‘The Boys’ Season 1 Review: A Dark, Fun, and Scathing Superhero Satire

Undeniably, superheroes are sitting on top of the world right now even without them actually being real. They dominate pop culture, they rule the box office, and they are just everywhere – shirts, mugs, shoes, billboards, erasers, food – everywhere. And behind them are the multimillion corporations profiting from the attention we pay these superheroes. That’s why The Boys is such a clever, satisfying, and enjoyable watch. Its satirical take on the superhero culture is a huge slap to the face of the world we live in right now. Plus, it’s pleasantly refreshing not to be force-fed a superhero’s greatness for once.

Adapted by Seth Rogen, Eric Kripke, and Evan Goldberg from the comics by Darick Robertson and Garth Ennis, The Boys is a ballsy take on the ugly faces of today’s most influential industries. It’s not just about the superheroes. Although The Boys does encourage us to question this permeating superhero worship going on in our society. More than anything, the supes are just representations of the dominating factors of today’s culture. And The Boys hits just the right spot on modern-day issues that run amock in our society. The best part is the series executes this narrative so well in its clever, graphic, and almost over-the-top fashion.

A Dark, Bloody, and Violent Narrative

What’s brilliant about The Boys is it’s more than just the superhero gone bad trope. In the fantasy world of the show, there are hundreds of Supes around the world. The best cherries of the bunch are called The Seven, an elite superhero group. Here, you’ll find the Superman-Captain America mash-up Homelander, the Wonder Woman-esque Queen Maeve, and the non-speaking version of Batman, Black Noir. There’s also Invisible Man’s equal named Translucent, the Aquaman-esque The Deep, and the blue-suited version of the Flash, A-Train.

Jan Thijs

All these supes are under the multimillion shady corporation Vought. And they’re all being marketed to the public up to the very hairs on their body in ways and multitudes that would put Disney to shame. However, despite the untarnished images fed to the people, The Seven are actually some of the most fucked up bunch of privileged people in the world. The cruelties they’ve done throughout the season could even make some of the world’s worst villains blush. It’s just a manic fest of blood, graphic violence, and bits of bodies flying about everywhere.

Contrary to Kripke’s other works (Supernatural, Timeless), The Boys is a gorefest. By the first 15 minutes of the pilot episode, you’d already see Hughie’s poor girlfriend literally bursting to bits. You can even see a part of her spine floating in slow-motion. In addition to that, the series also deals with the issue of sexual abuse in the patriarchal system head-on. It doesn’t just skirt around it. And that’s not it. The series brazenly touches on a dozen more controversial issues – toxic religious beliefs, military corruption, corporatization of politics, you name it.

Jan Thijs

That’s why even though it’s quite jarring at first how generously the show hands out the violence, gore, and everything else, it just clicks. It’s part of its equation. When you have a world worshipping a bunch of cruel posers who are under a cold, merciless, and greedy corporation, there’d be nothing remotely sunny about it. And The Boys does it just right.

Terrifying Supes and a Crazy Bunch of Normals

Central to this world of violence and cruelty is Jack Quaid’s Hughie Campbell. In the beginning, he’s just like all the other little people idolizing the supes. But, when A-Train literally bursts through his girlfriend, poor Hughie’s thrown into a whole other darker world. Quaid made Hughie charming even if you didn’t want to be charmed. And he was this quiet stream of surprises that just lashes out at the right moments.

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Hughie’s love interest, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is the other half of the central ground characters. Though at times she can be a little one-note, Moriarty successfully builds that strength in her character. And together with Hughie, the pair provide a balancing perspective in the midst of all the black and whites.

Hughie’s mentor Billy Butcher played by Karl Urban is one heavy presence on the show that at times might be overbearing. Although his wavering British accent and general crudeness is one humorous point of the show, Urban does a splendid job portraying the desperate and vengeful character of Butcher. He’s the counterpart of the hard edge posed by Antony Starr’s Homelander on the battlefield.

Unlike Butcher’s general fucked-upness though, Homelander is just a sick to the bone. Commendably, Antony Starr’s portrayal of the vicious Homelander is one of the best villain portrayals I’ve seen so far. His easy switch from boyish charm to the cold psychotic killer is one of the most terrifying and convincing aspects of the show. Even the zest with which he gives his speeches is something that draws fear out of you as the audience.

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Another commendable performance is that of Elisabeth Shue as Madelyn Stillwell. She is ever the picture of grace, calm, and absolute coldness in her corporate position. She has the perfect manners of a corporate leader and yet she has one of the most hollow and empty of morals even more than the supes that she manages. Shue’s halfway smile and bright cunning eyes expertly give you the chills whenever she comes into the picture.

The Anti-Hero Take

One of the best takes of the show is that these superheroes are managed by the money-hungry corporation Vought that’s basically running the masses. And like modern-day stars, they walk the red carpet, they attend interviews, and they guest star on shows like Jimmy Fallon. They have this whole team behind them creating their whole persona. And this whole bunch of Bambi eyed fans just buy into it. No matter where they are, people worship them. What’s funny is that the likeness to our world today is so uncanny.

Jan Thijs

What The Boys doesn’t forget to portray, however, is that both the boys and the supes are human, neither good nor bad, just flawed. Here, we have the Deep, a sexual predator who passionately cares about marine animals. Then there’s Maeve, a superhero struggling with her morals. On the other hand, there’s Mother’s Milk and Frenchie who are both capable killers and who are also both able to give so much love and affection. Last but not least, there’s Butcher. Despite his claims of doing it for everyone, his personal vendetta has urged him to kill supes just for the sake of killing them. At one point or another, he’s more akin to Homelander than anybody else.

The Boys Season 1 Overall Verdict

What sets The Boys apart from other films and series that have tried this kind of take on the genre is that it’s not afraid to cross the lines that need to be crossed. It’s also humorous but, it makes a huge point of staying away from being idealistic. Instead of providing an escape from reality as most superhero films do, The Boys slaps you with it.

It’s the superhero show that our time needs, a raging mirror of the rotting and falling industries that so largely affect and influence us. And it has arrived just at the right time when many big-name corporations are expecting to earn billions from milking their products to the very last drops. Unapologetically, The Boys begins a scalding takedown of today’s superhero obsession and celebrity worship. And the show couldn’t have done it any better. My hope now is that it maintains that integrity up until it’s very ending. Also, I hope it doesn’t become one of those shows that start outstanding for something and ending up only to be the very thing that it stands against.

Overall though, The Boys Season 1 is one greatly entertaining and hugely satisfying watch that has the potential to create a huge tear on the current superhero status quo.