The Boys (TV series)

―Billy Butcher to Queen Maeve[src]

***The Boys*** is an American superhero black comedy drama television series developed by Eric Kripke and based on the Dynamite Entertainment comic series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The series is produced by Amazon and stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, and Elisabeth Shue.

The first season of *The Boys* premiered on July 28, 2019 on Amazon Prime Video. The second season premiered on September 4, 2020. The third season was announced before the Season 2 premiere and premiered on June 3, 2022.

If you see this, your JavaScript might be disabled or DiscordIntegrator plugin isn't working. If the latter, please contact a wiki administrator.

## Synopsis

*The Boys* is an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as gods, abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It's the powerless against the super powerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about "The Seven," and their formidable Vought backing.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Karl Urban as Billy Butcher
* Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell
* Antony Starr as John/Homelander
* Erin Moriarty as Annie January/Starlight
* Dominique McElligott as Maggie Shaw/Queen Maeve (Seasons 1-3)
* Jessie T. Usher as Reggie Franklin/A-Train
* Laz Alonso as Marvin Milk/Mother's Milk
* Chace Crawford as Kevin Moskowitz/The Deep
* Tomer Capone as Serge/Frenchie
* Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro/The Female
* Nathan Mitchell as Earving/Black Noir (Seasons 1-3) and Black Noir II (Season 4)
* Elisabeth Shue as Madelyn Stillwell (Season 1; guest Season 2)
* Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett (Season 2-present; supporting Season 1)
* Aya Cash as Klara Risinger/Stormfront (Season 2; supporting Season 3)
* Claudia Doumit as Victoria Neuman (Season 3-present; supporting Season 2)
* Jensen Ackles as Ben/Soldier Boy (Season 3-present)
* Cameron Crovetti as Ryan Butcher (Season 4; supporting Seasons 2-3; guest Season 1)
* Valorie Curry as Firecracker (Season 4)
* Susan Heyward as Sister Sage (Season 4)

### Supporting Cast

* Laila Robins as Grace Mallory
* Giancarlo Esposito as Stan Edgar (Seasons 2-4; guest Season 1)
* Jordana Lajoie as Cherie (Seasons 1-3)
* Jim Beaver as Robert Singer (Season 2-present; guest Season 1)
* Jennifer Esposito as Susan Raynor (Season 1; guest Season 2)
* Shantel VanSanten as Becca Butcher (Season 2; guest Season 1)
* Simon Pegg as Hugh Campbell (Seasons 1 and 4; guest Season 3)
* Ann Cusack as Donna January (Seasons 1-2; guest Season 3)
* Christian Keyes as Nathan Franklin (Seasons 1 and 3)
* Nicola Correia-Damude as Elena (Seasons 1-2; guest Season 3)
* Malcolm Barrett as Seth Reed (Seasons 1 and 3; guest Season 2)
* David Reale as Evan Lambert (Season 1, guest Seasons 2-3)
* Mishka Thébaud as Shockwave (Seasons 1-2)
* Katy Breier as Cassandra Schwartz (Seasons 2-3)
* John Doman as Jonah Vogelbaum (Season 1; guest Season 2)
* P.J. Byrne as Adam Bourke (Season 2; guest Season 3)
* Liyou Abere as Janine Milk (Season 3; guest Season 2)
* Alex Hassell as Translucent (Season 1)
* Shaun Benson as Ezekiel (Season 1)
* Brittany Allen as Charlotte/Popclaw (Season 1)
* Haley Joel Osment as Mesmer (Season 1)
* Jess Salgueiro as Robin Ward (Season 1)
* Shawn Ashmore as Lamplighter (Season 2)
* Abraham Lim as Kenji Miyashiro (Season 2)
* Goran Visnjic as Alastair Adana (Season 2)
* Jessica Hecht as Carol Mannheim (Season 2)
* Langston Kerman as Eagle the Archer (Seasons 2)
* David Thompson as Gecko (Season 2)
* Laurie Holden as Crimson Countess (Season 3)
* Matthew Gorman as Todd (Season 3)
* Frances Turner as Monique Milk (Season 3)
* Miles Gaston Villanueva as Alexander/Supersonic (Season 3)
* Katia Winter as Little Nina (Season 3)
* Kristin Booth as Tessa (Season 3)
* Jack Doolan as Tommy (Season 3)
* Ryan Blakely as Mindstorm (Season 3)
* Nick Wechsler as Blue Hawk (Season 3)
* Paul Reiser as The Legend (Season 3)
* Rosemarie Dewitt as Hughie's Mother (Season 4)
* Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Season 4)
* Elliot Knight (Season 4)
* Rob Benedict (Season 4)
* Derek Wilson as Tek-Knight (Season 4)

## Episodes

### Season Three

The third season was announced in August of 2020.

## Development

Between 2008 and 2016, a film adaptation of *The Boys* had been in various stages of development at both Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures.

On April 6, 2016, it was announced that Cinemax was developing a television series adaption of the comic book. The production was being developed by Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, and Seth Rogen. Kripke was set to write the series while Goldberg and Rogen were set to direct. Executive producers were reported to include Kripke, Goldberg, Rogen, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Ori Marmur, James Weaver, Ken Levin, and Jason Netter. Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson were set as co-executive producers. Production companies involved with the series included Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, and Sony Pictures Television.

On November 8, 2017, it was announced that Amazon had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of eight episodes. The series had reportedly been in development at Amazon for a number of months preceding the series order announcement. It was also reported that the previously announced creative team was still attached to the series.

Kripke wanted to retain a sense of reality to the show, and to keep the writers disciplined decided "Anything that comes out of this drug is viable, and anything that doesn't we're not allowed to do". He did not want to fall into the overused convention of killing off female characters to motivate the heroes and also saw an opportunity to surprise readers of the comics by changing the story of Butcher's wife Becky.

On April 30, 2018, it was announced that Dan Trachtenberg would direct the series' first episode. He replaces Rogen and Goldberg who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

Ahead of the series premiere, on July 19, 2019, it was announced that Amazon had renewed the series for a second season. The eight scripts for the second season were completed by November 2019.

Ahead of the second season premiere, on July 23, 2020, Amazon renewed the series for a third season at the aftershow hosted by Aisha Tyler for San Diego Comic-Con@Home.

## Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 84% based on 98 reviews, with an average rating of 7.72/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though viewer's 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, it has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

## Gallery

### Trailers

The Boys - Official Trailer Prime VideoThe Boys - Final Trailer Prime VideoFinal Trailer Season 2THE BOYS Season 2 Official Teaser Trailer (2020)The Boys Season 2 - Teaser Trailer Amazon Prime VideoThe Boys Season 2 - Official Trailer - Amazon Prime VideoThe Boys – Official Season 3 REDBAND Teaser Trailer - Prime Video