The Boys

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The Boys
Never meet your heroes.
Genre: Superhero Thriller Black Comedy Satire Drama Action Running Time: 55–68 minutes Country: United States Release Date: July 26, 2019 – present Network(s): Amazon Prime Video Created by: Eric Kripke Distributed by: Sony Pictures Television Amazon Studios Starring: Karl Urban Jack Quaid Antony Starr Erin Moriarty Dominique McElligott Jessie Usher Laz Alonso Chace Crawford Tomer Capone Karen Fukuhara Nathan Mitchell Elisabeth Shue Colby Minifie Aya Cash Claudia Doumit Jensen Ackles Seasons: 4 Episodes: 32 Next show: The Boys Presents: Diabolical Gen V

The Boys is an American superhero streaming television series developed by Eric Kripke for Amazon Prime Video. Based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, it follows the eponymous team of vigilantes as they combat superpowered individuals who abuse their abilities.

The series premiered on July 26, 2019. Ahead of the premiere, Amazon renewed The Boys for a second season, which premiered on September 4, 2020. Ahead of the second season premiere, the series was renewed for a third season in July 2020, which is scheduled to be released on June 3, 2022, and two spin-off shows were ordered respectively in September 2020 and December 2021. The first spin-off, Seven on 7, a web series, premiered in July 2021, The Boys Presents: Diabolical, an animated anthology series, premiered on March 4, 2022, and the second spin-off titled Gen V, premiered in September 2023. The show received critical acclaim, particularly for its writing, storyline, humor, and the performances of the cast, particularly Urban and Starr. It was also a viewership success, attracting 8 million total viewers in its first 10 days of release, making it one of Amazon's most popular and successful shows to date.

Summary

The Boys is set in a universe where superpowered individuals are recognized as heroes by the general public and owned by the powerful corporation Vought International, which markets and monetizes them. Outside of their heroic personas, most are arrogant and corrupt. The series primarily focuses on two groups: the Seven, Vought International's premier superhero team, and the titular Boys, vigilantes looking to keep the corrupted heroes under control.

The Boys are led by Billy Butcher, who despises all superpowered people, and the egotistical and unstable Homelander leads the Seven. As a conflict ensues between the two groups, the series also follows the new members of each team: Hughie Campbell of the Boys, who joins the vigilantes after his girlfriend is killed by one of the Seven; and Annie January / Starlight of the Seven, a young and hopeful heroine forced to face the truth about the heroes she admires.

Why It's Fucking Diabolical

1. Much like One Punch Man, the show serves as an excellent satire of the superhero genre, except that it also pulls off a very clever, realistic, and creative twist on what if superheroes are treated like good people in public when in private, they're anything but, which also serves as a satire of real-life Hollywood celebrities.
2. It is very faithful to the comic book it's based on, similar to Invincible, with plenty of interesting references to the comics.
3. Excellent special effects.
4. The show handles how and why many companies like Disney pander to political agendas such as making products marketed for women, LGBTQ+.... etc, and also making fun of people who are far-right as well without offending anyone in the process.
   • Heck, even they mocked them for doing their business practice. During Disney+ day, The members of The Seven poke fun at the company for promoting feminism and diversity. Like this one.
   • Stormfront is even meant to be a mockery of far-right conservatives who get triggered when they see someone who isn't white.
5. Top-notch action sequences, which keep the viewer thrilled and shocked at the same time.
6. Despite its incredibly dark and twisted sense of humor, the show executes it very well, allowing for plenty of black comedy.
7. Aside from all the dark humor, there are a ton of sad and emotional moments that give the characters a great amount of development.
8. Amazing writing.
9. The characters are very creative and memorable, such as Starlight and Billy Butcher, who are very well-written.
10. Incredible soundtrack done by Christopher Lennertz and Matt Bowen.
11. Unlike most other media that have memes in them, this show has funny memes that are on par with the time it's released, instead of being outdated.
    • The cool thing about it is that it wasn't meant to be the show's humor but rather it's meant to be how people within the show's universe make memes based on their superheroes.
12. Similar to Devilman: Crybaby, due to the show being on Amazon Prime Video, the creators of the show didn't have to hold back when it comes to extreme graphic violence, explicit sexual content, nudity, frequent foul language, and drug use, all of which the comic book is known for; otherwise, this would harm the series' quality if they held back.
13. Marvelous acting and performances. In particular, Antony Starr steals the show as the Homelander, managing to be extremely terrifying, unpredictable, and foreboding, yet also highly entertaining and hilarious at the same time, and never said the n-word (unlike the comic), whereas Aya Cash shines as Stormfront, depicting the character extremely well. Karl Urban was perfectly cast as Billy Butcher and gave an extremely memorable performance as him.
14. It does a great homage to the animation hybrid of Who Framed Roger Rabbit where Black Noir imagines his childhood cartoon characters.
15. Engaging storyline and themes.
16. Amazing quotes, such as:
    • "I'm Homelander and I can do whatever the fuck I want!"
    • "Well, well, well, if it ain't that damn invisible cunt."
    • "It was perfect. Perfect. Down to the last minute detail."
    • "You're a fucking disappointment."
17. It's like Watchmen but it's about the deconstruction of superpowers.

Bad Qualities

1. The characters can be a bit unlikable at times, especially in the first season.
2. Translucent is an unnecessary replacement for Jack from Jupiter (who does not appear or be mentioned in the show), and Blarney Cock's death by Hughie.
3. Some changes from the comics are a bit unnecessary.
4. Sometimes, the graphic material can go over the top to the point where it could resemble a porn or snuff video.
5. Despite being praised for his performance as Billy Butcher, Karl Urban's fake British accent has been criticized for not sounding authentic.

Reception

The Boys has been met with a very positive reception from both critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show has an overall critical approval rating of 90% as well as an audience rating of 93%, with season 1 holding a critical approval rating of 84%, whereas season 2 has already been even better received, with a critical approval rating of 96%.

On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews", while the user score is at 8.4, indicating "universal acclaim". It also has an overall 8.7/10 rating on IMDb.

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