TV Review - The Boys (2019)

This series is an adaptation of the 2006 comic books created by Garth Ennis. This is the second TV series, adapted from one of Ennis' comics. The other is Preacher on AMC, which was based on Ennis' 1995 comic books. Preacher had Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg as producers. Rogen and Goldberg are also producers of this series. Clearly, they like the work of Ennis. This series is in line with those stories that are more in reaction to the surfeit of super-hero movies and TV shows that now bombard the American media landscape. Some of which predate the so-called Marvel Cinematic Universe or even the DC Extended Universe, which have now blanketed movie theaters with nothing but films adapting comic books, as well as other blockbusters or franchises that hope to mimic or copy that super-hero model. It's all over-the-top fantasy that's still clean and wholesome, remaining appealing to families and hopeful about the future, as well as being inspirational.

Ennis' work here seeks to be the opposite of clean and wholesome. Ennis' work is about being more realistic, gritty and darker. His work seems more in-line with that of Frank Miller and Alan Moore. In fact, as I watched this series, I couldn't help but be reminded of Moore's creation that was then turned into the film Watchmen (2009). What came to mind the most though is the Emmy-winning series Heroes, which came out the same year as Ennis' comic. Except, Heroes was far less cynical than this adaptation of Ennis' work. Rogen and Goldberg, along with head-writer and showrunner, Eric Kripke (Supernatural and Revolution) have maintained a lot of cynicism. There's really a hard lack of sentimentality as a theme here, as well as a theme of ego-centrism, looking out for oneself or one's own people, which many could argue is a commentary on current American society.

A simpler description of this series is what if the Justice League or the Avengers were comprised of individuals who were corrupt and operated more like a drunken and horny, fraternity house, rather than law-abiding and law-enforcing, federal agents. What if these super-heroes only cared about money, fame and their own carnal desires. Yes, they'll perform rescues and save people, but only doing so to further their status, increase their power or up their bank accounts. They perhaps lack compassion or they are willing to forgo their compassion in favor of greed and lust or even other so-called sins like pride or even wrath.

Another description of this series is what if the Justice League or the Avengers were instead the creation, so to speak, of a similarly corrupt corporation. Kripke's vision is having these super-heroes who mainly are versions of DC Comics' classic characters be the offshoots of branding and marketing taken to its extremes. In those extremes, the only thing that matters is the pursuit of wealth and the pursuit of dominance in the field. It's greed but it's also narcissism and ingratiation to the max. It's a dark parody or spoof of corporate culture in the United States. Kripke doesn't simply spotlight corporate malfeasance as a target in Ennis' work. There's also aim at idolatry and religious fervor, as well as the bigotry and blame that can come from both.

Karl Urban (Star Trek and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) stars as Billy Butcher, a former police officer in New York City whose wife worked for a company called Vought International. This company managed and overseen the super-heroes in the United States. How this company started or its connection to super-heroes is kept a mystery. It's like S.H.I.E.L.D. from the MCU, but its goal isn't to save the world. It's to make a profit. When something happens to his wife, as a result of something at Vought, Billy vows to take down the company and its so-called super-heroes. He's recruited into a secret organization, which calls itself "The Boys."

The group is comprised of men who have some grudge or grievance against either Vought or super-heroes. Billy has been involved with the group for the better part of a decade but the group broke up. Since then, he's been trying to get them back together. Unfortunately, Billy has lost the support of the government, unless he can find proof that Vought and the super-heroes are corrupt and have done illegal things. Billy hopes to get the dirt on Vought and the super-heroes through espionage of some sort, but again, he doesn't exactly have the resources.

Jack Quaid (Vinyl and The Hunger Games) also stars as Hughie Campbell, a tech expert who works at a store in New York. When a super-hero accidentally kills his girlfriend, he becomes obsessed with getting some kind of justice. He reluctantly joins Billy and his mission. He's mostly the heart of the group. He's pushed to do brutal things in order to further the mission, but he has a conscience or at least more of a conscience than Billy. Yet, he's not the only one. The other two men in Billy's group also have hearts or are more pragmatic than Billy who is very gung-ho. The other two members include Frenchie, played by Tomer Capon, and Mother's Milk, played by Laz Alonso.

