The Boys (TV series)

This article is about the American TV series. For the 1993 CBS television sitcom, see The Boys (1993 TV series).

The Boys
File:The Boys Title Card.png
Genre	Action Black comedy Drama Political satire Superhero
Based on	The Boys by Garth Ennis Darick Robertson
Developed by	Eric Kripke
Showrunner	Eric Kripke
Starring	Karl Urban Jack Quaid Antony Starr Erin Moriarty Dominique McElligott Jessie T. Usher Laz Alonso Chace Crawford Tomer Capone Karen Fukuhara Nathan Mitchell Elisabeth Shue Colby Minifie Aya Cash Claudia Doumit Jensen Ackles Cameron Crovetti Susan Heyward Valorie Curry Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Composers	Christopher Lennertz Matt Bowen
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	32
Production
Executive producers	Eric Kripke Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg James Weaver Neal H. Moritz Pavun Shetty Ori Marmur Dan Trachtenberg Ken F. Levin Jason Netter Craig Rosenberg Phil Sgriccia Rebecca Sonnenshine Paul Grellong David Reed Meredith Glynn Garth Ennis Darick Robertson Michaela Starr Judalina Neira
Producers	Hartley Gorenstein Gabriel Garcia Nick Barrucci Jake Deuel Karl Urban Stefan Steen Anslem Richardson Antony Starr
Production locations	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cinematography	Jeff Cutter Evans Brown Jeremy Benning Dylan Macleod Dan Stoloff Mirosław Baszak Jonathon Cliff
Editors	David Trachtenberg Nona Khodai David Kaldor Cedric Nairn-Smith William W. Rubenstein Jonathan Chibnall Ian Kezsbom Tom Wilson John Fitzpatrick Scott Stolzar
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	55–68 minutes
Production companies	Kripke Enterprises Point Grey Pictures Original Film Kickstart Entertainment KFL Nightsky Productions Amazon MGM Studios Sony Pictures Television
Budget	$11.2 million per episode (season 1)
Original release
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26) – present (present)
Related
The Boys (franchise)

The Boys is an American satirical superhero television series developed by Eric Kripke for Amazon Prime Video. Based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, it follows the eponymous team of vigilantes as they combat superpowered individuals (referred to as "Supes") who abuse their powers for personal gain and work for a powerful company that ensures the general public views them as heroes. The series features an ensemble cast that includes Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Chace Crawford, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Elisabeth Shue, Colby Minifie, Aya Cash, Claudia Doumit, Jensen Ackles, Cameron Crovetti, Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Intended to be a feature-length film trilogy, the comic book series adaptation began its development in 2008, with Adam McKay set to direct the films. Due to creative differences between the crew and the studios that picked it up, the project was left in development hell. Eventually, the development for The Boys was revived in 2016 by Cinemax, which announced that it would be reworked as a television series. Kripke was recruited to be the showrunner of the series, while Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg would be credited as executive producers. Amazon Studios obtained the rights for the series in November 2017, with production starting in May 2018 in Toronto, Canada.

The Boys premiered its first season of eight episodes on July 26, 2019. A second season premiered on September 4, 2020, with the third season following on June 3, 2022. In June 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on June 13, 2024. In May 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth and final season, which is expected to premiere in 2026. As part of a shared universe, a spin-off web series (Seven on 7) premiered on July 7, 2021, an adult animated anthology series (Diabolical) premiered on March 4, 2022, and a second live-action television series (Gen V) premiered on September 29, 2023.

The series has been nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series in 2021, and has won seven Critics' Choice Super Awards and six Astra TV Awards.

Premise

The Boys is set in a universe where superpowered individuals (referred to as "Supes") are recognized as heroes by the general public and work for Vought International, a powerful corporation that markets and monetizes them. Outside their heroic personas, most are corrupt, self-serving and recklessly cause collateral damage. The series primarily focuses on two groups: The Boys, CIA-sponsored black ops agents looking to bring down Vought and its corrupt superheroes, and The Seven, Vought's premier superhero team who are The Boys' most powerful adversaries.

In the first season, after his girlfriend is accidentally murdered by one of The Seven, led by the egotistical and unstable Homelander, Hughie Campbell is enlisted by Billy Butcher, who despises all superpowered beings, and joins the vigilante team known as The Boys. As a conflict ensues between the two groups, Annie January / Starlight, a young and hopeful heroine, is forced to face the truth about the heroes she admires, after she joins The Seven.

In the second season, on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought, The Boys try to adjust to a new normal in hiding, with Butcher nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Annie, now aiding the eponymous Boys, must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront, a social media-savvy new Supe, who has an agenda and secret past of her own.

In the third season, one year after the Stormfront scandal, The Boys now work for Victoria Neuman's Bureau of Superhero Affairs to apprehend problematic Supes, having been at peace with The Seven; Butcher and Homelander itch to turn this peace and quiet into blood and bone. When The Boys learn of a mysterious anti-Supe weapon, it sends them crashing into The Seven, starting a war and chasing the legend of the first superhero: Soldier Boy.

In the fourth season, six months after the defeat of Soldier Boy, The Boys work with the CIA to assassinate Neuman in an effort to stop her from taking over the government. Concurrently, Neuman is under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power. Butcher, with only months to live, has lost Becca's son and his position as leader of The Boys; the rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it's too late.

