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The Boys season 1
The first season of the American satirical superhero television series The Boys, the first series in the franchise based on the comic book series of the same name written by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was developed for television by American writer and television producer Eric Kripke. The season was produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kripke Enterprises, Kickstart Entertainment and KFL Nightsky Productions. The show's first season stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Kapon, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, and Elisabeth Shue. The story takes place in a universe where most of the superpowered individuals are recognized as superheroes, but in reality abuse their powers for personal gain, information the public is kept unaware of. The series follows the eponymous Boys, led by Billy Butcher (Urban), a group of vigilantes looking to bring down Vought International and expose its corrupt superheroes. When his girlfriend is accidentally killed by A-Train (Usher), Hughie Campbell (Quaid) joins the Boys to get revenge against the Seven. Meanwhile, Annie January / Starlight (Moriarty) is forced to face the truth about those she admires, after she joins the Seven, led by Homelander (Starr). The Boys attempt to stop Vought from receiving government support for superheroes by uncovering the company's secrets. When Hughie and Annie begin a romantic relationship, the conflict is muddled despite the two of them initially being unaware of each other's affiliations. The season premiered on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on July 26, 2019, with all the eight episodes being released in a single day. It became the most watched series released by Prime Video at the time of its release, having managed to attract a wide audience that led to a high viewership. The season received largely positive reviews from critics and audiences, with high praise towards its social commentary, story, black humor, faithfulness to the source material, visual style, screenplay, and performances (particularly Urban, Quaid, and Starr). The series was renewed for a second season on July 19, 2019.[1] Episodes
Cast and charactersMain
Recurring
Guest
CameosBilly Zane, Jimmy Fallon, Mike Massaro, Seth Rogen, and Tara Reid made cameo appearances, with Zane appearing in a Popclaw fictional film within the series and at a comic convention in the episodes "Good for the Soul" and "The Innocents" respectively, Fallon interviewing Translucent during his talk show in the episode "The Name of the Game", and Massaro portraying an ESPN interviewer for the episodes "Cherry" and "Get Some", while Rogen and Reid appeared as themselves in interviews for the episode "The Innocents". ProductionDevelopmentOn April 6, 2016, it was announced that a television adaptation for the Garth Ennis comic book series The Boys was in active development by Cinemax, after the original plans for a film adaptation were abandoned due to creative differences between the studios and the creative department behind the film.[17][18] While they were working for the series Preacher (also based on a comic book series written by Ennis), Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen were recruited to work for the series as the executive producers and directors for the pilot episode.[18] Eric Kripke, a longtime fan of Ennis' work, was angered over not being approached to work for the television adaptation of Preacher, something he told to Rogen and Golberg during a meeting with them. When the duo told him about the project, Kripke accepted, and was hired as the showrunner and head writer of the series.[19] The confirmed production companies to be involved with the series were Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, and Sony Pictures Television.[20] The production costs for the series exceeded expectations, leading Cinemax to deem it too costly to proceed. Rather than cancel the series or seek a new creative team, Rogen, Goldberg, and Kripke were granted permission to find a new distributor.[21][22] In November 2017, Amazon acquired the rights to adapt "The Boys" into a television series, aiming to create a hit drama and broaden its audience. That same month, Amazon announced that the first season would consist of eight episodes, each costing over $11.2 million,[23][24] with production expected to begin in spring 2018 for a planned 2019 release.[25] The original creative team from Cinemax remained attached to the project.[26][27] In April 2018, Dan Trachtenberg was hired to direct the first episode, replacing Rogen and Goldberg.[28] Kripke, Goldberg, Rogen, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Ori Marmur, James Weaver, Ken Levin, and Jason Netter were confirmed as executive producers. Ennis and Darick Robertson were brought on as co-executive producers.[20] WritingThe Boys takes place in a universe where the superheroes are interpreted as corrupt celebrities who abuse their powers. Kripke wanted to explore how these heroes would be portrayed in real life, leading to several discussions of how to deconstruct the old myth of superheroes. He has admitted to being a fan of Marvel, but believes that the old superhero myth portrayed in the comics and films would not happen in the real world as he considers that the people are selfish, believing that a person won't do something noble once it suddenly gains superpowers.