After a long run of comic books and arguably three more successful mainstream TV seasons (so far), The boys has firmly established itself as one of the most unique takes on the superhero genre. Does it share some similarities and tropes with other more widespread and well-known IP addresses? Sure. Does it follow the same beats as other TV shows in and out of the superhero genre? Sure. It also does a lot more.
If you’ve seen even one episode of The boys, you will have noted the comparisons and similarities with much more famous characters; Homelander is a more psychotic version of Superman, The Deep is a sexually assaulting version of Aquaman, desperate for validation and power, A-Train is The Flash, and the newest addition to the superhero litany is Soldier. Boy, a distorted, racist and bigoted version of Captain America. Aside from the powers and slight costume comparisons, that’s where the similarities end.
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Imagine an average person with superpowers
Where in the past you’d have been sitting at the cinema on opening night waiting to see Captain America best Red Skull, Thor destroy a lost Christopher Eccleston as Malekith, or Spiderman get duped by a VFX maestro at Mysterio, these days you can sit back from the comfort of your own home, fire up Prime and watch a much more realistic version of how – in my opinion – the average person would react when given great power.
In The boys pretty much every hero is nothing more than a public relations exercise in making the worst of us the best, saving the occasional person or making multiple appearances on talk shows, etc., and the rest of their time is pure, gluttonous, self-indulgent. Whether it’s drugs, sex, murder, or, as mentioned, an abuse of their powers resulting in rape and sexual assault, there are very few redeeming characteristics for many heroes.
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This is, in my opinion, what makes the boys so different. The subtext and implications are less than subtle, but the general public adores and idolizes the heroes, regardless of the occasional history of their bawdy/illegal activities. The Deep was “demoted” from The Seven, but continued his superhero in an empty corner of the United States after his sexual assault allegations. Is this different from some cases in the real world? Stormfront after being ousted as a literal Nazi still has plenty of support on and sadly off the show, and A-Train has had to issue a public apology for spraying an innocent civilian into Robin, Hughie’s girlfriend, since the beginning.
While in the MCU and DCEU the general line between good and evil is clearly drawn, with a few exceptions in Thanos, the somewhat Civil War adaptation pitting Tony and Steve against dangerous gray areas, and lately with Yelena, you tend to go into movies knowing the good guys and the bad guys and who’s going to win.
Even the good guys are bad
The boys upsets all of this. The supposedly good guys are all despicable, this time with a few exceptions for being really good (Starlight, even though she caused the death of an innocent), and the ones we’re supposed to cheer on, the titular boys, are a motley bunch consisting of a former soldier, an AV sales assistant, a supe who has killed countless people, a hitman and a sociopath, the ends justify the means A British guy who is so determined to kill every supe he doesn’t care who gets in the way or hurts himself.
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With the recent ending of the third season and the fourth being filmed, we now know exactly what to expect, in the sense that we never quite know what to expect. This is a show that has proven itself capable of addressing horrific topics like sexual assault, suicide and racism both in a chillingly realistic way and in a way that is respectful to the people who deal with it. with both. It’s not just a superhero show, it’s a layered show of social commentary left, right, and center.
It’s only fair that all of this praise belittles the show a bit, in that, much like its cinematic counterparts in the MCU and DCEU, it seems to be a running trend that each of the three seasons so far has managed to pull off. going back to some sort of status quo with no casualties for the central cast, neither Billy nor Homelander eliminating the other, and things are hovering around a one-season ride for next season. Hopefully with the events of the third season finale and what it might mean for Billy that it will mean that we get a somewhat different season next, and I for one am all for that new Homelander look who now knows whatever happens, his fans will love him.
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