Week 93 was posted by Charanjit Chana on 2019-08-05.
Based on the comic of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, Amazon put together a 8-part series showing what the world might be like if superheroes existed:
The series is set between 2006–2008 in a world where superheroes exist. However, most of the superheroes in the series' universe are corrupted by their celebrity status and often engage in reckless behavior, compromising the safety of the world. The story follows a small clandestine CIA squad, informally known as "The Boys", led by Butcher and also consisting of Mother's Milk, the Frenchman, the Female, and new addition "Wee" Hughie Campbell, who are charged with monitoring the superhero community, often leading to gruesome confrontations and dreadful results; in parallel, a key subplot follows Annie "Starlight" January, a young and naive superhero who joins the Seven, the most prestigious – and corrupted – superhero group in the world and The Boys' most powerful enemies.
The TV series doesn't stray far from the comic book's premise, apart from the fact that Hughie is civilian and the Boys are more vigilante than CIA. There are 5 members of The Boys that are all out to expose The Seven:
- Billy Butcher, the leader of the group
- Frenchie is owed money by Butcher but is convinced to help him out
- Mother's Milk, bought back into help Butcher's cause and wearer of great T-shirts
- Hughie Campbell, in the TV series, he's a civilian that suffered a great lost at the hands of The Seven and wants to see justice
- The Female, a powered member of The Boys created by terrorists
It reminded me of both Watchmen (HBO series coming soon) and The Umbrella Academy, just not as dark as the former. I'd read the Watchmen graphic novel before the movie came out and I feel like I should go back and give The Boys a read.
According to IMDB, season 2 has already been commissioned and with a nice twist at the very end of season 1, I can't wait to see where it goes next.
The comic is set between 2006 and 2008 but it feels like a timeless story and feels truer to how we'd all feel if superpose were indeed real.
The Seven
The top group of superheroes is better known as The Seven and is comprised of a variety of heroes with different strengths:
- Homelander is the leader, a Superman like figure that leads The Seven. He's an all-American hero and even wears the stars and stripes as his cape
- Queen Maeve is a Wonder Woman like character with exceptional strength and the first hero we encounter in the series
- A-Train is the fastest man alive and it's a title that means everything to him
- The Deep is an Aquaman like figure
- Translucent can make himself invisible... but only himself and not his clothes
- Black Noir seems like a Hawkeye type hero but we don't get to see much of him in the series and we never see his true identity unlike the rest of the heroes that we meet
- Starlight is the newest recruit who quickly learns that The Seven are not always as heroic as they seem
Despite being just 8 episodes long, we get to learn a lot about The Boys and The Seven. I've been looking forward to this since January when the trailer first dropped. If you haven't seen it already, here it is:
The Boys turned out to be more entertaining and engaging than I'd expected it to be and like I said, I'm really looking forward to a second season.
Tags: amazon prime, comic, prime video, the boys, tv, amazon prime, comic, prime video, the boys, tv