The Boys shows what happens when superheroes sell out.
Amazon Prime Video
Warning: Possible spoilers ahead.
When superheroes become as influential as politicians and powerful as gods, who will stop them abusing their superpowers? The Boys, that’s who.
The Boys is a new show coming to Amazon Prime Video that focuses on a team of vigilantes who take self-serving superheroes down a peg or two. Star Trek star Karl Urban heads the cast, along with a recurring role from actor Simon Pegg. It might be based on a comic, but this filthy, funny, gory series is a long way from Marvel and DC.
Who’s making it?
Supernatural and Timeless creator Eric Kripke is behind The Boys, with episodes directed by Dan Trachtenberg, Daniel Attias, Jennifer Phang, Stefan Schwartz, Philip Sgriccia and Frederick E.O. Toye.
The series is produced by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen. It’s based on the extremely dark comic by Garth Ennis (Preacher) and Darick Robertson, which ran for 72 issues from 2008 to 2012.
The plot
When corrupt superheroes known as The Seven cause his girlfriend’s death, a young man named Hughie (Jack Quaid) hooks up with anti-cape vigilantes The Boys. The team consists of charismatic leader Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) with Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Female (Karen Fukuhara) and Frenchie (Tomer Capon).
But there’s also strife within The Seven when newcomer Annie January (Erin Moriarty) joins the superhero crew. She deals with everything from the perils of fame to dealing with a #MeToo nightmare. Through her eyes we see everything that’s wrong with The Seven and how they abuse their power as superheroes.
What critics are saying
The Boys is a “flashy, smartly meta, often funny and very solidly cast,” but “leaves a bit of a bad taste,” according to a review from The Hollywood Reporter.
“The first episode posits an alternate universe where superheroes protect cities, while their personas are monetized to the extreme by the Vought corporation. There are dozens of superheroes working for Vought, branded and packaged for public consumption, with their real-life sexual deviances and accidental murders treated like any other public relations issue,” according to an early review from IndieWire.
When’s the release date?
Season one consisted of eight episodes and premieres on July 26, 2019 on Amazon Prime Video.
The Boys has already been greenlit for a second season. No release date has been confirmed as of yet.
Meet the cast
Karl Urban as Billy Butcher
Elisabeth Shue as Madelyn Stillwell
Erin Moriarty as Annie January / Starlight
Antony Starr as The Homelander
Dominique McElligott as Queen Maeve
Jessie Usher as A-Train
Chace Crawford as The Deep
Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir
Laz Alonso as Mother’s Milk
Jack Quaid as “Wee” Hughie Campbell
Simon Pegg as Hughie’s father
Karen Fukuhara as Female
Tomer Kapon as Frenchie
Jennifer Esposito as CIA Agent Susan Raynor
Note: This story was originally published on May 29, 2019, and is updated as news rolls in.