The Boys (2019 Amazon series)

I finished a binge watch of both seasons myself. Even though I never read the comic out of disinterest, I found the show very compelling due to the use of superheroes to satirize and criticize celebrity and capitalist culture. In fact the latter is more interesting than the superhero deconstruction, but that was always going to happen since the tropes related to that idea are all trodden ground with very little to meaningfully add anymore.

I don't really have anything more to add here though. The characters we're meant to like are likable because of how flawed they are thanks to the setting, and the ones we're meant to dislike are still given the Cry for the Devil treatment without expecting the audience to like them or want them redeemed.

I think with more perspective the show is less a deconstruction of superheroes and a superhero setting than it is poking at the corporate infrastructure around how marketable superheroes are. It's more reflective of the celebrity worship culture if anything. The rather confined Meta Origin that all Supes have means that we aren't getting the Fantasy Kitchen Sink of aliens, demons, advanced technology, genetic manipulation and normal vigilantes that are normally present in similar settings.

It’s weird how in the comic comic books are used as propaganda for the masses.

Like how everyone believes that aliens and demons exist but are stopped by the heroes because it was written in the books.

You know, Stormfront being assigned to The Seven really makes a lot less sense the more I think about.

Specifically, if Vought is at all concerned about Homelander, then putting her in proximity to him is just the worst idea. She is a bad influence on an already atrocious person and the best case scenario to her joining the team is that he is annoyed with her and Vought in general. Gee, putting the super powerful and desperate to be loved Aryan wet dream on the same squad as a charming, manipulative Nazi. What could possibly go wrong.

I wondered this as well. I think the potential benefits of "having an uber powerful supe that ACTUALLY follows your orders (even if she pretends she doesn't online, No Such Thing as Bad Publicity) oh yeah and she's the ex-boss's wife" was worth the risk. Or maybe her dating Homelander was intended as a way to control him that went way wrong.

Jeff Bezos Sees Nothing Wrong With Funding Two Shows About How Lex Luthor’s Arch Nemesis Is Actually the Bad Guy

(EDIT: The other show is Invincible)

Edited by Synchronicity on May 14th 2021 at 5:14:31 AM

Part of the satire is the fact that Voight is utterly incompetent at anything but marketing the superheroes. Because that is their sole concern. As such, things like tactics, reliability, or the safety of the world are secondary ones.

They also probably think Stormfront is a weapon against Homelander if he turns versus thinking, "Oh yes, the Nazi will want to create Master Race babies."

Edited by CharlesPhipps on May 14th 2021 at 5:17:48 AM

It's pretty funny because there's no good Lex Luthor equivalent here and Vought is both corrupt and inefficent. The true heroes are Punisher pastiches

So they're good examples of fascists.

:)

Edgar is the one who put her on the team and he seems to be fully aware of who - and espcially what - she is.

So I actually wonder what his plan there was.

His conversation with Butcher in season 2's final episode is still one of my favourite scenes so far.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on May 15th 2021 at 11:44:03 AM

"I can't lash out like some raging entitled maniac... That's a white man's luxury"

Oooof that hits hard.

Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy[1]

Definitely getting the "Totally-not-Captain-America" vibe (obviously) but I do wonder about the armoured look. Is the show version fully powered up or a Bad Ass Normal, do we know?

Edgar said Soldier Boy was the first test subject of Compound V. So I presume it worked on him in a similar manner to the Super Soldier formula (heightened strength, speed, and physical attributes).

Its like Winter Soldier and Captain America fused

More like Ultimate Captain America.

Ackles auditioned for the role of Steve, so this is a fun casting joke. (In addition to being Production Posse from Supernatural.)

so he got powers from it, without being on the same level as someone like Homelander? Makes sense.

I'm honestly interested in what they do with the character as the comics version was treated particularly pettily and spitefully even by Ennis' standards.

From what I recall in interviews he's intended to be kind of a proto-Homelander here so at the least he appears to be another rival to the character.

And a threat in his own right if he was Homelander before Homelander.

Well, the first American test subject (that we know of) - Stormfront predates him.

Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Jun 8th 2021 at 1:33:28 PM

In the comics Soulja-Boy is a legacy hero who they pretend is the original to maintain his WWII get backstory.

Which could not be the case here since he’s intended as a serious threat and not a joke. He may be the original Soulja-Boy.

That is a good song that I hope they use.

Eric Kripke says the show's take on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's racy Herogasm spin-off will be "outrageous, but not exploitive."

That seems to be the general approach to a lot of Ennis ideas. You keep the spirit of the idea without going “LOOK HERE! I AM ADULT!”

This would appear to be no different.

"Edgy adult."

Credit to them for being able to actually make this shit work.

Edited by slimcoder on Jul 20th 2021 at 5:29:29 AM