[29] As a long time fan of Garth Ennis, Kripke began to read and follow the artist's work during his college years including the comic book series The Boys. However he didn't intend to write the series exactly as the comics, feeling that it would be disastrous, leading him to make some changes to the series. The writers agreed that they needed to adjust the characters to fit the story, so long as they were complex and recognizable. In order to balance the show's satire and superhero tropes, Kripke explained: "We let any comedy or absurdity emerge out of the natural contradictions of putting a fantasy element in the real world. And so when those people have to take shits and go get tacos, it just gets funny."[30] As the comic-book series portrays many of the key events from the storyline in a very graphic way, Kripke realized that many of them would be hard to adapt due to the MeToo movement. However he understood that it was important to adapt some of them as like what on the comics did, the series would be pushing the boundaries, for which he dedided to adapt controversial scenes that would be relevant for the show while the others that weren't would not be adapted.[1] Kripke considered that for the series it would be important to create a similar world that would the society that lives during these days, for which he decided to adapt the superheroes by combining the worst of the celebrities and politicians something that he considered to be a crazy idea that would show "how f—ed we would all, as regular people, be" with such a combination.[31] As the season deals with corruption and the abuse of power that several superheroes commit as the story progresses, the writers were given the freedom to adapt the series faithfully to the comics as they considered that it was the only way to properly adapt the story they were trying to tell. Ennis admitted that he knew that the series would take a different direction from the comics as Kripke had different intentions over how to adapt the storyline, though he considers that the latter was the right guy to take the comic's complex themes to the small screen.[32] The season also develops the relationship between Hughie and Annie and its progress as the series progresses. Kripke considered to adapt this right as he sees the romantic relationship of the characters to be the emtional core to ensure that the viewers begin to care and worry about the characters and to show how much heart the series was given.[33] The season does not fully follow the storyline from the comic book series despite its faithfulness to the source material, as Kripke maintained the writers disciplined with the intention of retaining the show with a sense of reality by saying: "Anything that comes out of this drug is viable, and anything that doesn't we're not allowed to do".[34][35] In order to keep the realism that he wanted to capture for the series, Kripke decided to replace some of the characters of the comics that he considered to fantastical to be adapted with new characters exclusively created for the series, though keeping their personalities and powers from the comics.[36][37] However, these changes weren't only made to keep the realism of the series as Kripke revealed that the changes were also to adapt series in the modern times. This change was done as Kripke considered that the original material from the comics would not be possible to adapt it to the series, due to the comics taking place in the 2000s with the first comic of The Boys being launched in 2006 stating: "There's been more than one situation where we've come up with a scene or storyline in the writer's room and then something happened in reality that was crazier than the story we were pitching. So, we've had to erase stories ’cause reality outdid us in how insane things are."[38] CastingIn December 2017, it was announced that Erin Moriarty was cast as Annie January / Starlight.[6] By January 2018, Antony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Chace Crawford, Jessie Usher, and Nathan Mitchell joined the main cast as Homelander, Queen Maeve, The Deep, A-Train, and Black Noir respectively,[5] while Laz Alonso, Jack Quaid, and Karen Fukuhara were cast the following month as Mother's Milk, Hughie Campbell, and Kimiko Miyashiro / The Female respectively.[7][4][9] That April, it was confirmed that Karl Urban had been cast in the series' lead role of Billy Butcher.[3] In May 2018, it was announced that Elisabeth Shue had been cast with the role of Madelyn Stillwell,[10] while Tomer Kapon confirmed that he joined the cast in the role of Frenchie the next month.[8] By the end of August, Jennifer Esposito revealed that she was cast for the role of CIA Agent Susan Raynor.[14] In October 2018, it was announced during the annual New York Comic Con that Simon Pegg had been cast in the role of Hughie Campbell's father.[11][12] According to the artist Robertson, Hughie was drawn in the comics to resemble Pegg after he saw Pegg in the sitcom Spaced, but Pegg thought he was too old to play the role of Hughie in the TV series.[39] Alex Hassell also made an appearance in the series as a guest actor, appearing as Translucent.[13] Giancarlo Esposito made a guest appearance in the season finale as Vought International CEO, Stan Edgar.[15] Haley Joel Osment also joined the cast in a recurring role, as the retired superhero Mesmer.[16] During the auditions, Starr and Usher admitted not being optimistic on getting their roles initially. Starr believed that he wasn't the man they were seeking and was convinced that he would never get his role. Starr only filmed a self tape to "spite" his representants, but managed to be cast in the role and decided to finally read the script. Usher believed that his own audition wasn't convincing and when he did it for the second time, he still wasn't convinced but eventually admitted being shocked at having managed to get the role. On the other side Moriarty, Urban and Quaid were more optimistic about being cast at their respective roles. Urban considered the character fun and that would be stupid to turn it down, while Moriarty get through several screen tests for an hour and half that impressed Kripke.