Between Seasons 2 and 3 of “The Boys,” another dark caped comedy hit TV: James Gunn’s “Peacemaker.” They are arguably the two best superhero shows on TV right now, and it’s no coincidence that both react to the unending popularity of the genre. They are post-superhero shows reaping popularity because non-ironic superhero shows won’t go away.
While both are great, “The Boys” is more pointed, despite having 19 executive producers rather than a single visionary. Even though it comments on the real world, “Peacemaker” is silly enough to be labeled “escapist.” But “The Boys” directly confronts government and corporate power and asks what can be done about it.
Peacemaker is a killer who is a nice guy deep down, so we root for him. The mass killer in “The Boys,” Homelander, is a serious threat and no one roots for him – although he is deliciously watchable as played by smarmy-faced Antony Starr.
“The Boys” Season 3 (2022)
Fridays, Amazon Prime
Showrunner: Eric Kripke
Stars: Karl Urban, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty
Homelight
“The Boys” is more sober and cogent than “Peacemaker” on a macro level. In a chilling moment from early Season 3 (it started with a three-episode drop and continues with new episodes Fridays on Amazon Prime), Homelander – who can kill people with his laser eyes — tells Starlight to go ahead and release a damning video. He will destroy the world in response, and he has specific targets picked out.
Erin Moriarty’s Starlight started as a typical female superhero who is both “empowered” (in the vaguest sense of the word) and sexualized. Last season, Stormfront (Aya Cash) quips that she can see Starlight’s uterus thanks to the skimpy costume. Now Starlight wears an attractive yet practical outfit; indeed, a smaller version is appropriate for her child self (Moriarty’s dead ringer Maya Misaljevic) in a Little Miss Superhero pageant flashback.
Her new wardrobe – now less likely to malfunction — is symbolic of how Starlight is a serious character now. Moriarty plays her that way, hardly cracking a grin even as Starlight is appointed co-leader of The Seven alongside Homelander (in one of the Vought Corporation’s constant rebranding moves).
When she joined The Seven as the token small-town Supe-done-good, she aimed to sand off the group’s rough edges from the inside. Now – with direct knowledge of Homelander’s murders and psychological instability – she needs to change it from the inside.
In the big reality TV show that is life at Vought Tower, Homelander makes an impromptu declaration that he and Starlight are a couple (“Hashtag Homelight”). Starlight goes with it for the sake of the long game, and we understand a type of quiet internal toughness that is more specifically feminine than the lazy phrase “empowered woman.” Starlight is not merely “one of the guys”; she draws on strength only she has – because only she is required to have it.
Playin’ with The Boys
“The Boys” never lets us forget that corruption runs deep. The show is a slightly heightened reality featuring superpowered people and more openly corrupt behavior by office-holders, but otherwise fiction and reality are similar. Essentially, “The Boys” is reality if superheroes existed. They are corporately controlled by Vought, a stand-in for Disney, an unethical monstrosity with a grinning public face.
In reality and on the show, corporations and governments work together (either intentionally or via unintended consequences) against the people. Between seasons, Hughie (Jack Quaid) joins the Bureau of Superhero Affairs. But early in Season 3 he discovers his boss (Olivia Morandin as Zoe) is herself superpowered. She was raised like a daughter by Vaught head Stan (Giancarlo Esposito, “Better Call Saul”).
Adding verisimilitude to the world building, Irish-accented gruff guy Butcher (Karl Urban, in TV’s most entertaining role at the moment) and the Boys aim to find a weapon to take out Homelander. They must solve the mystery of how a previous all-powerful Supe, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), was killed by the Soviets in the 1980s.
Deepening “The Boys’ ” “Watchmen” parallel, we see the history of Supes getting a foothold in the political structure. (Also in this flashback sequence, we see younger versions of Laila Robins’ military woman Grace and Esposito’s Stan. As with the young Starlight’s resemblance to the adult actress, Sarah Swire and Justin Davis are such lookalikes to Robins and Esposito that I had to check IMDb to make sure they weren’t amazing examples of de-aging CGI.)
Micro aggressions
All of that is the macro level. Meanwhile, on a micro level, “The Boys” goes in the other direction – it’s wilder than “Peacemaker.” Gunn’s “Suicide Squad” spinoff serves up things you don’t normally see; “The Boys” features things you never see. Speaking of “micro,” a Supe named Termite crawls into his gay lover’s urethra. Even the episode’s advance warning of “sex” and “nudity” can’t prepare you.
Later, at a dinner table, Homelander illustrates the petty side of his power plays by abusing The Deep (Chace Crawford), who will do anything to get back into The Seven. Broadly, moments like this are “dark,” but they aren’t grim in the manner of a lot of modern TV. They’re wild enough to be truly funny, giving us a breather from the relatable broad story.
By the end of these three episodes, I still hate Homelander. But it’s not from simply being exposed to examples of this Supe behaving badly. More time is spent showing Butcher, Hughie, Starlight and the good guys strategizing against him.
The Boys and their allies outnumber the villains among the main cast, but they are outgunned in the big picture. Homelander’s adoring citizenry and entrenched support structure are off-screen, but they are palpable entities because this parable-driven show hews close to reality.
“The Boys” has found a sweet spot early in Season 3. Scene by scene, it’s as ridiculous as modern TV gets. But through a wider lens, it’s the most illustrative reflection of reality among current small-screen fiction.
IMDb Top 250 trivia
- “The Boys” ranks No. 99 among IMDb’s Top 250 TV shows with an 8.6 rating.
- Only one other superhero series is in the top 100: “Batman: The Animated Series” at No. 22 with a 9.0 rating.