The Boys

TW: Brief talk of sexual assault

We've all seen a superhero movie, or 12. It seems like every other blockbuster these days is centered on some person or alien with extraordinary powers who saves the day over and over. It was cool in like, 2012, but after a decade of Marvel movie after Marvel movie (and a few DC movies peppered in there to remind us which studio is superior), the superhero market has become predictable and, honestly, a little stale. Some people will probably hate me for that statement, but for the general public, another movie where Captain America and Iron Man fly around and save the city gets old. There have been a few movies in recent years that have been a breath of fresh air, like Spiderman: Into the Spidervsere, but for the most part, I've been unimpressed with the same formula being churned out over and over.

And don't even get me started on superhero TV shows. Ok, I'll start. Gotham, The Arrow, Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D, and Luke Cage are a few I've started but have not and probably will not finish. A brooding lead with issues can only be tolerated for so long. I know there are good superhero TV shows out there, I just haven't gotten around to them.

The one I have gotten around to is The Boys (based on the comic series of the same name). This show began in 2019 and already has two seasons on Amazon Prime, with a third in the works (once filming is allowed to begin again). When I began it, I really didn't know what it was about. The trailers are pretty vague, but right off the bat, I knew I was going to enjoy it.

The cast is led by a foul-mouthed Karl Urban, as Billy Butcher, and a comically squirrelly Jack Quaid, as Hughie Campbell. Here's where the spoilers start! Hughie's girlfriend is quickly offed (on accident) by A-Train, a "supe" with super-speed as he stands there holding her hands. A-Train is a member of the legendary Seven, a group of superheroes managed by a corporation called Vought. Vought is all-powerful and quickly offers Hughie a settlement for the life of his girlfriend. He finds it unfair and is rightly upset. That's when Butcher shows up at his place of work. We're not offered much about Butcher's back story right off the bat, except that he hates supes and wants to bring down Vought and every superhero with it.

I won't give any more of the plot away ( I might, but that's your fault for reading this), but I did want to provide an analysis as to why The Boys could possibly be the most brilliant superhero TV show of all time, in my humble opinion.

First off, it goes completely off-script. The "superheroes" in this show are bad people. Not just flawed or possessing a dark side. They are straight-up terrible people. One is a rapist, one is a peeping tom, one sexually assaults one of his colleagues. Oh yeah, and one is a literal Nazi. To the general public, these people are next to God, put up as patriotic heroes without blemish or tarnish to their name. Any whisper of wrongdoing is quickly squashed by the PR team at Vought.

The second reason this show is brilliant is that the "good guys" aren't without fault either. They see through the vainer of the superheroes, but they aren't exactly saints themselves. Butcher is selfish and puts Hughie in danger often. Hughie lies and manipulates the girl he likes to get what he and Butcher need from her. Ultimately, Hughie and Butcher are likable, but the viewer is under no illusion that they are some type of golden boy and his grizzled, older mentor. The show was created by Eric Kripke, who also created the long-running show Supernatural, which has some similar themes, namely that people are flawed, even the "good guys."

Too many shows and movies have put superheroes on this pedestal that those with powers would somehow be good people or even if they aren't "good" their motive is justifiable. Even Thanos was given some weird storyline where his intentions were "pure," even if he did want to wipe out half of the universe. I think The Boys gives us a realistic picture of how people would act if they had powers. They'd use them to get what they want, whether that is fame, money, political power, or the creation of a master race (yes, that is a literal storyline from season two).

With season three hopefully dropping sometime next year, we'll see if they can continue the compelling storylines and character arcs, they did in seasons one and two. There are some new characters, but as someone who hasn't read the comics, I have no idea where they fit. I'm excited and if you haven't seen The Boys, I highly recommend it (although probably not with children present).