Something you should know first and foremost: The Boys is far and away not a 1:1 adaptation of Garth Ennis's 60-issue work. There are characters replaced or missing, races lifted, contexts changed for certain scenes, and so on. It's also a fair bit less insane and debauched than the comics, in both its characters and events.
That being said, holy shit is it incredible.
When I first heard about the casting, I was a bit wary - Karl Urban as Butcher? Someone other than Simon Pegg as Hughie? But, as it turns out, everyone in this show is cast perfectly; Quaid completely sells Hughie's naivety and optimism about his new line of work while adding a new twist of underlying anger issues to the mix, Urban truly feels like Billy brought to life (and looks a hell of a lot like Hugh Jackman in Logan), and major, MAJOR props to Antony Starr for quintessentially capturing the fucked-up Superman that is Homelander, toned down a bit as he is - the slow transition from "hero with a dark side" to "genuine unnerving threat" is fascinating to watch unfold, and his physical look perfectly matches his character in a way I didn't know was possible. Mother's Milk, Frenchie, and the Female may not look exactly like their original counterparts, but they completely sold me with their performances, and I don't have a problem with any of the nationality changes or character replacements either because they are all great.
And the content? Hooo-BOY, they may not be adapting all the crazy shit from the comics completely intact, but there's no doubt this is a Garth Ennis work. The first 5 minutes brought me right back into the twisted world of Vought and its Supers, and it never let up from then on. For every straight event adaptation like the girl-splattering or the plane-hijacking, they add something new and hilariously awful like a poor sod getting his dick snapped off by an ice Super or someone being killed by eating ass. In the hands of any other writers and actors, this could come off as silly in addition to being over-the-top, but all the comedy is very much counterbalanced by the genuine drama and pathos on display. Knowing everything from the comics as I do, I was still fully invested through all eight episodes.
The Boys comes at perhaps the perfect time for its subject matter - the MCU is on the rise and only looking to get bigger in the comings years, and really superhero movies and TV shows have become one of the biggest brands in media in the last several decades, so as much as I love "traditional" super shows, this deconstruction and parody of so many of them really is refreshing and perhaps necessary, as it allows people to take a step back and really think about what it is they're consuming - in-between laughing at a baby laser-visioning some armed guards in twain, that is. Highly recommend if you're at all invested in superheroes, or just want to watch something good not made by Disney.
Season 1: A Different, but Amazing Adaptation
Something you should know first and foremost: The Boys is far and away not a 1:1 adaptation of Garth Ennis's 60-issue work. There are characters replaced or missing, races lifted, contexts changed for certain scenes, and so on. It's also a fair bit less insane and debauched than the comics, in both its characters and events.
That being said, holy shit is it incredible.
When I first heard about the casting, I was a bit wary - Karl Urban as Butcher? Someone other than Simon Pegg as Hughie? But, as it turns out, everyone in this show is cast perfectly; Quaid completely sells Hughie's naivety and optimism about his new line of work while adding a new twist of underlying anger issues to the mix, Urban truly feels like Billy brought to life (and looks a hell of a lot like Hugh Jackman in Logan), and major, MAJOR props to Antony Starr for quintessentially capturing the fucked-up Superman that is Homelander, toned down a bit as he is - the slow transition from "hero with a dark side" to "genuine unnerving threat" is fascinating to watch unfold, and his physical look perfectly matches his character in a way I didn't know was possible. Mother's Milk, Frenchie, and the Female may not look exactly like their original counterparts, but they completely sold me with their performances, and I don't have a problem with any of the nationality changes or character replacements either because they are all great.
And the content? Hooo-BOY, they may not be adapting all the crazy shit from the comics completely intact, but there's no doubt this is a Garth Ennis work. The first 5 minutes brought me right back into the twisted world of Vought and its Supers, and it never let up from then on. For every straight event adaptation like the girl-splattering or the plane-hijacking, they add something new and hilariously awful like a poor sod getting his dick snapped off by an ice Super or someone being killed by eating ass. In the hands of any other writers and actors, this could come off as silly in addition to being over-the-top, but all the comedy is very much counterbalanced by the genuine drama and pathos on display. Knowing everything from the comics as I do, I was still fully invested through all eight episodes.
The Boys comes at perhaps the perfect time for its subject matter - the MCU is on the rise and only looking to get bigger in the comings years, and really superhero movies and TV shows have become one of the biggest brands in media in the last several decades, so as much as I love "traditional" super shows, this deconstruction and parody of so many of them really is refreshing and perhaps necessary, as it allows people to take a step back and really think about what it is they're consuming - in-between laughing at a baby laser-visioning some armed guards in twain, that is. Highly recommend if you're at all invested in superheroes, or just want to watch something good not made by Disney.