Cast and characters

See also: List of The Boys characters

• Karl Urban as William "Billy" Butcher – The leader of The Boys. A former SAS operative who distrusts all superpowered individuals, he has a particular hatred towards Homelander, who he believes is responsible for the disappearance of his wife, Becca; Luca Villacis and Josh Zaharia portray younger versions of Butcher in the third season.
• Jack Quaid as Hugh "Hughie" Campbell Jr. – A member of The Boys and a civilian tech specialist who joins the team after his girlfriend, Robin, is run over and unintentionally murdered by A-Train while the latter was high on Compound V. He mainly serves as the moral compass and voice of reason of The Boys.
• Antony Starr as John Gillman / Homelander – The extremely powerful leader of The Seven; notable powers include flight, heat vision, and superhuman strength. Beneath his public image as a noble hero, he is egotistical and megalomaniacal, and he cares little about the well-being of those he professes to protect; Rowan Smyth and Isaac Weeks portray a young John in the second and fourth season, respectively.
• Erin Moriarty as Annie January / Starlight – A superhero with energy manipulation, light-based powers and superhuman strength, and a member of The Seven. One of the few heroes who values protecting society, she questions her loyalty to The Seven after learning of their true character; Maya Misaljevic portrays a young Annie in the third season.
  • Moriarty also portrays a variation of the Shapeshifter Supe in the fourth season.
• Dominique McElligott as Maggie Shaw / Queen Maeve (seasons 1–3) – A veteran member of The Seven with superhuman strength and reflexes, and durability. Once desiring to protect innocent lives, she has become disillusioned and suffers from burnout.
• Jessie T. Usher as Reggie Franklin / A-Train – A speedster member of The Seven. He is determined to maintain his status as the fastest speedster in the world, which results in him becoming addicted to Compound V.
• Laz Alonso as Marvin T. "Mother's" Milk / M.M. – A member of The Boys responsible for organizing and planning their operations. Formerly a medic in the United States Marine Corps, he joined The Boys after Soldier Boy caused his grandfather's death and his attorney father working himself to demise attempting to bring Vought down; Elias Leon Leacock portrays a young M.M. in the third season.
• Chace Crawford as Kevin Moskowitz / The Deep – A member of The Seven who possesses aquatic telepathy and amphibious physiology. He is looked down upon by the other members of The Seven due to his status as the group's token aquatic hero; Patton Oswalt voices The Deep's gills.
• Tomer Capone as Serge / Frenchie – A member of The Boys and an international arms trafficker skilled in chemistry, infiltration, munitions, and ordnance. Coerced into joining the group to protect his criminal friends and to assuage his own guilt, he seeks redemption for his past crimes by fighting against Vought.
• Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro / The Female – A mute member of The Boys with super strength and regenerative healing. Involuntarily injected with Compound V as part of a scheme to create superpowered terrorists, she joins The Boys after they free her; Momona Tamada and Ai Barrett portray a young Kimiko in the first and fourth season, respectively.
• Nathan Mitchell as Earving / Black Noir (seasons 1–3) and Black Noir II (seasons 4–5) – A mysterious member of The Seven who possesses combat prowess and enhanced stealth. Formerly a member of Payback, he was severely disfigured during his team's mutiny against Soldier Boy, rendering him mute and forcing him to conceal his physical appearance behind a dark costume. Before the final showdown with Soldier Boy, he is murdered by Homelander and is swiftly succeeded by an actor replacement, who is also a "Supe" able to fly, as a cover-up. Fritzy-Klevans Destine portrays a young, unmasked Black Noir in the third season.
• Elisabeth Shue as Madelyn Stillwell (season 1; guest season 2) – The charismatic, scheming vice president of Vought International who is responsible for managing The Seven.
• Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett (seasons 2–5; recurring season 1) – A publicist for Vought International who later becomes its CEO.
• Aya Cash as Klara Risinger / Liberty / Stormfront (season 2; guest season 3) – The first successful Compound V subject and member of The Seven with plasma-based abilities. Once a member of the Nazi Party, she holds bigoted views towards minorities and the non-superpowered.
• Claudia Doumit as Nadia Khayat / Victoria Neuman (seasons 3–4; recurring season 2) – A congresswoman who secretly works for Vought as a superpowered assassin with head-popping powers and the ability to control the blood of anyone; Elisa Paszt portrays a young Nadia in the third season.
• Jensen Ackles as Ben / Soldier Boy (seasons 3 and 5; guest season 4) – Vought's original premier superhero and the leader of Payback who possesses superhuman strength and is able to generate radiation. Thought to have been killed during the Cold War, he was secretly betrayed by his team and captured by the Soviets in order for Vought to replace him with Homelander, his biological son.
• Cameron Crovetti as Ryan (seasons 4–5; recurring seasons 2–3) – Homelander and Becca's son, known as the first natural-born "Supe", who forms a close bond with Billy Butcher; Parker Corno portrayed Ryan in the first season finale.
• Susan Heyward as Jessica "Sage" Bradley / Sister Sage (seasons 4–5) – A misanthropic "Supe" with greatly enhanced intelligence, proclaimed as the smartest person on the planet, who is recruited by Homelander and replaces Ashley as CEO of Vought International.
• Valorie Curry as Misty Tucker Gray / Firecracker (seasons 4–5) – An alt-right "Supe" influencer with a personal vendetta against Starlight, and a competent public agitator and conspiracy theorist.
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler (seasons 4–5) – A deceased CIA case officer who appears as a hallucination to Butcher, caused by his Temp V-enhanced brain tumor.

Episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	8		July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
2	8		September 4, 2020 (2020-09-04)	October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)
3	8		June 3, 2022 (2022-06-03)	July 8, 2022 (2022-07-08)
4	8		June 13, 2024 (2024-06-13)	July 18, 2024 (2024-07-18)

Season 1 (2019)

Main article: The Boys season 1

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	1	"The Name of the Game"	Dan Trachtenberg	Eric Kripke	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
2	2	"Cherry"	Matt Shakman	Eric Kripke	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
3	3	"Get Some"	Phil Sgriccia	George Mastras	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
4	4	"The Female of the Species"	Fred Toye	Craig Rosenberg	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
5	5	"Good for the Soul"	Stefan Schwartz	Anne Cofell Saunders	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
6	6	"The Innocents"	Jennifer Phang	Rebecca Sonnenshine	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
7	7	"The Self-Preservation Society"	Dan Attias	Craig Rosenberg & Ellie Monahan	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
8	8	"You Found Me"	Eric Kripke	Anne Cofell Saunders & Rebecca Sonnenshine	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)

