THE BOYS: A different side to superheroes

Amazon Prime's The Boys is an absolutely bonkers superhero show in the best way. From creators Garth Ennis and Derrick Robertson, The Boys is based around a group of vigilantes teaming up to take down a very mean version of the Justice League. It shows not only what it means to be a superhero, but what profound effects it has on the people around them.

The show starts off with the main protagonist, Hughie Campbell, played by Jack Quaid; his girlfriend is killed horrifically by a high-speed collision with the speedster known as A-Train. He is then approached by Karl Urban's Billy Butcher who offers him to join "The Boys" to teach the "supes" a lesson.

As the story unfolds each character steals the spotlight in their own way. Hughie Campbell is a charming, harmless kind of protagonist but it's Billy Butcher who steals the spotlight. Urban nails his portrayal of Butcher as he searches for the hero who murdered his wife. However, heroes are only as good as their villains or in this case, their heroes.

The Seven, basically the evil Justice League, are a dynamic bunch to follow. In public, they are the faces of heroism, truth and justice but off camera they tend to be polar opposites. Anthony Starr's Homelander is a deadly fusion between Captain America and Superman, minus the good upbringing. He's unstable, unpredictable and indestructible making him the most dangerous and most interesting villain of the show. He leads The Seven on their trail of "justice". 

Following him are the six members of The Seven. We've got Queen Maeve who is basically a Wonder Woman clone. She treats her role in the seven as an obligation as she tried to do good deeds at one point of her life but failed. The Deep is a misogynistic jerk but genuinely cares about sea creatures although every time he tries to help his aquatic buddies something goes horribly wrong in the most hilarious way. Black Noir is the most mysterious of The Seven. He's mute and is never seen without a mask. A-Train is the fastest in the group but is very careless with his powers. This very carelessness started the whole show in the first place. Last but not least we have Starlight, a small-town girl whose dream was to work with The Seven. However as the show starts, her dream gets shattered to pieces as Annie learns the truth about the heroes she idolised her whole life.

Even though there are a lot of positive sides to the show, some characters were not given the spotlight much. They were interesting and mysterious and clearly deserved more recognition. Furthermore, there could have been more of the gratuitous and ferocious actions sequences than there are and a stronger link to the comics would make it much interesting.

In conclusion, The Boys is a violent, graphic, irreverent and entertaining show. It is a must watch for any comic-book-adapted movie and series geek. If anyone needs something fresh to watch, go check this out in Amazon Prime.

Abhoy Hriddo is a teenage geek whose only joy is indulging himself in comic books. Send your thoughts at abhoyhriddo@gmail.com