classic (it’s over 20 years old!) but at the time of it's release, it was not exactly well received. It was controversial, yes, but also performed poorly at the box office and was initially considered a failure. On a similar vein, The Boys first published 6 volumes with DC's Wildstorm before being dropped for being a little too anti-superhero (understatement) for DC's taste. It took a few attempts, but The Boys finally made it to the screen and is now finding success amidst it's own controversy. Both utilized the genre of unflinchingly dark comedy, a risk that ultimately paid off!

The short version? If you watched Fight Club and loved it for the absurdity and darkness of The Narrator's plight, aren't bothered by violence and language, then you will love The Boys. Watch Seasons 1 and 2, and get ready for the depths that Season 3 will sink to.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article please consider leaving a ❤️ ! -CDB