Season 2 (2020)

Main article: The Boys season 2

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
9	1	"The Big Ride"	Phil Sgriccia	Eric Kripke	September 4, 2020 (2020-09-04)
10	2	"Proper Preparation and Planning"	Liz Friedlander	Rebecca Sonnenshine	September 4, 2020 (2020-09-04)
11	3	"Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men"	Steve Boyum	Craig Rosenberg	September 4, 2020 (2020-09-04)
12	4	"Nothing Like It in the World"	Fred Toye	Michael Saltzman	September 11, 2020 (2020-09-11)
13	5	"We Gotta Go Now"	Batan Silva	Ellie Monahan	September 18, 2020 (2020-09-18)
14	6	"The Bloody Doors Off"	Sarah Boyd	Anslem Richardson	September 25, 2020 (2020-09-25)
15	7	"Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker"	Stefan Schwartz	Craig Rosenberg	October 2, 2020 (2020-10-02)
16	8	"What I Know"	Alex Graves	Rebecca Sonnenshine	October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)

Season 3 (2022)

Main article: The Boys season 3

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
17	1	"Payback"	Phil Sgriccia	Craig Rosenberg	June 3, 2022 (2022-06-03)
18	2	"The Only Man in the Sky"	Phil Sgriccia	David Reed	June 3, 2022 (2022-06-03)
19	3	"Barbary Coast"	Julian Holmes	Anslem Richardson & Geoff Aull	June 3, 2022 (2022-06-03)
20	4	"Glorious Five-Year Plan"	Julian Holmes	Meredith Glynn	June 10, 2022 (2022-06-10)
21	5	"The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies"	Nelson Cragg	Ellie Monahan	June 17, 2022 (2022-06-17)
22	6	"Herogasm"	Nelson Cragg	Jessica Chou	June 24, 2022 (2022-06-24)
23	7	"Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed"	Sarah Boyd	Paul Grellong	July 1, 2022 (2022-07-01)
24	8	"The Instant White-Hot Wild"	Sarah Boyd	Logan Ritchey & David Reed	July 8, 2022 (2022-07-08)

Season 4 (2024)

Main article: The Boys season 4

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
25	1	"Department of Dirty Tricks"	Phil Sgriccia	David Reed	June 13, 2024 (2024-06-13)
26	2	"Life Among the Septics"	Karen Gaviola	Jessica Chou	June 13, 2024 (2024-06-13)
27	3	"We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here"	Fred Toye	Ellie Monahan	June 13, 2024 (2024-06-13)
28	4	"Wisdom of the Ages"	Phil Sgriccia	Geoff Aull	June 20, 2024 (2024-06-20)
29	5	"Beware the Jabberwock, My Son"	Shana Stein	Judalina Neira	June 27, 2024 (2024-06-27)
30	6	"Dirty Business"	Karen Gaviola	Anslem Richardson	July 4, 2024 (2024-07-04)
31	7	"The Insider"	Catriona McKenzie	Paul Grellong	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
32	8	"Season Four Finale" "Assassination Run"	Eric Kripke	Jessica Chou & David Reed	July 18, 2024 (2024-07-18)

Production

Development

A film adaptation of Garth Ennis's comic book series The Boys was in various stages of development between 2008 and 2016, initially at Columbia Pictures with Adam McKay directing and a budget of $100 million until the project was abandoned over creative differences between the studio and McKay. Paramount Pictures secured the rights in August 2012 and revived the production, but in April 2016 the film adaptation was cancelled and it was announced that Cinemax would be developing a television series adaptation of the comic book instead. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who at the time were working on the series Preacher (also based on a comic book series by Ennis), were recruited as executive producers and directors for the pilot episode. Eric Kripke, a longtime fan of Ennis's work, was hired as the series showrunner and head writer.

In November 2017, Amazon Studios acquired the rights to the television adaptation after Cinemax chose not to move forward with it. Sharon Tal Yguado, who had been hired that year to supervise future franchises made by Amazon, expressed her hopes that the series would offer a different take on the superhero genre at a time when Hollywood was saturated with superhero shows. That same day, Amazon greenlit the production of the first season of eight episodes, each with an estimated budget of $11.2 million. Production was expected to begin in spring of 2018 for a planned release in 2019. Amazon also committed to a run of at least five seasons, in line with Kripke's plans, hoping to replicate the success of hit genre dramas like Game of Thrones (2011–2019), Stranger Things (2016–present), and The Walking Dead (2010–2022).

A second season was announced in July 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con a week before the series premiere, with Kripke having already started to write the scripts. In December 2019, a teaser trailer confirmed that the second season would be released in 2020, and another trailer released in June 2020 confirmed that it would premiere that September. Seeking to make the series a topic of conversation for longer, and hoping to replicate the success of multiple series, Kripke and the producers convinced Amazon to release episodes on a weekly basis.

A third season was announced at the after-show for San Diego Comic-Con@Home in 2020. Kripke revealed in October 2020 that he was writing the scripts for the third season, shortly after Amazon had announced the spin-off series Gen V (2023–present), which served as a bridge between the third and fourth seasons of The Boys, with the latter being announced in June 2022 and planned for release in 2024.

On May 14, 2024, ahead of the fourth season premiere, Amazon announced that the series was renewed for a fifth season at the Amazon Upfront presentation. On June 11, 2024, Kripke announced that the fifth season would serve as the final season.

In June 2024, Rogen and Goldberg recalled McKay's prior involvement and the original page-to-screen adaptation plan. It was revealed that there were serious plans to have The Boys become a three-film trilogy; the first film went as far as a finished screenplay and even demo animatics of scenes. However, the planned trilogy, like many superhero films in pre-MCU Hollywood, was scrapped. "I wouldn't change how it worked out because the show is amazing. But [McKay] was doing really cool stuff. It just came down to it being 2008, not 2018. I just don't think [Hollywood was] ready for it yet," explained The Boys comic book co-creator and illustrator Darick Robertson.

