The Boys is darkly funny and ultra-violent.I am not convinced if there is actually a thing that James Cameron called ‘Avengers fatigue’, as the incredible box office figures of Avengers: Endgame indicate. But we do have a lot of good restoratives for that supposed fatigue. Deadpool, The Lego Batman movie, and so on come to mind. Amazon’s comic-book series The Boys, which is based on the comic-book series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, is another very effective option.
The Boys is an attack on the very concept of superheroes, something that has rarely been done well. Sure, Batman v Superman had similar elements (Superman as a Jesus-like figure who could go evil; Batman branding criminals with the symbol), but the ideas were poorly implemented. This is a world in which superheroes are real, but instead of being symbols of nobility and goodness like the Avengers and Justice League, they have allowed status and fame to go to their head, and have become violent and reckless.
Enter the Boys, a bunch of vigilantes who are tasked to keep the superheroes in line.
While I have just begun the series, I am already addicted to the formula of gallows humour and unremitting, gleeful brutality. The Boys reminded me, in a good way, of DC Universe’s Doom Patrol, though the DC series was not the deconstruction of superheroes per se like The Boys is.
Karl Urban (Eomer of The Lord of the Rings and Skurge of Thor: Ragnarok) shines in a rare lead role. Sporting a scruffy beard, the actor plays a character that is unsubtly named Billy Butcher, the leader of The Boys. While the character is not relatable, he is unceasingly entertaining.
The superheroes in The Boys are called Supes (which also happens to be Superman’s nickname). The most prominent superhero group is called the Seven, a clear dig at the Justice League. The team is led by Antony Starr’s Homelander, who is a Man of Steel clone (and a bit of Captain America too), except he is far away from good.
The Boys is superb — so far at least. A well-written, compulsive watch regardless of your opinion on popular superheroes cinema.
