The Boys Series on Prime Video - A Reality Check for Superheroes

The Boys series on Prime Video is not for the faint-hearted. Those who can sit through its ample gore and graphic violence, are rewarded with an explosion of morally challenged heroes on a quest for glory.

Hughie, Billy and Frenchie

The premise of this series is what would happen if the superheroes you looked up to were a bunch of selfish jerks with little care for the masses - a rebellion. These superheroes are managed by a corporation called Vought which profits from their actions and the media buzz generated.

Cast of The Boys Series

The Cast is a great mix of faces across genres and ones that we are used to seeing kicking ass. Karl Urban seen in Dredd, Doom, and Thor 3 has a platinum certification in kicking ass. Antony Starr, you would recall from Banshee and American Gothic. Erin Moriarty is no stranger to the superhero genre, starring in Jessica Jones, and Karen Fukuhara played the sword-wielding Katana in Suicide Squad.

The Boys series gets its name from a bunch of rag-tag brave hearts that take on superheroes for personal vindication and the good of society. Here’s a headcount:

• Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) - the former British SAS operative who blames Homelander for the disappearance of his wife.

• Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) - the only civilian in the mix. He joins to avenge his girlfriend Robin after being killed by A-train

• Frenchie (Tomer Capone) - the weapons specialist and chemist who’s in the group to protect his criminal homies.

• Mothers Milk (Laz Alonso) - the former Marine Corps medic turned muscle, in the group to avenge his father who worked to bring Vought down

• The Female/Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) - the mysterious supe (superhero) who fights against those who turned her into a supe against her will.

Among the more well-known faces, Elizabeth Shue delivers a great performance, and Simon Pegg a good cameo.

Superpower Tally

This is a list of all supes and their respective powers:

Superhero Powers

Amazing Scenes

Queen Maeve stopped a speeding armored truck dead in its tracks. It is a realistically filmed scene wherein Maeve replaced a pole that the truck was actually made to smash into at full speed.

Queen Maeve stopping a truck

As grotesque as the Robin scene was, it sets up the entire course of 2 series, hence it makes this list.

Hughie and Robin

The Spice Girls pep talk scene, I think, adds some much-needed levity to the situation and is pretty funny.

Hughie, Frenchie and Mother's Milk

Any scene where the Deep ends up as unintentional comic relief, where the soundtrack devolves from a triumphant bellow to a downright comical needle scratch stop to the music is funny.

Background Score and Soundtrack

The soundtrack and background score are as dark and grimy as the basement Butcher’s Boys stay in. It would be worth downloading the soundtrack of The Boys as a workout anthem.

Comic Book Source

The Boys is an American comic book series, written by Garth Ennis and co-created, designed, and illustrated by Darick Robertson. It was originally published by Wildstorm (DC Comics) before moving to Dynamite Entertainment.

The Amazon Web series version has subtle yet significant differences from the comic that comic readers might notice.

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Plot of The Boys

The plot begins with Hewey losing his love for Robin to A-train’s error. A-train runs through her like human whipped cream (yes, it's THAT graphic - get used to it!).

This subplot is then connected to a larger story of a bunch of underground operatives through William “Billy” Butcher, who goes out on a supe (superhero) culling spree. Butcher is trying to cope with the supe-induced loss of his wife by trying to nail as many supes as possible to the wall.

Homelander

The series is worth watching for the super-powered scenes alone, but there’s so much more to The Boys than a dark superhero medley. It touches upon the many social ills that ail society today.

It brings up corporate greed and unethical scientific practices with Vought and its compound V, along with workplace harassment between the Deep and Starlight.

There’s the problem of immigration that is hinted at with Kimiko and her brother. It generally talks about the misuse of power by organizations and people of great wealth and influence, and about how human nature is deeply flawed.

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Season 1

This season sees The Boys on a quest to bring down the Vought corporation by exposing compound V. V is the “Captain America” type serum given to normal people to initiate the development of superpowers.

You see the group getting used to each other and complementing each other’s strengths throughout the first series.

Not only do they end up capturing and killing a supe, but they even go after the rest of the hallowed “Seven” by getting dirt on every supe. The Deep gets railroaded by Vought after assaulting Starlight under false pretenses comes to light.

Things get crazier and gorier until an expectedly shocking finale where an important character is killed in a horrific way.

A main point of contention between the Vought corporation and the government is whether supes can serve in the military. The end of the series shows a global threat that only Vought's superheroes can handle. That's where they leave us.

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Season 2

Here things get better with a fresh truckload of supes in every episode! You get to know Frenchie’s backstory along with Butcher’s past. It moves faster and is funnier than season 1.

Vought steps in to eliminate the global threat that they themselves had created.

