Season 2 of The Boys is coming on September 4th so it is time to catch up to a series with a very adult take on superheroes! We saw the trailer for season 2 on August 4th, here’s info you might need from season 1. The Boys is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. It is based on the long running comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The first series published by Wildstorm was in 2006-2007. The Boys is currently published by Dynamite Entertainment. The Amazon Prime series is developed by Eric Kripke who also created Supernatural. The first episode, “The Name of the Game” (2019), also the title of the comic's first issue, was written by Kripke. The show opens with a patchwork of comic book panels formed into a mosaic of The Seven; Lamplighter, the hooded, mysterious hero, The Deep, Queen Maeve, Homelander, Black Noir, the only one with a mask, A-Train, and Translucscent while we get the logo Vought Studios. These are the counterparts to the Justice League. This might be a parody of the Marvel Studios movies. This resolves to the movie poster of Invisible Force 2 starring Transluscent.
This resolve to the advert on the back of a bus as two teens talk about Transluscent and The Deep. They hear a crash as a security van is chased by police. The teens see the van hurtle towards them and start to run. A car is thrown and we see Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) leap and then race across the windows of an elderly lady. McElligott played Hannah Onway in House of Cards which of course also starred Robin Wright. The actress is Irish, perfect casting! She stands in front of the teens as the security van is crushed by Maeve’s invincible figure, very nice effects shot. Maeve is the legendary woman in Irish mythology, she ruled Connaught during the time of the hero, Cuchulainn. We can see from her armor that she is an analogue for Wonder Woman. Still, it is interesting to see another mythology used and I wonder how Maeve got her identity and armor. Two gunmen have the teens as hostages as Maeve smiles. The machine gun is melted onto the hand of one gunman by the heat vision of Homelander. We can see from his powers that this is Superman.
The other tries to futily empty his clip at Homelander (Antony Starr) until he is thrown into the air, then crashes into a car. Starr played Garrett Hawthorne in American Gothic. Homelander wears the American flag as a cape and also his epaulettes on his shoulders are metallic instead of cloth which makes him resemble Judge Dredd, the UK parody of American justice. The newsreport on the incident is seen by Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), the actor is the son of Dennis Quaid and was Fish Bang in Logan Lucky (2017). Hughie is our average guy, pov character. He brings in a box of audio equipment for a customer. We get that he is knowledeable and helpful. His job at the electronics store was added by the series writers. Hughie is hesitant to talk to his boss, Gary (Jack Mosshammer), then another customer enters. This is Robin Ward (Jess Salgueiro), the actress is in another superhero show, Jupiter’s Legacy, based on the Mark Millar comic book. They head off for lunch, Robin wonders if Hughie asked for a raise, Hughie just makes excuses. She brings up about moving in together. This is a nice couples moment.
They kiss and mention about Billy Joel when there is a flash. The shockwave and splatters of blood hits Hughie’s face. Then, we see the twirling mass of blood and bones that was formerly Robin! It shifts back into normal speed, the blood falls and we see the superhero, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), saying he can’t stop. Usher was in Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), the son of Will Smith’s character. A-Train is of course The Flash.He runs away as Hughie realizes that he is holding the severed arms of Robin. This scene was in the comic book, but what I found was that the series is more graphic in showing the remains of Robin floating in the air, but also the electronics store scene is very important in setting Hughie’s character, and the sense of normalcy before the violence. Also, the comic book had Robin and Hughie in the middle of a chase between superhero and supervillain. The Flash had to deal with a speed enhancing formula, Velocity-9, in the comic books. This switches to the quiet Des Moines, Iowa as we get a young woman Annie (Erin Moriarty). She played Hope Shlottman in the Jessica Jones (2015) series. She plays the innocent woman, but also gives us the perspective of what we think of as the classical superhero motivation. Her role at first is not strong in the comic book.
Annie is busy lifting a car and punching at a wall. Then, she goes on a video audition as Starlight, with a white and gold costume, cape, and headband. Starlight warns the interviewer to turn away and then unleashes her light powers. She goes into another interview talking about her mother taking her to Miss Hero pageants. This is a great intro to heroes, since we get a better sense of Starlight as a person, in contrast to the superhero feats and terror at the opening. Also note in the comic, Starlight is not introduced until the second issue, so the comic book is unbalanced and also has her first greeting Homelander at The Seven’s base. She admits she wants to join The Seven to save the world. This is what we expect from superheroes, but not the case with these heroes. Hughie is on the couch with his father, Hugh (Simon Pegg), after Robin’s funeral. Pegg is a genre vet with Star Trek Beyond (2016) which he also co-wrote. Of course, the comic book had Darick Robertson drawing Hughie in the likeness of Pegg. His acting here is brilliant, just an ordinary guy who has lost the ability to take charge, and loves his 80’s television.