Back in December 2015, McKay himself elaborated on the difficulties he went through with his pitch, telling IndieWire: "I took it to every studio, every production financing place in town. And they were always like, 'No.' I had this crazy pre-viz reel that I'd done, and it was insane, like superheroes doing cocaine. And they all said, lazily, 'So it's like Watchmen?' And then eventually I started realizing that no one was going to do it and I started pitching the craziest aspects of it, embracing the fact that they hated it."

In July 2024, setting up the series' final season, Kripke commented on the then-upcoming season four finale's impact, stating: "There's a sort of seismic change at the end of season four; nothing in the world is going to be the same." Following the finale's release, Kripke confirmed that he's "been planning five years all along, because there's no way a show goes one more season after the events of that finale". Vernon Sanders, one of Amazon MGM Studios' top executives, stated that the fifth season of The Boys was always planned as the series' final, explaining: "We've had this incredible success because of [Kripke's] vision and execution and he's told us for a while that he believes this really should be a five-season series."

Writing

The series takes place in a universe where most of the superpowered people (referred to as "Supes") pretend to be heroic to ensure that they are loved by the public, while working for Vought which is a company that monetizes and markets them, but in reality, outside their heroic personas, they are actually corrupt celebrities who abuse their powers out of selfishness for personal gain, which serves as a deconstruction of the superhero genre and the idealisms of heroism that they are supposed to represent in contrast to Marvel and DC. The series attempts to more realistically portray how superheroes would enmesh themselves into contemporary culture, with many of them having an influence as political figures, over-worshipped celebrities, and profitable marketing tools for a hyper-consumerist society. Many of the "Supes" that appear in the series are also a direct parody from very popular superheroes from Marvel and DC intending to give them more depraved, problematic and realistic counterparts, with each season introducing a new "Supe" that is based from a popular superheroic character.

Despite keeping its faithfulness to the source material, the series does not fully follow the storyline from the comic book series in order to retain a sense of realism, given that Kripke considered that some of the concepts and characters from the comics were too fantastical for their portrayal in the television adaptation and put rules to the writers in order to oversee what ideas would be allowed to use and the other ones that would not. Another reason for the changes realized to the adaptation was because of the difference between the period where the comic book and the television adaptation take place with the former taking place at the 2000s and the latter at the late 2010s respectively, to which Kripke and the writers deemed that it would be impossible to adapt to the series as it would not fit into the story of the series.

Kripke intended for the series to make it run for five seasons as he developed some ideas that could be explored in the fourth and fifth seasons by starting to conclude some of the storylines of the series for the third season finale. He considered that the ideas he was developing for the television adaptation were enough to be developed for five seasons with further adaptations of the comic book series being adapted in planned spin-offs that would take place in the same universe of the main series.

Following the success and renewal for its spin-off series Gen V, which would connect the third and fourth seasons of the series, Kripke revealed that he was reconsidering his original plans and admitted that the main series could run beyond five seasons given its success, while also mocking his similar initial plans he had for another series where he also served as showrunner Supernatural: "I have since realized that literally no one in history is worse at predicting the amount of seasons of a show, like literally. I have learned my lesson and I've stopped predicting how many seasons these shows go. You will find out in hindsight."

Casting

The cast of The Boys

Top: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, and Antony Starr

Middle: Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, and Jessie T. Usher

Bottom: Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, and Karen Fukuhara

In December 2017, it was announced that Erin Moriarty had been cast in the lead role of Annie January / Starlight. In January 2018, it was reported that Antony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Chace Crawford, Jessie T. Usher, and Nathan Mitchell had joined the main cast. In March 2018, it was announced that Laz Alonso, Jack Quaid, and Karen Fukuhara had been cast in series regular roles. In April 2018, it was reported that Karl Urban had been cast in the series' lead role of Billy Butcher. In May 2018, it was announced that Elisabeth Shue had been cast in the series regular role of Madelyn Stillwell. In June 2018, it was reported that Tomer Kapon had joined the main cast in the role of Frenchie. In August 2018, it was announced that Jennifer Esposito had been cast in the recurring role of CIA Agent Susan Raynor. In October 2018, it was announced during the annual New York Comic Con that Simon Pegg had been cast in the role of Hughie's father. According to Robertson, Hughie was drawn in the comics to resemble Pegg after he saw Pegg in the sitcom Spaced (1999–2001), but Pegg thought he was too old to play the role of Hughie in the television series.

In July 2019, alongside the renewal of the second season, it was announced that Aya Cash would be joining the series as a gender-swapped version of Stormfront, following contract negotiations that began when the second season was announced. The reason why Stormfront was changed was in order to make the character of Homelander feel even more hurt from having his spotlight stolen. In September 2019, Goran Višnjić and Claudia Doumit were cast in recurring roles for the second season. A month later, Patton Oswalt was announced in an unspecified role, later revealed to be the voice of The Deep's gills.

In August 2020, it was reported that Shawn Ashmore was cast as Lamplighter for the second season. A week later, Jensen Ackles joined the cast for the third season as Soldier Boy. The character of Soldier Boy would be different from the comics as he would be portrayed as the "Homelander before Homelander" probably even worse than him. In October 2020, Doumit and Colby Minifie were promoted to series regulars for the third season.

In March 2021, Katia Winter joined the cast in the recurring role of Little Nina for the third and fourth season. In June 2021, Miles Gaston Villanueva, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Nick Wechsler were cast as Supersonic, Gunpowder, and Blue Hawk, respectively, for the third season in undisclosed capacities. Two days later, Laurie Holden joined the cast as Crimson Countess in a recurring role for the third season. In October 2021, Frances Turner, Kristin Booth, and Jack Doolan joined the cast as Monique and twins Tessa and Tommy (a.k.a. the TNT Twins) in recurring roles for the third season.