Butcher learns that his wife is alive and well with a son borne of Homelander himself. The play is to bring in a terrorist from the group called Shining Light Liberation Army to get resources from Butcher's old boss. The terrorist is also Kimiko's brother who has telekinetic abilities

However, Kimiko's happy reunion is short-lived as Stormfront executes her brother mercilessly with her watching on.

The Boys mocks a gratuitous female empowerment moment in Avengers Endgame where all women superheroes come together in a forced team-up. They call it "Girls get it done."

By this time, Queen Meave, Starlight, and Kimiko all have a legit beef with Stormfront that is shown as a delicious moment of "Girls get it done" executed well.

The Deep's storyline teases cults and specifically refers to the People's Temple in Guyana where an entire sect killed themselves with Flavor Aid laced with Cyanide. The series hints at this by showing people from the Church of the Collective offering a Fresca drink to everyone.

Season 3

The Boys have an in with the authorities by proving that compound V exists, with the government giving them all the resources they need to hunt down other superheroes. While The Boys remain and work underground, Hughie goes mainstream with Victoria Neuman from the government's Federal Bureau of Superhero Affairs (FBSA)

Billy Butcher extracts a weapon from Russia that can kill Homelander which they discover is Soldier Boy.

This new character is played to perfection by Jenson Ackles of Supernatural fame. The Boys make this possible with the help of some Moxie and some temporary V serum giving them powers for a day.

A-train settles scores with another supe named Blue Hawk after he assaults a gathering. The way each character is given its due screen time and organic growth is really amazing considering the number of superheroes in this series.

Butcher teams up with Soldier Boy to kill Homelander which leads to a mind-blowing finale where tables are turned at least twice in the span of five minutes.

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Season 4

The first 10 minutes of the latest season of The Boys has so much action packed into it that it feels like Infinity War. Only two words to describe this - Shock and Awe.

So many powers are displayed so fast that you are left catching your breath quite literally until all the dust ( literal and metaphorical ) settles. Claudia Domit is shown to be almost invulnerable, unfazed by various unexpected attacks in a short timeframe.

It is nice to see Laz Alanzo healthier and fit albeit with a moustache that feels out of place. Tomer Capone also looks to be in better shape and Karen Fukuhara's Kimiko Miyashiro looks even prettier if that's even possible. However, Karl Urban's character Billy Butcher looks like shit due to the bad choices he made in the previous season.

Trump supporters are clearly referenced in the first episode to be on the side of Homelander along with a couple of Trump quotes. There are also references to the Jan 6th Riots in The US capital that are more than obvious along with other direct references and a fun cameo from a popular comedian.

So far the plot development looks on point in the first three episodes and looking to get better in the coming few weeks of episode drops. As of now Homelander basically IS Vought, with him calling all the shots while everyone else basically watches and takes orders including what remains of the Vought Seven.

Susan Heyward as Jessica "Sage" Bradley / Sister Sage makes a mark this season as one of the weirdest mutations among the Seven. Sage is supposed to have one of the highest IQs in the world with a physical brain that is unique, to say the least. She quickly becomes Homelander's right hand due to her flawless strategy and planning.

New Characters This Season

1. Valorie Curry as Misty Tucker Gray / Firecracker gives us an amazing performance as what The Boys would refer to as reformed Trailer Tr@sh. While her superpowers are nothing extraordinary, she is skilled at manipulation and using leverage.
   

2. Dan Mousseau as Webweaver is The Boys' disgusting take on Spider-Man whose powers seem pointless throughout. I feel this is one character that would have been best left on comic pages.
   

3. Rob Benedict as Splinter does an admirable job of portraying a cloning superhero who can split into infinite copies of himself. However, I am more impressed with his writing Resumé on various series from Supernatural to Felicity!
   

4. Derek Wilson as Tech Knight is someone you would find familiar if you have watched Future Man. In this twisted maze of superheroes, Wilson plays a supe with superhuman senses and a superhuman analytical mind. Wilson is supposed to be the Vought version of Batman

The plot by the 7th episode feels labored and forced with no organic story growth whatsoever other than sequel bait. The story feels like rebar that is left on the roof and sides of a building to facilitate future construction that may or may not happen.

Judging by the way things are going it looks like Season 4 either is or should be the last in the series at least for this story arc. Else it will seem like they are dragging the audience along for a wild goose chase that will never pay off.

Should You Watch The Boys Series on Prime Video? - Yes!

There are more Easter Eggs, potshots at the MCU and DC, and real-life events that you lose count of along the way. The graphics here are amazing, with multiple plotlines executed brilliantly with great production value. This series is definitely worth a watch! Especially if you want to make sense of Gen V out on Prime Video now.

First published 9th June 2020, updated 16th July 2024