Hughie wants to watch the news interview with A-Train. They are interrupted by a Vought representative who wants to make a $45 k settlement for a non-disclosure agreement. Hughie has thoughts of raging at the rep, but instead asks for time. At Annie’s house, she prepares a meal talking with her mother, Donna (Ann Cusack), the actress was was last in the horror series Castle Rock (2018). They get the call that Starlight has joined The Seven. Hughie is looking to file a criminal case against A-Train when his father tries to convince him to sign the NDA. His son walks out. Then, next to Seven Tower, we get the fans cheering on the arrival of Starlight, she is met by Ashleigh Barrett (Colby Minifie), director of talent relations. We get Madelyn Stillwell (Elizabeth Shue) giving a shareholders speech on Vought International. Shue may be known for Back to the Future Part II (1989), but she was also known for the horror film, Hollow Man (2000). We see until the end of the series that she is running Vought. Then, we see Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) is the CEO. Esposito is Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian.
A standard commercial has Stillwill noting the 200+ superheroes, “We make heroes super.” Starlight is being prepared by make-up artists and then Stillwell introduces The Deep (Chace Crawford) who talks about the retirement of Lamplighter. Crawford was in the soap opera Blood & OIl. Lamplighter will return in season 2 played by Shawn Ashmore. It is obvious from the hero’s name and green and gold costume that he is standing in for Aquaman. Then, Starlight makes her stage debut, but she just stares out at the audience. Hughie goes to a store to pick up some beer and sees A-Train on all of the packaging. He takes the beer to the counter, but starts breathing heavy and collapses. The Deep takes Starlight on a tour to the meeting room of The Seven. She admits that she had a poster of him in her room. He takes down his pants and threatens her membership in The Seven with Starlight about to use her powers. Transluscent (Alex Hassell) is interviewed on late night television. Hassell was in the Torchwood episode, “Combat” (2006). This is playing while Hughie is at the electronics store. The popularity of the Supes reflects our own celebrity culture.
He is met by someone at the store. Bearded and in a coat, this is Billy Butcher (Karl Urban). He is known for many genre parts from Star Trek Beyond (2016) to Dredd (2012). Urban was also in the sci fi series Almost Human. The comic book series focuses on Butcher while the television series has the narrative focusing on Hughie and Starlight. I see Butcher as the Batman of this world. Black Noir looks like a Batman, but he is silent and doesn’t take a strong role in what is happening. Batman, in the modern comics, is the voice in the Justice League for when superheroes cross the line. We might also see the similiarities in that Hughie’s girlfriend is named Robin, Hughie is the Robin of this world, learning with Butcher. He is brought into Butcher’s group because of the unfairness that underlies the Supes running the world. We also get the other members introduced over several episodes of The Boys. They are Frenchie (Tomer Capon), he is an explosives expert, Capon is an Israeli actor known for his other series, When Heroes Fly, Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), he is running a juvenile detention center and argues with Frenchie, Alonso was Tsu’tey in Avatar (2009), and later The Female also known as Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), The Female is a wild child with vicious powers kinda like X-23, Fukuhara is also another superhero, Katana, in Suicide Squad (2016).
Hughie happens to meet Annie on a park bench and they start a romance helping each other. Butcher sees this is an opportunity. Starlight has to come into her own as a superhero and deal with stage mother expectations. The Boys has to uncover the secret behind Compound-V and the plans of Vought International. Stillwell has plans to authorize The Seven to be part of national defense. Hughie later encounters Ezekiel (Shaun Benson) at the religious Believe Expo, he has stretching powers and Hughie sees him earlier at a club. Also, there is the girlfriend of A-Train, Popclaw (Brittany Allen), a former member of the group, Teenage Kix, she can extend claws out of her wrists Wolverine-style. Another ex-member is Mesmer (Haley Joel Osment) who can read minds through touching a subject. There is also a mysterious character played by Shanel VanSanten who was Patty Spivot in The Flash. The series has some dark, very adult content, the comic book has some shock value with misogynist tones, the television program has taken scenes, but paced them out and developed the female characters. Ennis has good ideas, taking up the challenge that was laid down by Alan Moore's Watchmen; not what would superheroes be like in the real world, how would they affect daily life unbalancing it on a geopolitical and corporate level. The Boys has some fun characters, superheroes that are really super villains that you love to hate, and surprises that shake up the traditional superhero story!
Five Compound-Vs out of Five!
#TheBoys, #JackQuaid, #ErinMoriarty, #KarlUrban, #AntonyStarr, #DominiqueMcElligott, #JessieTUsher
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