In July 2022, it was announced Nathan Mitchell (who portrayed the masked Black Noir in the first three seasons), despite his character's death in the third season finale, would continue to portray Black Noir but as a new entity of the character (Black Noir II) in a main capacity in the fourth season. In August 2022, it was reported that Cameron Crovetti had been promoted as a series regular while Valorie Curry and Susan Heyward were cast as new series regulars for the fourth season as Firecracker and Sister Sage, respectively. Later that month, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was cast in an undisclosed role, later to be revealed as Joe Kessler. In December 2022, Rob Benedict and Elliot Knight joined the cast in undisclosed capacities for the fourth season, alongside Rosemarie DeWitt, who was revealed to play Hughie's mom.

In April 2023, it was reported that Dan Mousseau would portray Webweaver, a parody of Spider-Man, in the fourth season. A first-look image of the character was shared during the V52 Expo, a fictional convention put on by Vought that parodies Disney's D23 Expo.

In June 2024, after much speculation and discussion online, Jared Padalecki confirmed that he will appear in the fifth and final season. Kripke previously expressed interest in bringing Padalecki on board, stating: "I feel like I have to complete my game of Supernatural Pokémon."

Filming

Filming of the series at Pecaut Square in Toronto

Although situated in New York City like in the comics, it was confirmed the series would be filmed in Toronto, Canada. In November 2017, it was announced that the filming for the series was slated to begin filming in 2018 with the hopes of releasing it in 2019. Though the series was mainly shot in Toronto, it was confirmed that additional filming would also be taking place across the Golden Horseshoe area, including Mississauga and Hamilton.

The filming for the first season started on May 22, 2018, mainly filmed at Toronto with many of the crew filming at several tourist locations, such as the Roy Thomson Hall, the 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 intending 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. Another places of interest picked up were the Sherbourne Common, the Cathedral Church of St. James, and the Parkwood Estate. Filming for the first season wrapped on October 11, 2018.

The filming for the second season started on July 17, 2019, and followed the similar strategy of being filmed at touristic locations and being edited with CGI. Some of this place of interests include the Meridian Arts Centre, the Wet 'n' Wild Toronto Waterpark, and the Scottish Rite Club. To create the Sage Grove psychiatric hospital, the crew filmed at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care complex. Filming was also at the Mel Lastman Square but eventually the crew were relocated by the Toronto City Council as the location was close to the place where the Toronto van attack occurred on April 23, 2018. This happened to avoid hurting the sentiments of the citizens of Toronto. Filming for the second season wrapped on November 15, 2019.

The filming for the third season started on February 24, 2021. The filming for the season was not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, though several precautions were implemented to ensure the safety of the cast and crew. The new filming locations included for the season were Metro Toronto Convention Centre, the Saint George Manor, and Canada's Wonderland Medieval Faire. Filming for the third season wrapped on September 10, 2021.

The filming for the fourth season started on August 22, 2022. Pegg concluded filming his scenes on January 18, 2023. Filming on the finale began on February 12, with Starr concluding filming his scenes on April 4. Filming for the fourth season wrapped on April 12, 2023.

The filming for the fifth and final season is expected to begin in mid-November 2024 "well into the middle of '[20]25", according to Kripke.

Music

Further information: The Boys season 1 (soundtrack), The Boys season 2 (soundtrack), and The Boys season 3 (soundtrack)

Score albums have been released for each season of the series by Madison Gate Records. Christopher Lennertz served as composer of the series' score. During an interview at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, he stated that his work for The Boys was the "craziest thing" he has ever done, after collaborating with Rogen for Sausage Party (2016). For the second season's soundtrack, Moriarty provides her own vocals for the song "Never Truly Vanish", which was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics. The music video for "Never Truly Vanish" was released on YouTube on June 4, 2021. Usher also performed an original song for the second season's soundtrack and, on September 1, 2021, the music video for "Faster" was released on YouTube. The third season's soundtrack includes two songs performed by Miles Gaston Villanueva, "You've Got a License to Drive (Me Crazy)" and "Rock My Kiss", while Holden performed "America's Son" which were released on June 3, 2022. On June 17, 2022, another video was released for a song performed by Holden: "Chimps Don't Cry". The fourth season includes an original song titled "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas", which was performed by Shoshana Bean, James Monroe Iglehart, Andrew Rannells and the cast of the fictional "Vought on Ice" figure skating performers. On June 14, 2024, the music video for "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas" was released on YouTube. An official website for "Vought on Ice" was also created and is available to visit.

Politics

The series explores issues like systemic racism, white nationalism, white supremacy, and xenophobia, with Kripke seeing an opportunity to introduce Stormfront, a racist superhero who believes in Nazism. Kripke stated that unlike the comics where Stormfront is male, the character would be gender-swapped for the series with the intention of creating "Homelander's worst nightmare that would be a strong woman who wasn't afraid of him and proceeded to steal his spotlight". The series contains political satire, and many consider the show to be a critique of conservatism and far-right politics. It has also made references to corporate corruption, homophobia, police brutality, and sexual harassment.

Various analogies have been made to current social and political movements, such as Black Lives Matter, the MeToo movement, and comparing Homelander to Donald Trump. Promotional materials for the fourth season included the quotes "Make America Super Again" and "Supe Lives Matter", a parody of the slogans "Make America Great Again" and "Black Lives Matter", respectively. Some of the producers have said that these analogies are intentional and made to cast a political message.

While promoting the fourth season in June 2024, Kripke described the series as a "story about the intersection of celebrity and authoritarianism and how social media and entertainment are used to sell fascism". He also said that viewers who think the series is too "woke" should "go watch something else" and expressed surprise to some viewers perceiving Homelander as the series' hero, saying: "What do you say to that? The show's many things. Subtle isn't one of them."

In July 2024, concerned about the series' increasing similarity to real-world politics, particularly in season four, Kripke stated: "This show has an increasingly disturbing track record of reflecting reality one way or another. There's some throwaway dialogue, for example, in that billionaires are talking about how they have to stack the Supreme Court to get the decisions that they need. I'm not happy being Satan's writers room. I'm starting to get really troubled by it. But there does continue to be a certain eerie similarity between the show and the things that are happening in the real world."

