I’m finally starting to use Amazon Prime Video to its full potential (in my opinion), so with that I’ve just finished the freshman season of the gritty graphic novel adaptation of The Boys. Aside from it being gritty, it is also vulgar, bloody, and violent. Three of my favorite things! This show is not for the flowery faint of heart folks. This show packs a punch in the most fun way!
I’d never read this graphic novel (or any, really), so I had nothing to base it on, but based on cast interviews, it sounds like they stay fairly faithful to the source material, although it sounds like they may have had to tone down a few things to make it film-able. Which seems crazy to me because so much crazy, insane, and inappropriate things happen in eight episodes!
In case you are unfamiliar with The Boys, who’s first season premiered last summer, it follows tech worker, Hughie, who’s life has just been drastically changed after superhero, A-Train, part of “The Seven,” literally runs through his girlfriend. In comes Billy Butcher, looking to help Hughie give A-Train a little payback, while also helping his own agenda at getting back at the leader of The Sever, Homelander, who he believes is responsible for raping and killing his wife, Becca.
Two people can’t do all that work though, so Butcher brings back two of his old buddies, Frenchie and Mother’s Milk to get some work done. Part of that involves kidnapping another member from The Seven, Translucent, and eventually blowing him up. Hughie finds himself in a bit of good luck by connecting with the newest, most morally sound, member of The Seven, Annie (aka Starlight). The Boys get Hughie to exploit Starlight a little bit, but really only for information. All sorts of goodies are learned!
The Seven are employed by a giant corporation called Vought, who’s ultimate goal is to get the “supes” into the military. This charge is led by Madelyn Stillwell, who is the keeper of the Seven, but most notably, Homelander. Throguhout the course of the show we learn that the supes aren’t born that way, but produced as infants using a drug called Compound V. We also learn that Homelander has been creating Super-Terrorists to prove that supes need to be in the military to fight them. Through all this, The Boys come across the Female, who is a product of Hoemlander’s plan. She is mute, but connects with Frenchie and eventually the rest of the boys.
In the end, Madelyn’s lies get her killed, Starlight can’t trust Hughie, A-Train’s had a heart attack from all of his Compound V usage, and Billy finds out Becca is still alive with a kid she had with Homelander. What?! All of that was absolutely bananas, and extremely violent, and I loved every second of it. I hope in the upcoming second season that we get to see more of Black Noir, The Deep, and Queen Meave. While they were all part of the story, they just didn’t seem to be the main part. I’m also very interested to see who is going to be taking over The Seven now that Madelyn is dead. Oh yes, also that whole Billy/Becca/Homelander thing…how’s that going to go down?!
I also got the opportunity to listen in on a panel today that Wizard World was hosting that featured some cast members from The Boys. That included Jack Quaid who plays Hughie, Karen Fukuhara who plays the Female/Kimiko, and Antony Starr who plays Homelander. This panel focused strictly on season one, so they all discussed how the project came to them (fun fact: Jack got to read with Seth Rogan voicing Butcher). I also enjoyed hearing about their favorite gory moments, including Robin getting run through, Translucent exploding, and Kimiko digging her fingers into a security guard’s eyes. They also all shared the same sentiment of how family-like this giant cast is, and that makes my heart happy.
I cannot wait for the second season to premiere, which based on the internet sounds like it will be in late June. Yay! I couldn’t watch those first eight episodes fast enough. If you want to see a totally twisted take on superheroes that is bloody, violent, and condescending, then this show is totally for you! Warning to parents though, this is nothing like any Marvel or DC movie you’ve ever seen and it is totally not appropriate for kids. You’ve been warned. Otherwise, enjoy!