[40][41] FilmingDespite the Boys taking place in New York City like in the comics, it was confirmed that filming would actually take place in the city of Toronto, Canada.[42] Kripke revealed that the series intended to begin filming in the spring of 2018, to release in the following year. The filming for the first season officially began on May 22, 2018, with production expected to end on September 25, 2018.[26][28][43][44] While the prIncipal photography for the series took place in Toronto, it was also confirmed that the show would be partially filmed at the cities of Mississauga and Hamilton in a few locations which include the Central Parkway Mall, the Streetsville Gas Station, Tim Hortons Field stadium, and the Fallsview Residence.[45] The crew filmed at several touristic locations from the city of Toronto such as Roy Thomson Hall, Yonge–Dundas Square, Lower Bay Station, and the Sherbourne Common. In order to make it look like New York City and create the fictional places of the series such as the Seven Tower to capture the series universe, several of these locations were digitally altered through CGI including the interiors of several buildings, with several rooms being digitally altered and extended.[44][46] One of the series cinematographers Dan Stoloff revealed that as the series was set to portray the dark side of the characters such as greed, jealousy and pride, it was important to create a dark atmosphere and the colors that reflect the universe that was created. During the filming, Stoloff revealed that Kripke gave the crew a sense of ownership to freely develop series ideas during production, allowing the VFX crew to test the visual effects and lighting prior to the shooting.[47] Filming for the first season wrapped on October 11, 2018.[48] Visual effectsThe visual effects were provided by DNEG TV, Framestore, Folks VFX, Mavericks VFX, Method Studios, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies VFX, Mr. X, Pixomondo, Rocket Science VFX, Rodeo FX, and Soho VFX, creating over 1400 visual effects shots for the season that took over five months to complete.[49] The creation of the visual effects for the season was overseen by visual effects supervisor Stephan Fleet.[50] While the blood and gore from the comics was kept in the show, it was slightly toned down compared to the source material. The crew mostly used practical fake blood for the series most violent moments, though they also used CGI due to the complexity of shooting, using the practical effects as a reference.[51][52] Having already worked on several superhero movies, visual effects company Framestore was hired to develop several of the fight sequences for the series, with VFX supervisor Pedro Sabrosa stating "While they are about superheroes, Ennis and Robertson's graphic novels are much more grounded in reality than the high-concept superheroes we're used to seeing adapted for the big screen. With that in mind, we wanted our effects to reflect that by being more believable and having a certain level of realism to them. The big challenge in this sequence was adding CG elements to live action footage shot at a high frame rate because you don't have anywhere to hide; our work needed to be flawless."[53] Framestore was in charge of creating the pilot's opening scene, which was the last scene to be filmed and edited, with a visual effects supervisor stating that "We came into the process relatively late on and found out they wanted to do the opening sequence, which was… um, you know, no pressure there! Interestingly, they shot that late: I think it was last in the shooting schedule. So yeah, we jumped on board very late in the day and had to turn it around quite quickly."[54] MusicIn July 2018, it was confirmed that Christopher Lennertz would be composing the score for the television series, having previously worked with Kripke on Supernatural and Revolution.[55] Lennertz was approached by Kripke while the former was working with Rogen for the adult animated film Sausage Party, where Kripke told him that he was developing a comic book series into a television adaptation about corrupt superheroes alongside Rogen. The composer read all the comics before shooting started in order to have a better idea of how to appreach the score, which led him to "develop a different that would make it disturbing, nasty, violent, garagey, sloppy, dirty and gritty." He experimented with new instruments such as old lamps and broken amps to get distorting and grungy sounds, intending to capture the escence of a superhero world in real life where things can things can go wrong.[56] After writing several demos to make the score fit into the narrative of the series, Lennertz opted to develop two methods with each one aimed at the two main groups of the series which are the Boys and the Seven. The first method was the music aimed to the Boys, where Lennertz made use of guitars, drums and amplifiers as Kripke wanted to have the music of the eponymous team to be "dirt and grime of a messy garage band with the energy of British punk and that he wanted to poke fun at traditional superhero clichés." The second method was the music aimed to the Seven, where Lennertz combined traditional orchestra and electronic sounds that would shatter the perfect stereotypes of comic book heroes. He made the music of the team to initially start with the orchestral classical superhero music, only to have it processed by slowing the music down to make it sound more distorted and get the feeling that things are starting to go wrong, making the audience to realize that the superheroes of this universe are actually deranged and capable of betraying everyone's trust.[57][58] A soundtrack album for the season was released digitally by Madison Gate Records on July 26, 2019.[59] All music is composed by Christopher Lennertz, except where noted.[59]
