The Boys: The super powered and super flawed.

super heroes are human too

Many of us as kids who watched superhero shows and movies at one point in time probably wished our favorite heroes were real, or at least I did. I always thought the world wouldn't be as dangerous if they were around the world since we’d have "earth’s mightiest heroes" protecting us. But what if the ones we need protection from are the ones we think are here to protect us? Often, we don’t see the many different facets of our favorite caped crusaders and only usually see a very one-dimensional view and don’t typically explore the human side of these characters. "The Boys" takes everything we know about superheroes and flips it on its head and gives you a raw, unfiltered, and eerily refreshing look at the superhero genre. The show explores themes of power, morality, and identity. So come along with me as I discuss what I learned and loved from the Amazon original series.

The most prevalent theme in "The Boys" is the theme of power. Throughout the three seasons, we see many different levels and displays of power. The core example of the power we see consistently is superhuman powers, but within and surrounding that core example of physical power are political and social powers as well. At the center of all these levels and degrees of power is one character who represents and experiences these varying forms of power the most, and that’s none other than Mr. Homelander himself. Throughout the show, we, as the audience but more importantly, Homelander, have to come to terms with his omnipotence but his lack of omniscience and omnipresence. Homelander suffers a lot from the fact that in every room he’s in, he and whoever is there are aware that he’s the most physically powerful presence in the room, but most are aware that he lacks that same mental and emotional fortitude/power and often gets manipulated by others and has to learn the hard way that physical power isn’t the only form of power. We see this with characters like Madelyn Stillwell, Stan Edgar, Stormfront, and even Starlight. The former 2 wield their political power and their position at Vought against Homelander to get what they want by any means necessary. We see Madelyn emotionally and sexually manipulating Homelander to do what she wanted to strengthen her position at Vought, and Stan would use Homelander’s fragile identity and his yearning to be loved and accepted against him. Stormfront and Starlight used their social status to get the upper hand on Homelander and also used his need to be accepted and loved to leverage power against him. By the finale of season 3, Homelander reaches a turning point after getting rid of the political power figures above him with Madelyn and Stan and bypassing the need to be viewed positively by the public after he kills that guy in front of everyone and still receives an outpouring of applause and support. This sets up a huge conflict for the future because if Homelander knows he can do whatever he wants and still have supporters, his glaring character flaw that was exploited is now gone. Every character, though, somehow struggles with their power or lack thereof in some way. Hughie consistently feels powerless in his pursuit of taking down Vought, Maeve’s personal goals and desires often conflict with her physical power and her social status, and Ashley struggles to adjust to her new position of power above the supes and how to wield that power to further her goals. Power comes in many different forms, and we learn about the multiple forms of it through the series alongside the characters. We learn during the show that gaining or having certain powers can challenge and change a character’s morality and identity, so let’s discuss how it did or may have affected some of our characters in the series.

Morality is another frequent theme throughout "The Boys", and over the course of the 3 seasons, the lines of morality are blurred and everything isn’t as black and white as it originally seemed. On the morality spectrum, most characters are on the clear sides of moral good and bad, but throughout the series, characters’ moralities are tested and they corrode or evolve and end up in this morally grey area. Butcher and Homelander are two characters who do this particularly well. Butcher and Homelander are the cornerstones of their respective armies, and they are essentially two sides of the same coin, each fighting to bring the other down. As they pursue each other and get closer to their goals, they begin to morph and change into each other. When we first meet Butcher, he is very anti-supes and hates that they abuse their powers to get what they want. By season 3, when given the chance to "level the playing field" and gain temporary superpowers, he almost immediately wastes no time and does it, and throughout season 3 we watch as Butcher goes against his own morals and everything he stands for, all in the pursuit of taking down Homelander (but also because he secretly likes the power as well). Homelander, on the other hand, is someone looking for someone who understands and relates to him, but because of his overwhelming power, as he’s been painfully made aware of all his life, it’s lonely at the top. The main thing Homelander always wanted was a family, and in seasons 2 and 3, that possibility is provided to him with the introduction of his son Ryan and the revelation that Soldier Boy is his father. We see Homelander try to empathize with his son and father and foster relationships with them, and we see a very emotional and humane side to him that almost makes you forget all the terrible things he has done. While discussing Ryan, I think he and his ever-changing relationship with Butcher and Homelander perfectly depict their moral ambiguity. Butcher begins looking after Ryan after Becca’s death in the season 2 finale, and over the course of season 3, as Butcher becomes morally darker, his relationship with Ryan is permanently affected and damaged, seemingly to the point of no return. While Homelander and Ryan’s relationship, while initially very rocky due to Becca and Butcher’s interference, develops a solid bond and relationship as Homelander begins taking care of Ryan and being the dad to him that he never had. But each character in some ways blurs the lines a bit of morality in some way or another, but I don’t think any other characters blur those lines more than these 2. I want to acknowledge that some characters stay morally consistent throughout the series and don’t waver with their morals or identity. For example, Mother’s Milk and Starlight are very consistent morally good pillars in the show, which makes sense why they are the most hurt and affected by Hughie and Butcher’s decision to take the temporary compound V and their growing moral ambiguity. But speaking of identity, that leads me to our final topic.