Additionally, Ennis addressed his thoughts about the right-wing fans and their reaction to the series' satire, claiming that this is a world where "both ends of the political spectrum can claim they are the Jedi and the other guys are the Sith" and that "we're through the looking glass". He also pointed out that the contrast from certain fans comes from the fact that "people are choosing what to believe" in regards to the series.

Release

The Boys was planned to have all eight episodes of the first season released on Amazon Prime Video on July 26, 2019, but it instead premiered just a few hours earlier despite keeping the former date as the official one.

The second season, also consisting of eight episodes, was confirmed that it would be released on a weekly basis (instead of releasing the entire season all at once), debuting the first three episodes on September 4, 2020, with the remaining episodes debuting on a weekly basis until the season finale on October 9. A companion short film (titled Butcher: A Short Film), set between the first and second seasons, was released on September 10, 2020, with Urban reprising his role as Butcher.

On January 6, 2022, it was reported that the third season would premiere on June 3, 2022, with the first three episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis until the season finale on July 8.

The fourth season premiered on June 13, 2024. Upon the release of the season four finale, the title of the episode was retitled from "Assassination Run" to "Season Four Finale", following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump five days prior; a "viewer discretion advised" warning was added at the beginning of the episode, with Amazon, Sony Pictures Television and the producers of The Boys opposing real-world political violence and clarifying that "any scene or plotline similarities to these real-world events are coincidental and unintentional". These sentiments were echoed by Kripke, stating: "We are a superhero TV show. We're fictional. Obviously, it's a political show with a point of view so there's gonna be some horrible coincidences. But anything real-world we condemn and are against in the strongest possible terms. We're just making our superhero show."

Following the release of the season four finale, Urban revealed that the fifth and final season won't arrive until 2026.

Home media

The first three seasons were all released on physical media. Set to come out on May 17, 2022, the first two seasons were released on Blu-ray and DVD, in a six-disc box set by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, on May 31, 2022. The two-season collection includes special features such as deleted/extended scenes and blooper reels; season 2's bonus content also includes Butcher: A Short Film. Season 3 was released on October 24, 2023; special features include deleted/extended scenes and gag reels, as well as "The Making of Featurette".

Reception

Critical response

Critical response of The Boys

Season	Rotten Tomatoes	Metacritic
1	85% (106 reviews)	74 (19 reviews)
2	97% (105 reviews)	80 (15 reviews)
3	98% (152 reviews)	77 (20 reviews)
4	93% (131 reviews)	76 (22 reviews)

The Boys received critical acclaim, although the series' political aspects have been divisive and a major talking point, particularly for its fourth season. The series has an overall rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 76 on Metacritic. Many critics and publications have called it among the best Amazon Prime Video series of all time. Starr's portrayal of Homelander has also received much critical acclaim, with numerous critics calling it one of the best performances on television.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 85%, based on 106 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. 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." On Metacritic, the season holds a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 19 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 97%, based on 105 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The Boys comes out swinging in a superb second season that digs deeper into its complicated characters and ups the action ante without pulling any of its socially critical punches." On Metacritic, the season holds a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 15 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season holds an approval rating of 98%, based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 8.05/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Managing to up the ante on what was already one of television's most audacious satires, The Boys' third season is both bracingly visceral and wickedly smart." On Metacritic, the season holds a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 20 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth season holds an approval rating of 93%, based on 131 reviews, with an average rating of 7.65/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Boxing in the political arena with a bloodied smile, The Boys' fourth season is grim and even a little glum while holding up a cracked mirror towards modern society." On Metacritic, the season holds a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 22 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Various critics and publications have considered it the most polarizing and darkest season yet, though the finale received much acclaim.

Audience viewership

In October 2019, Nielsen announced it had begun tracking viewership of Amazon Prime Video original programs. It confirmed The Boys had attracted 8 million total viewers in its first ten days of release, making it one of the most successful original programs on Prime Video. For the second season, the first three episodes drew a 7.2% share of streams relative to the top 100 most-watched TV series on Reelgood within its opening weekend, beating Stranger Things season 3 (5.8%) and The Mandalorian (4.4%). The series' audience increased 89% compared to the first season. Nielsen ratings showed that 891 million minutes of the series had been watched, placing it number three on the Nielsen list, just behind Cobra Kai (2.17 billion minutes) and Lucifer (1.42 billion minutes).

Additionally, The Boys became the first non-Netflix series to appear on the Nielsen "Top 10 Streaming Shows" list. According to the Nielsen ratings, The Boys was the most-watched superhero series in 2022, becoming more popular than any Disney+ MCU series. Moreover, audiences watched 10.6 billion minutes of the series, the 11th most-watched original streaming series of 2022.

The first three episodes of the fourth season received a 21% increase in total viewers compared to season three in the first four days since launch. Season four became among the top 5 most-viewed TV seasons on Prime Video through its first four days, according to the streamer. It was also reported that season four tallied the second most viewers of any returning season on Prime Video through its first four days, behind only the second season of Reacher. Furthermore, Amazon reported that The Boys has grown in global viewership per season. Amid the launch of season four's first three episodes, The Boys scored 1.19 billion viewing minutes during the week of June 10–16, 2024, according to Nielsen streaming data. In July 2024, Amazon reported that season four overall garnered more than 55 million viewers globally since the season premiere. That figure counts 39 days of viewership after the premiere, ending on July 21, just after the July 18 season finale released. This marks the third-consecutive season of global viewership growth for the satirical superhero series. Season 4 has now become Prime Video's fourth most-viewed television season of all time — behind only The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1, Fallout season 1, and Reacher season 1.

Awards and nominations

For its second season, the series received a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2021, becoming the first-ever comic book television series adaptation to be nominated in that category, and received four additional nominations. In 2022, PETA awarded the third season episode "Barbary Coast" the "Tech, Not Terror" Award for using a CGI octopus.

