According to Amazon Prime Video’s synopsis of the series, The Boys is “an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians, and as revered as gods, abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good.” It’s the powerless against the super-powerful as the Boys, an intelligent group of trained killers, embark on a quest to expose the truth about The Seven, the United States’ most famous hero league, and Vought International, the company that recruits these heroes for publicity.
I would also like to add that the goriest and crudest scene I have ever seen in any media happened in the first 5 minutes of The Boys (no spoilers). Oh boy, where to start with this horrifying series?
Before I begin my review, I need to establish that I do not like blood, even if it’s fake. So to see this so unexpectedly made me press pause, get up from my seat, and reflect on life and how I got to this point of boredom that I’m watching off-brand DC superheroes kill the civilians they swore to protect (oops, spoiler?).
Follow me as I reminisce on me constantly thinking Mom I’m scared, please come pick me up as I watch, flabbergasted, at the most outrageous, gory killings I’ve ever seen in a series and I have seen The Magicians and The Shannara Chronicles.
Giant trigger warning, this series contains the following topics: blood, gore, assassination, beheading, mentions of rape, abuse, explicit sexual content, and racism.
The Boys as a critique of celebrity culture
Every episode has a different critique of an aspect of the real world where power dynamics play a big role. For example, there was one episode focusing on religion and how the Church manipulates its followers by telling them they’ll reach Heaven if they save themselves for marriage and “pray the gay away” (their words, not mine). There is also a critique of politics and an exposition of gun violence where they say “America runs on weapons” and corporation’s fake wokeness.
The Boys also exposes the make-believe and manipulation behind public personas through characters like Homelander and Starlight, who reveal how corporations like Vought International engineer the images of “heroes” to maximize profit regardless of their behavior.
Homelander, with his godlike powers, epitomizes the narcissistic and egotistical side of celebrity culture. He’s obsessed with public adoration and reacts with hostility when his image is threatened. His lack of empathy can be due to the fact that he was grown in a lab to be the “perfect celebrity” to further capitalist interests.
Meanwhile, Starlight’s struggle to retain her authenticity against the pressures of stardom demonstrates how celebrity culture suppresses individuality in favor of marketability. For example, Annie January, Starlight’s true identity, is forced to wear a sexier version of her regular and modest superhero costume to “represent women’s empowerment” after a video gets leaked of her saving a woman from getting sexually assaulted. However, Starlight preferred her old costume, and had no choice but to wear the new one in order to remain in The Seven.
Is Homelander a mix of Captain America and Superman, if they were psychopaths?
The manipulation of the media with golden boy Homelander, the seemingly patriotic, all-powerful main “hero” of The Boys, embodies a disturbing twist on traditional superhero tropes such as Captain America and Superman. While his superhuman strength, laser vision, and indestructible presence would typically make him an ideal protector of humanity, his character is driven by a mix of narcissism, insecurity, and a lust for power that make him genuinely terrifying.
Beneath his charming smile and carefully crafted public image, Homelander is manipulative, ruthless, and devoid of empathy. He sees himself as untouchable by society which turns his powers into instruments of oppression rather than protection.
Moreover, the superhero with the U.S. flag for a cape is a fascinating critique of celebrity culture. Vought International, the corporation controlling him, uses his image to sell the myth of a patriot. His reliance on public approval mirrors the ways that modern-day influencers and celebrities craft their alter-egos for admiration while hiding their real selves.
So, Homelander’s character challenges viewers to question the glorification of power and authority figures. As a close echo of reality, The Boys illustrates the social consequences of blindly idolizing celebrities and suggests that this reverence can shield them from accountability.
Moments that reinforce the dark reality behind superheroes
There are so many different absurd scenes in The Boys that what I’ll do is write a list of moments I found relevant to my take on the dark twist behind the superheroes:
At one point, Starlight gave a Disney-style speech about the true meaning of loving God and exposed her rehearsed, hypocritical words as a marketing scheme from Vought. She admitted that she didn’t want to participate in the spread of hate, but people instantly forgot the outrage the next day.
Later on, about four episodes in I noticed that it says it’s a comedy series and I don’t understand why… Five minutes pass and I see the Walmart version of Aquaman called Deep, kidnap a dolphin from a zoo to take him back to the Atlantic Ocean. He starts flirting with the dolphin, but then the superhero abruptly stops the truck causing the animal to fly out the front window of the car in slow motion and proceed to get hit by a passing truck.
Fast forward to another episode, they show the poor dolphin splattered on the ground on CNN and nothing could prepare me for it. Then it hit me like that truck hit that dolphin… something this absurd HAS to be a comedy. Although these two moments do not reinforce the dark twist on superheroes, the explicit death shows how messed up this fictional world is.
This is only season one, will I watch more?
I’m sure I might be exaggerating and this series can’t be that bad. You should know I was the type to stop watching The Walking Dead and the John Wick franchise because I was appalled by the amount of blood on screen. However, I would continue watching later on because I needed to finish the episodes or movie. It truly is a love-hate relationship.
If you were able to stomach both of the aforementioned series and carry on with your day, you will probably be able to watch The Boys. Even though gore is my primary criticism of this series, I understand why some people might enjoy it. Its explicitness is just not my cup of tea. Regardless of the gore, I am intrigued to see what other absurdities the showrunners come up with.
Nevertheless, gore aside, The Boys has very real aspects that I truly enjoyed that served as a critique of real-world problems such as police brutality, abuse, unbalanced power dynamics, racism, capitalism, sexism, addiction, and many more.
The blue filter over the entire course of the series makes the show feel colder and harsher. I recommend watching it with the brightness on high although I assure you, you still won’t be able to see anything during the night or dark room scenes.
I have to say, the cliffhanger the first season ended on was enough to get me hooked to keep watching so I will be tuning in. I rate this series a 4 out of 5 stars.
Hopefully, this review helps you decide whether or not to watch The Boys. If you enjoy absurdity, blood, superheroes, and tension, this series is for you!