The theme of identity may be the biggest and most common one in the show, but I wanted to save this one for last because the other two topics I discussed had very prominent examples of it. Almost every major character struggles with their identity in some way, and as a result, their actions and decisions are heavily influenced by it. Almost every supe struggles in some way with their personal identity and public personas, with each person, either fully embracing who they are and ignoring the potential consequences or repressing their identity and morphing into that persona. I know I said there aren’t any prominent examples of this theme, but if I had to choose a character (or two), it would have to be Queen Maeve and Hughie. Mostly Maeve though, in my opinion, because throughout her 3-season arc, we watch her grapple with balancing her public persona, her sexual identity is quite literally outed (by Homelander), and her embracing her true self and taking control of her narrative and foraging her own path by the end of season 3. Of all the characters in the show, her arc has been my personal favorite to watch play out, and she has become a favorite character of mine. Hughie, on the other hand, often struggles with his identity and his purpose within the group and in his relationship with Starlight. His whole purpose of taking the temporary compound V in season 3 stems from his lack of purpose and confidence in himself to achieve his goals. Again, every character has a unique and distinct identity and characterization, which makes all of them compelling in one way or another. That’s why I think "The Boys" is so excellent at subverting our expectations of characters because of how well they are at characterizing them from the beginning. If you need an example, just look at Stormfront. Most people (myself included) thought she was really cool in the beginning, but she turned out to be a racist Nazi lover and shocked the hell out of everyone. This subversion of these characters’ identities is what makes certain character moments hit so much harder. Another personal favorite of mine, along with Maeve, is Black Noir. His stoic and mysterious nature was compelling and very funny before, but his backstory added a heart and a soul to him, reminding us again that these supes are still humans with feelings and emotions. Each character has these character-defining moments and qualities that shape their identities. Mother’s milk is the heart of the boys due to his family-oriented lifestyle, Hughie acts like a lost puppy and struggles with his identity and his purpose in the world after losing his girlfriend in episode one, and even The Deep struggles with balancing his human and aquatic identities and finding a balance that is acceptable for him and others, and the list just goes on and on really. To its core, "The Boys" is a character-driven story, so it comes as no surprise that their characters are as complex and compelling as they are.

Lastly, I want to mention some other important takeaways that I got from the show that I thought was equally as important but I couldn't find anywhere to put them in the review. Mostly just the moral of the show, and that is that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Looking back, I could have probably fit it in somewhere with the theme of power, but it is the moral of the story, so I wanted to give it its own section. Everything that I discussed in the newsletter and other aspects that I didn’t cover here can be tied back to it. Vought as a corporation is the absolute power that corrupts absolutely, and their greatest example of that is Homelander. Unlike the other supes, Homelander didn’t have any family or life outside of Vought. He was groomed into the corrupt "bad product" that he is today. Vought failed to provide any sense of love or nurture to him during his developmental stage. He was essentially set up to be a failure as a product from the beginning. Another example of this is Hughie and Butcher’s moral decline as they get hooked on the temporary compound V and by gaining superhuman powers they lose touch with their humanity and that is evident in the decline of their relationships with the ones closest to them. Throughout the series, we watch as every character either tries to combat this absolute power or succumbs to it.

I really enjoyed The Boys and writing about it for the newsletter and gathering my thoughts on it has deepened my appreciation for it. I will be tuning in for season 4 and can’t wait to see what is next for The Boys.