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2019	Golden Trailer Awards	Best Action TV Spot / Trailer / Teaser for a Series	"Spank" (Amazon / Buddha Jones)	Won
		Best Sound Editing in a TV Spot / Trailer / Teaser for a Series		Nominated
2020	Art Directors Guild Awards	Excellence in One-Hour Contemporary Single-Camera Series	Dave Blass (for "The Female of the Species")	Nominated
	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)	Wade Barnett, David Barbee, Mason Kopeikin, Brian Dunlop, Ryan Briley, Chris Newlin, Christopher Brooks, Joseph T. Sabella, and Jesi Ruppel (for "The Name of the Game")	Nominated
2021	Artios Awards	Television Pilot and First Season – Drama	Eric Dawson, Carol Kritzer, Alex Newman, and Robert J. Ulrich; Location Casting: Sara Kay and Jenny Lewis	Nominated
	Black Reel Awards	Outstanding Guest Actor, Drama Series	Giancarlo Esposito	Nominated
	British Fantasy Award	Best Film/Television Production	The Boys: "What I Know" (season 2, episode 8) written by Rebecca Sonnenshine and Eric Kripke	Won
	Critics' Choice Super Awards	Best Actor in a Superhero Series	Antony Starr	Won
			Karl Urban	Nominated
		Best Actress in a Superhero Series	Aya Cash	Won
		Best Superhero Series	The Boys	Won
		Best Villain in a Series	Antony Starr	Won
	Edgar Awards	Best Television Episode Teleplay	Rebecca Sonnenshine (for "What I Know")	Nominated
	Golden Reel Awards	Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Episodic Long Form – Music / Musical	Christopher Brooks (for "Nothing Like It in the World")	Nominated
	Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards	Best Actor in a Streaming Series, Drama	Karl Urban	Nominated
		Best Actress in a Streaming Series, Drama	Aya Cash	Nominated
		Best Streaming Series, Drama	The Boys	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Series, Drama	Giancarlo Esposito	Nominated
	MTV Movie & TV Awards	Best Fight	"Starlight, Queen Maeve, Kimiko vs. Stormfront"	Nominated
		Best Hero	Jack Quaid	Nominated
		Best Show	The Boys	Nominated
		Best Villain	Aya Cash	Nominated
	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics	"Never Truly Vanish" – Christopher Lennertz and Michael Saltzman (for "The Big Ride")	Nominated
		Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)	Alexandra Fehrman, Rich Weingart, and Thomas Hayek (for "What I Know")	Nominated
		Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or Movie	Stephan Fleet, Shalena Oxley-Butler, Kat Greene, Rian McNamara, Tony Kenny, Steve Moncur, Julian Hutchens, Anthony Paterson, and Keith Sellers	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Drama Series	Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Craig Rosenberg, Philip Sgriccia, Rebecca Sonnenshine, Ken F. Levin, Jason Netter, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Michael Saltzman, Michaela Starr, Gabriel Garcia, and Hartley Gorenstein	Nominated
		Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series	Rebecca Sonnenshine (for "What I Know")	Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical	The Boys	Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Television Series	Erin Moriarty	Nominated
		Best Superhero Adaptation Television Series	The Boys	Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series	Marco Bianco, Matthew Bianco, James Binkley, Jack Birman, Christine Ebadi, James Eddy, Tig Fong, Jason Gosbee, John Kaye, JF Lachapelle, Irma Leong, Chris Mark, Jonathan Mcguire, Geoff Meech, Anita Nittoly, Moses Nyarko, Daryl Patchett, Geoff Scovell, and Steve Shackleton	Nominated
	Writers Guild of America Awards	Television: Dramatic Series	Eric Kripke, Ellie Monahan, Anslem Richardson, Craig Rosenberg, Michael Saltzman, and Rebecca Sonnenshine	Nominated
2022	Artios Awards	Television Series – Drama	Eric Dawson, Carol Kritzer, Alex Newman, and Robert J. Ulrich; Location Casting: Sara Kay and Jenny Lewis	Nominated
	Dragon Awards	Best Science Fiction or Fantasy TV Series	The Boys	Nominated
	People's Choice Awards	The Bingeworthy Show of 2022		Nominated
	Satellite Awards	Best Television Series – Drama		Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Action / Adventure Series (Streaming)		Won
		Best Actor in a Streaming Series	Antony Starr	Nominated
		Best Actress in a Streaming Series	Erin Moriarty	Nominated
		Best Guest Performance in a Streaming Series	Jensen Ackles	Nominated
2023	Astra Creative Arts TV Awards	Best Casting in a Drama Series	The Boys	Won
		Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Costumes		Nominated
		Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series	Paul Reiser	Nominated
		Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Aya Cash	Nominated
		Best Stunts	The Boys	Won
	Astra TV Awards	Best Actor in a Streaming Drama Series	Antony Starr	Won
			Jack Quaid	Nominated
		Best Actress in a Streaming Drama Series	Erin Moriarty	Nominated
			Karen Fukuhara	Nominated
		Best Directing in a Streaming Drama Series	Nelson Cragg (for "Herogasm")	Won
		Best Streaming Drama Series	The Boys	Won
		Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Drama Series	Chace Crawford	Nominated
			Jensen Ackles	Won
		Best Writing in a Streaming Drama Series	Logan Ritchey and David Reed (for "The Instant White-Hot Wild")	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Awards	Best Actor in a Drama Series	Antony Starr	Nominated
	Critics' Choice Super Awards	Best Actor in a Superhero Series, Limited Series, or Made-for-TV Movie		Won
		Best Actress in a Superhero Series, Limited Series, or Made-for-TV Movie	Erin Moriarty	Nominated
		Best Superhero Series, Limited Series, or Made-for-TV Movie	The Boys	Won
		Best Villain in a Series, Limited Series, or Made-for-TV Movie	Antony Starr	Won
	Golden Trailer Awards	Best Comedy / Drama TrailerByte for a TV / Streaming Series	"Destruction" (Ignition Creative London)	Nominated
	Guild of Music Supervisors Awards	Best Music Supervision in a Trailer – Series	Deric Berberabe and Jordan Silverberg (for "Season Three – Full Trailer")	Nominated
	Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards	Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour)	Wade Barnett, Chris Kahwaty, Ryan Briley, Jeffrey A. Pitts, Pete Nichols, Christopher Brooks, and James Howe (for "The Instant White-Hot Wild")	Nominated
		Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited or Anthology Series, or Movie	John Koyama	Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Genre Series	The Boys	Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series	Cameron Ambridge, Jason Chu, Brian Patrick Collins, James Eddy, Steve Gagne, Evelyn Gonda, Kiralee Hayashi, John Koyama, Matt Leonard, Matt Rugetti, Geoff Scovell, and Maxwell Charles White	Nominated
	Visual Effects Society Awards	Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode	Stephan Fleet, Shalena Oxley-Butler, Tristan Zerafa, Anthony Paterson, and Hudson Kenny (for "Payback")	Nominated
2024	Artios Awards	Television Series – Drama	Eric Dawson, Carol Kritzer, and Robert J. Ulrich; Location Casting: Sara Kay and Jenny Lewis	Nominated