MarketingOn September 26, 2018, Amazon released the first official poster of the series, which resembles the cover of The Boys Issue #1.[60] A panel for The Boys was hosted by Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, and the main cast during the New York Comic Con that October, which opened by showing the series first look and clips from the series in the form of a trailer-style video.[61] The footage compromises of a fictional in-universe public service announcement of the supes doing saccarine things before swtiching to the eponymous Boys who give the middle finger to the announcement.[62] Rose Graceling-Moore from CBR considered that the footage managed to capture the essence of Garth Ennis' comics.[63] Samantha Highfill from the Entertainment Weekly stated that while the television series Preacher which is also based on Ennis' work was more of an alternate reality, the footage showed that with The Boys they're "making something based more in our reality and a little more easy to relate to."[64] The teaser trailer of the series was released online on January 24, 2019.[65] Nick Romano from the Entertainment Weekly commented that the trailer flashes the seedy underbelly of the superhero world and the group of berserkers who are trying to keep them in check.[66] Dave Trumbore at Collider considered that the trailer teases more action for the television series though deemed that it would be "more for the familiar fans than it is for newcomers."[67] Steve Seigh from JoBlo.com have noted that the trailer offers a look into a "sick, sad world of a superpowered CIA squad whose job it is to closely monitor a superhero community who've let their stature and powers go to their heads over time," and considered the Seven to be a group of super-powered individuals who devolved into "villains who lie, drink, and rape their way through the day."[68] An uncensored teaser trailer was released on April 17.[69] James White of Empire considered that the teaser was filled with bloody, witty, and ruthless esscence from the comics and does not believe that the series will hold back in the terms of violence and language.[70] /Film's Hoai-Tran Bui considered that the teaser was the best since it doubles down the comic's "mockery of the superhero genre," and presents the "clean-cut superheroes in a damaging light."[71] Margeaux Sippell of TheWrap stated that the teaser features a pack of uncensored superheroes which he considers that they are not the kid-friendly variety of super-powered beings that the audience is already used to.[72] A panel for the series was held at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival presented by AT&T, where the pilot episode was previewed and Kripke alongside the cast members answered the questions of multiple fans about the show.[73][74] During the panel, two exclusive videos were released of fictional in-universe commercials, the first one with the Deep promoting a fictional soy sauce and the second one with Starlight promoting a fictional skin care cream. The videos were later released online and featured as extras for the first season of the series.[75][76][77] Individual posters for the members of the Seven begin to be released in June 2019, with the tagline "Never Meet Your Heroes" which reflects of how each member of them behave in the series.[78] The official and final trailer of the series was released the following month on July 23.[79] Germain Lussier from Gizmodo considered that in contrast of the previous trailers which focused on showing the scope of the show, this one "weaves that in and out with the more personal story. The story of a man who loses the woman he loves in a truly horrific fashion and finds a way to get revenge."[80] Christine Fernando from Paste commented that while the trailer started showing of how we see the superheroes, it proceed to show us that it was only a facade and that in reality the superheroes are " narcissistic and sociopathic assholes."[81] ReleaseThe first season premiered on Amazon Prime Video on July 26, 2019, consisting of eight episodes.[82][83] All the eight episodes which complement the whole season were released the same date of its premiere.[84] Home mediaThe first season of The Boys was released on Blu-ray as part of a six-disc box set of the first two seasons by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on May 31, 2022. Special features included deleted scenes and a blooper reel.[85] ReceptionCritical responseOn Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 85% based on 106 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though viewers' mileage may vary, The Boys' violent delights and willingness to engage in heavy, relevant themes are sure to please those looking for a new group of antiheroes to root for."[86] On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[87] Christopher Lawrence of the Las Vegas Review-Journal called The Boys "irreverent, and deliciously cynical. The series follows the greed and corruption behind the superhero industrial complex."