Based on the comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, and created for televsion by Evan Goldberg, Eric Kripke and Seth Rogen, The Boys offers a unique take on superheroes. Set in a world full of people with remarkable abilities, many of these individuals use their powers to gain celebrity-like status. Comprising this fictional universes A-List is a group of heroes known as The Seven. Rather than portraying them as the expected wholesome heroes, the show casts (most) of the heroes as the villains of the piece. Our heroes are instead a rag-tag group of vigilantes, intent on bringing the superheros down.
It all begins after Hughie Campbell’s (Jack Quaid) girlfriend ends up collateral damage whilst one of The Seven, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) is in the middle of a rescue. Distraught and angry, Hughie finds himself working alongside a rather bristly Billy Butcher, a man with his own vendetta against The Seven. At the same time we join Starlight (Erin Moriarty), the latest to be recruited into the elite league of The Seven. She’s not the same as the her vain conceited and icy colleagues and soon finds herself struggling to fit in. Slowly the two worlds star to collide and battle lines are drawn.
The core focus of the show is of course The Seven, a riff on the Justice League, albeit a much more unsavoury version. Heading the team up is The Boys’ version of Superman, Homelander. Played by Banshee‘s Antony Starr, Homelander offers a villainous take on the man of steel. On the outside he is the embodiment of the perfect saviour, worshipped across the globe. Inside however, he’s harbouring a whole host of darkness – and mummy issues. It’s an interesting spin on such a recognisable hero, one that aligns nicely with last year’s Brightburn, and proves that we probably should be more afraid of someone with that much power.
Other members include Translucent, a man with the ability to become invisible, whom spends his time hanging out in the ladies toilets; A-Train is an egocentric version of The Flash; and Gossip Girl‘s Chace Crawford parodies Aquaman with his role, The Deep. Then there’s Queen Maeve, a mixture of Wonder Woman and Xena, who has become jaded by the life. They’re an eclectic mix of characters, each having their own demons and journeys to travel, each making for some compelling television.
The cast is an impressive mix of fresh and familiar faces. Jack Quaid and Erin Moriarty are relatively new to leading roles, and both add just the right amount of innocence and bubbling spite that their on-screen counterparts require. Of the familiar faces, Karl Urban is arguably the most familiar and as Billy Butcher he’s a rough, tough, foul-mouthed bad-ass. He’s not just a one-note character though, having a heart-breaking reason to hate the leader of The Seven, Homelander. It’s a pleasure seeing him on any screen, and his turn here demonstrates just how good Urban could be in a Dread series. Elisabeth Shue gives a great turn as The Seven’s handler, and Simon Pegg pops up as Hughie’s rather polite father.
Be warned, The Boys is most certainly not like the MCU or DCU films that you are used to. The show has an eighteen certificate for very good reasons and doesn’t take too long to demonstrate just how far removed it is from the superhero cinematic universes. We open with one of the bloodiest, unexpected, and insane deaths in history, and from there the show just gets darker and more depraved. This definitely isn’t a show to watch with the kiddies, well not unless you want them dropping C bombs everywhere. The guts, gore and expletives aren’t there merely to shock though, they also serve to reinforce the viciousness of this fictional world and the cutthroat nature of those inhabiting it.
The show also explores a wide range of political and social issues. Running parallel to our over-arching story of revenge, there’s a sub-plot involving petitions to get the supes into the military (which raises its own set of issues), sexual identity, addiction, and sexual assault. These extra plot points elevate the show from being one-note and serve to make it just as accessible to those with no interest in the super-powered.
The Boys has been available on Amazon Prime for a while, but now finally arrives on DVD and Blu-Ray. There’s not much in terms of special features, just a simple Blooper Reel, but with so many themes to explore and nuances to pick apart, this is a show worthy of ownership and repeated enjoyment over and over again.
The Boys Season One is available to own on DVD and Blu-Ray now.