Franchise

Further information: The Boys (franchise)

Spin-offs

The Boys Presents: Diabolical

Main article: The Boys Presents: Diabolical

On December 5, 2021, at the Brazil Comic-Con (CCXP), Amazon Prime Video announced that The Boys Presents: Diabolical, an animated anthology series, had been given an eight-episode series order. On January 18, 2022, it was announced that the series would premiere on March 4, 2022.

Gen V

Main article: Gen V

On September 24, 2020, it was announced that a spin-off centered on a superhero college had been fast-tracked into development upon the ratings success of the series' second season. Described as being "part college show, part Hunger Games", the spin-off is to be set "... at America's only college exclusively for young adult superheroes (and run by Vought International)" and is described as "an irreverent, R-rated series that explores the lives of hormonal, competitive "Supes" as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities". On October 2, 2020, Kripke stated the series would focus on the G-Men team of "We Gotta Go Now", created as a parody of Marvel Comics' X-Men for the fourth volume of Ennis' and Robertson's comic book story arc of the same name, that had been mentioned in the first season. On September 27, 2021, the untitled spin-off was given a series order by Amazon Studios. Filming of the series, titled Gen V, beginning at the University of Toronto in May 2022 and the Claireville Conservation Area, Brampton in July, intended for an October wrap. The first season premiered on September 29, 2023. On October 19, 2023, it was renewed for a second season.

The Boys: Mexico

On November 28, 2023, a new spin-off series was announced as in the works at Amazon. The Boys: Mexico is created by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, who produces alongside Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal.

Vought Rising

On July 26, 2024, a new spin-off series was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that would serve as a prequel to the main series, which will star Ackles and Cash reprising their roles as Soldier Boy and Stormfront, respectively. Entitled Vought Rising, the spin-off will be executive produced by Paul Grellong and Kripke with Grellong also serving as showrunner; Vought Rising will be set in the 1950s.

Other media

Vought News Network

Main article: Seven on 7

Ahead of the premiere of the third season, the series had released video segments in the form of in-universe news reports from the Vought News Network—a parody of the Cable News Network (CNN) as well as Fox News—YouTube channel, titled Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman. Each of The Seven segments contains seven stories that tease events in upcoming episodes and introduce new cast members, and acts as a bridge between seasons two and three. Matthew Edison, who portrays news anchor Cameron Coleman—a parody of Tucker Carlson and J. K. Simmons' portrayal of film character J. Jonah Jameson from the MCU—also appears in the third and fourth seasons of the series.

Supe Porn

On October 3, 2020, Kripke confirmed that the in-universe pornographic superhero film scenes briefly glimpsed in the second season The Boys episode "Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker" had been produced in full, expressing interest in releasing them under the name Supe Porn to the fictional website of the same name (formerly registered to Sony Pictures), as well as supposedly requesting Rogen, Goldberg, Starr and the other followers of his Twitter page to join him in petitioning Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Studios to allow the potential web series to be uploaded. In June 2022, a fictional online "storefront" was added to the website, containing a collection of supe-inspired sex toys. At the bottom of the website, there is a message stating that its contents are "for entertainment purpose only" and products are "not for sale".

Deeper and Deeper

On June 9, 2022, an audiobook/podcast special, titled The Boys: Deeper and Deeper, was released as an Audible Original. The special takes the form of an in-universe interview with The Deep and his wife, Cassandra, about The Deep's memoir, titled Deeper, and the events in his life that are described in the memoir.

Call of Duty

Main articles: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022 video game), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023 video game), and Call of Duty: Warzone (2022 video game)

In July 2023, Activision announced a collaboration between the Call of Duty video game franchise and The Boys, which features the addition of Black Noir, Homelander and Starlight as playable characters in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Warzone. Warzone also features map updates that include adverts of The Seven, as well as a "Temp V" field upgrade that allows players to use one of four superpowers, based on other characters in the series. A trailer for the collaboration was released on the Vought International YouTube channel, which depicts it as taking place in-universe prior to the end of the third season. In November 2023, a second collaboration was announced for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, with A-Train and Firecracker joining the playable roster as part of the game's first seasonal content update.

DEATH BATTLE!

Characters from The Boys also appeared in an episode of DEATH BATTLE! (sponsored by Prime Video), which was released on YouTube, alongside a breakdown video, on September 17, 2020.

Mortal Kombat

Homelander appeared as a playable character in the video game Mortal Kombat 1, modeled after Starr and voiced by Jake Green. He is available via the "Kombat Pack" DLC.

External links

• Official website
• The Boys at IMDb 
• Official YouTube Channel for Vought International