The Boys exploded onto Amazon Prime in 2018 and quickly became one of the hottest live action comic properties around. Based on the Dynamite Entertainment published comics written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Darick Robertson, the Amazon adaptation brought the extremely violent, morally questionable, and sexually deviant property to life. Despite some big changes from the comic source material, the series establishes itself as different from its comic counterpart while maintaining The Boys flavor. Starring the likes of; Karl Urban, Anthony Starr, Jack Quaid, Elizabeth Shue, and Giancarlo Esposito, among others. The popularity of the show has only grown since its release and anticipation for its upcoming fourth season is at a fever pitch. It has quickly become the best comic book series out there.
Despite taking place in a fictional world where superheroes roam the streets, skies, and oceans. The Boys shines an unflattering mirror on American society and the world. When we imagine a world with super-powered individuals, we would all love to see the vibrant world of the MCU. However, deep inside, we know such a world would not exist. The Boys shows us what that world would look. In all its greed, corruption, and filth. It paints a not-so-subtle portrait of America.
Like Looking in a Mirror
- Sony Pictures Television Distribution & Amazon Studios
The Boys starts off in a New York City not unlike our own. Standing at the center of downtown is Vought Tower, home of Vought Industries and the number one company controlling the country's best and brightest superheroes. The most lauded among all of them is The Seven, comparable in comic lore to DC’s Justice League, more so than Marvel’s The Avengers. Among this team are The Deep, Black Noir, Starlight, Queen Maeve, A-Train, Translucent, and their leader, Homelander.
On the flip side, we have The Boys, a group of non-powered individuals’ hell-bent on bringing down Vought Industries and the supers. This group consists of Billy Butcher, Mother’s Milk, Frenchie, Huey, and Komiko.
As season one progresses, the story stays in a relatively fictional world. We see small comparisons to our real world throughout the first season as corruption of politicians is brewing as Vought Industries works with congressmen and women to enlist super-powered individuals into the United States military. Not unlike the corruption we see in our own politicians in America as some continue their quest to maintain power and status at any means necessary. Season one also sees the introduction of “super terrorists”, a result of Homelander purposely dispersing Compound V, the serum that turns regular people into supers, into the terrorist hubs throughout the world.
It is season two and the introduction of a character by the name of Stormfront, that we begin to see a more harrowing comparison to our modern-day America. Stormfront’s ideas and beliefs mirror those of the extreme far-right in America as her movement and followers grow, echoing the very real rise of far-right extremists and white supremacists in America. She stokes the fears of those that look different from her and her followers, while blaming them for the problems the country is facing. Very similar to the Islamophobia America saw post-9/11 and the rise in hate crimes against Chinese Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Season three is where The Boys goes full force in its real-world comparison, seemingly ripping headlines from our news and applying them to these over-the-top characters. Even being called a super satirical masterpiece. This includes the rapid spread of misinformation, especially by Homelander, who has at this point taken over the leadership of Vought Industries and is a pseudo-politician himself. We see the damnation of characters as pedophiles and liars, echoing the beliefs of real-world groups such as Q-Anon. And we see a real quote from an American politician regarding violence on 5th Avenue enacted as Homelander murders a man in cold blood in front of his followers and is met with cheers and adulation for his act. The comparisons are black and white and plain to see, deliberately put there by show runner Eric Kripke. While we consume it as entertainment, we are also consuming a heightened version of the country we live in. Season three also gives us a heavy dose of side characters we love to hate, who may even mirror those we share our everyday lives with in the real world.
The Capitalism of Saving Lives & The Corruption of Power
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Sony
The almighty American dollar rules throughout our country. We work jobs to make money, to spend money, to work to make more money. We pay for services like water, electricity, and public services like fire and police. Anything that can be monetized in America, will be monetized. The Boys takes this concept and applies it to superheroes, something that would most certainly be the case if a hundred people woke up tomorrow with superpowers.
The biggest example in the world of The Boys is Vought Industries. As mentioned, Vought works as a hub for all super-powered people throughout the country. While The Seven are held to much higher standards, Vought has its eyes, ears, and metrics on even lower-level heroes stationed throughout the United States. Each hero is measured by systems like poll numbers for politicians, and every action is scrutinized by those metrics. This is particularly the case with The Seven. If A-Train’s “poll” numbers are high, Vought Industries can make A-Train: The Movie, A-Train the action figure, A-Train the lunchbox, thereby increasing profits for the company overseeing A-Train… Vought Industries.
Along with increasing profits, the actions of the supers are used for notoriety and spectacle. This is demonstrated in season three as Homelander seeks to help prevent a suicidal woman from jumping off a building. He does not offer his services out of the kindness of his heart; he explains that his services are a privilege for the woman as she will be his “Birthday Save”. As her appreciation is deemed lacking by Homelander, he proceeds to force the woman to jump, leading to her demise. While this is not to say that those, we consider heroes in our real world would stoop to such low levels, we have many examples in America of “a few bad apples spoiling the bunch”. At this point in the series, Homelander has pushed his way to the top, with his beliefs trickling down to those below him. Something we have seen ourselves in America over the past decade. Homelander is a Grade-A American Villain for the Ages. As the famous historian Lord Acton once said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”