The Boys TV Show starring Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, and Erin Moriarty is based on a comic book series released in 2006 by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.
This dark dystopian look at the superhero genre explores the animalistic nature of man. (Wow, that is a very pretentious sentence) much like in The Watchmen, the story is asking the question of who polices the most powerful in society – Who watches the Watchmen?
While it seems like this idea of the antihero and the tainted superhero has bubbled closer to the top of popular culture in recent years (Watchmen was published 1986, Deadpool first appeared in 1991, The Boys in 2006), the truth is that humanity has been juggling with these ideas for a little while. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who will guard the guards themselves?) Is the Latin phrase from Juvenal’s Satires published in the 2nd century. A derivation of the phrase is cited by John Stuart Mill in 1861. For a long time, the human race has been juggling with the idea of how the most powerful should behave, and perhaps it’s just that the comic industry was finally large enough to bring niche comic short runs to film that makes it seem like the idea is more prevalent lately.
The Boys follows the story of Hughie Campbell, after his girlfriend is accidentally killed by a superhero, and Annie January AKA Starlight, who is inducted into “The Seven” the top crime-fighting superhero force as its newest member. By following these characters who are both new to their worlds we experience the perceptions they have of superheroes as well as them learning the stark truths of the worlds they now find themselves in.
As the shine comes off the Superhero class The Boys explores a world where the most powerful have few consequences for their actions. The lie the people believe is that justice is being done when behind the scenes power is derived from might makes right.
The Boys is a fantastic exploration of these ideas and definitely worth a watch. I can’t wait for a second season