[88] For a review at The Ringer, Alison Herman considered that the series offered not only a more realistic over how the heroes would be portrayed in real life, but also over the companies have handled those franchises and the real life allegories that are portrayed in real life, commenting that thanks to the series "it's possible to get a kick out of laser beams and fight scenes while also being worn out by their excesses—not just the naivete, but the profiteering, the blandness, the micromanaged narratives passed off as expression. One show can't turn the tides of change, but at least it can commiserate."[89] Mel Campbell of Screen Hub deemed the show as "shockingly violent and pointedly political, this Amazon series is an ironic but refreshing antidote to supe franchising. ... The Boys throws our ugly cultural obsessions back in our faces."[90] Daniel Fienberg from Hollywood Reporter in a positive response praised it and stated, "I'll have to check in again on The Boys after a few more episodes to get a sense of whether or not the encroaching cynicism topples what I find initially promising here."[91] While writing his review at /Film, Chris Evangelista considered Antony Starr's performance as Homelander as one of the highlight of the series as he called it to be the "perfect bleached-blonde grinning psycho".[92] Liz Shannon Miller of The A.V. Club deemed that "Karl Urban proves to be a thoroughly committed performer as Billy Butcher, whose dedication to taking down "supes" of course has a personal edge, but then again, when you see what men like the blatantly fake and evil Homelander (Starr) are getting up to it makes sense that he's devoted his life to taking down the cause."[93] Matthew Dessem from Slate called The Boys "an expert deconstruction of superhero stories, with an appropriately wintery view of institutional power, be it corporate, governmental, religious, or caped."[94] Andrew Wyatt from Cinema St. Louis praised the series for its humor considering that "it's cynical and ultra-violent, but what distinguishes The Boys is its sincere fascination with its characters' anxieties, compulsions, and human failings."[95] Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting praised the series for its entertaining story, scoring 4.5 of a 5 and wrote, "not a frame is spared in crafting this nuanced and darkly humorous universe drenched in blood and violence. All eight episodes are expertly crafted and constructed to tell one cohesive story that will make you gasp, guffaw, and cheer in equal measure."[96] Matthew Gilbert from The Boston Globe considered that "the premise of the Amazon black comedy is never not fun, and the more we learn about this bizarro world, as the supes go on the late-night talk shows and stage team-up photo ops on various crimes, the better. ... The cast is fine, particularly Shue, who is icily effective; Quaid, whose neurotic but brave fumblings are endearing; and Urban, who is Hughie's gonzo guide. But the real star of 'The Boys' is the situation itself."[97] Ben Travers from IndieWire gave the show a "B" and said that "given the top-notch special effects and sharp writing at the core of 'The Boys,' there are still loads of potential within this well-realized universe. Let's just hope this ending really did save the cat."[98] Mike Hale from The New York Times praised the series for its departure from the traditional superhero shows including the ones produced by Netflix stating, "The Boys, meanwhile, is offering the kind of smart, easygoing pleasure that most of the Marvel Netflix shows, its closest analogues, didn't quite reach." He also considered Starr's performance to capture a celebrity that embodies the "American privilege, patriarchy and fraudulent celebrity culture" and also calling it as a "Superman gone sour".[99] Daniel D'Addario from Variety recognized the first episode for the potential, though criticized its tone and writing, "All viewers at Tribeca had to go on was a first episode, and 'The Boys' could become any number of things as it rolls on. But the tone it struck in its first outing was a dully familiar one — the sense that to transgress, alone, is enough. If this show is to actually satirize the wide-open target of superhero entertainments, it'll need to find a second gear, and quickly."[100] Vinnie Mancuso from Collider appreciated the show social commentary themes and scoring the entire season 5 out of 5 stars and said, "Like Alan Moore's Watchmen in the late-80s, The Boys TV series has the chance to be the superhero deconstruction of our time. Less a peek behind the curtain, and more a seedy glimpse behind the social media likes and box office numbers, a story that manages to be heartbreakingly relevant while still finding time to have Urban kill a room full of goons with a super-powered baby."[101] Audience viewershipIn October 2019, it was announced that Nielsen would be starting to track the viewership for Prime Video programing.[102][103] It was reported that The Boys had attracted over 8 million of viewers on Prime Video during the first ten days of release, having the average audience size of the series being at 4.1 million with an average of 6 million having watched the episode's premiere.[104][105] It became Prime Video's most watched series with 39% of the audience being in the age range of 35–49.[106][107] The head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salme considered that the success of the series exceeded the expectations of the company's regarding the viewership during the first two weeks and celebrated this stating that the company couldn't be happier.[108] Awards and nominations
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