Like with the recent Netflix-Marvel shows that also attempt to tell a more realistic and more gritty story about super-heroes, this one has a bit of an issue in terms of its world-building. I imagine that it leaves out some world-building stuff in order to amp up the drama in the story, as well as to provide for the opportunity to do a second season. Some things had to be left out or left obscure in order to give Kripke and his writers something to play next season.

Elisabeth Shue (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Leaving Las Vegas) co-stars as Madelyn Stillwell, one of the top executives at Vought. She makes a deal to sell to the mayor of Baltimore a super-hero called Nubian Prince who's currently protecting the city of Detroit. Obviously, the scene is played as a nefarious thing and she's played as nefarious, but what we don't see is the reaction that would inevitably cause some blow-back. Madelyn states that crime in Baltimore is incredibly high, almost ridiculously high to be believed.

Selling a super-hero for hundreds of millions of dollars, especially a black one, wouldn't go over like a football player being traded to a different team. The racist implications would cause a stir in the media and protests on the ground. Yet, the series doesn't address the wider impacts. The only thing that comes close is a scene involving injured and traumatized people called the Association of Collateral Damage Survivors. It's rather rushed with Hughie's case, but the fact that one or two law firms haven't tried to put together a class action lawsuit against Vought or these super-heroes, based on all these damage survivors, also seems unlikely.

Antony Starr (American Gothic and Banshee) also co-stars as Homelander, the super-hero who is the corrupt version of Superman or an even worse version of Will Smith's character in Hancock. He's not a sloppy drunk who haphazardly destroys things. He's basically a sociopath with an Oedipus complex. He's like if the character from Brightburn grew up and became like a diva actor. He plays the role of good guy but deep down he just wants to be worshiped and really doesn't care about anyone but himself.

Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert!

Billy wants revenge against Homelander. If he could, Billy would kill Homelander, but the series suggests that Homelander is unstoppable and immortal, which is a digression from the comic book. Homelander's vulnerability might be something explored in the second season, but a logic gap exists that makes this whole thing also seem unlikely.

Billy wants Homelander dead because Billy believes that Homelander raped his wife. Billy also thinks that this fact is what led to his wife's disappearance and presumed death. Why he presumes her dead is never explained. The investigation into his wife's disappearance is conveniently ignored in order to be an obvious reveal at the end. The series then becomes all about Billy's anger and bigotry at all super-heroes because of Homelander's misdeeds, which is a prejudice that is never challenged, certainly not in a Liam Neeson way.

Earlier this year, Neeson recounted a story of how he blamed all black men for an alleged rape that one black man did to a friend of his. He also recounted how he wanted to beat up any random, innocent black man. Neeson was highly criticized for an obvious racist or bigoted position and expression. Unfortunately, Billy is never condemned for his position. The series just wants him to be aggression, a veritable weapon against the super-heroes or at least one in particular.

It's never explained though why Billy wouldn't simply go the legal route against Homelander or even go to the media and accuse Homelander of being a rapist. Erin Moriarty (Jessica Jones) plays Starlight, one of the few, female super-heroes. She accuses The Deep, the equivalent here of Aquaman, played by Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl). She accuses him of rape and that story goes public, so why Billy wouldn't do the same to Homelander makes no sense. At the end, Billy attempts to blow up the so-called girlfriend of Homelander, as a way of vengeance. The explosion would have killed Billy, but Homelander saves Billy's life. Again, this makes no sense. Given that we saw Homelander let a plane full of people go down without doing anything to try to stop it, why would he bother to save Billy?

Rated TV-MA.
Running Time: 1 hr. / 8 eps.

Available on Amazon Prime.