First, and let me be clear, you need to go fucking watch The Boys on Amazon Prime Video if for no other reason than I get a season two with answers to some cliffhangers. Afterall, I’m the idiot who watched Hard Sun on Hulu and am now stuck with zero answers because it got cancelled.
Sorry for that. I’m getting ahead of myself.
The Boys is a new digital series on Amazon Prime Video based off the comic book of the same name created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It will be available for streaming to all Amazon Prime subscribers on July 26. The series was developed by Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, and Seth Rogen.
I’ll be honest. I had never read the comic books when this series was announced. But, being a good little nerd I tracked them down and started reading. I could not get into the story. I did not find it interesting. Granted, I probably could have given it more of a chance, but I thought the gratuitous sex and violence straight out of the gate was pointless. And since I have better things to do than waste my time on stories that I don’t find interesting, I set the books aside and moved on. I know it’s not fair. That’s just the way it is. This also meant I was that much less interested in watching the series.
Luckily, the cast saved the day. I do love superhero movies and television shows. And I already love The Tick on Amazon. But it’s not like I have a ton of free time to watch eight hours of video. Unless of course you utilize Karl Urban (Star Trek, Thor: Ragnarok) and Elisabeth Shue (Karate Kid, Leaving Las Vegas). Then I have time for you. I am not kidding when I say, I started the series because I love these two actors. I was thrilled to see they didn’t disappoint. Urban plays Billy Butcher. His turn as the dark, brooding leader of the gang seeking revenge is perfect. On the flip side, Shue plays Madelyn Stillwell, who heads up Vought, the corporation who puts together the collection of superheroes who protect cities that can afford it. They both drive the story from opposite ends.
The story focuses on Hughie Campbell, played by Jack Quaid (The Hunger Games, Rampage), who loses his girlfriend because of the reckless actions of a super speedy hero named of A-Train, played by Jessie Usher (Independence Day: Resurgence, Shaft). Hughie quickly loses all semblance of his normal life and can’t fathom how life can just simply go on. That is until Billy shows up to provide the blueprint for revenge. Along the way we are introduced to the rest of The Boys, including Frenchie (Tomer Capon), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), and The Female (Karen Fukuhara). And let’s not forget the wonderful supers who populate this fantastic landscape aka, the team that makes up The Seven, Homelander (Antony Starr – American Gothic), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott – House of Cards), The Deep (Chace Crawford – Gossip Girl), Translucent (Alex Hassell – Suburbicon) and Starlight (Erin Moriarty – Jessica Jones).
I also need to take a personal moment here and mention the Ohio love within the show. There is a heavy emphasis on Sandusky, Ohio, with a huge shoutout to Cedar Point. There are references to Cleveland, Akron, and Toledo. And at one point Ohio license plates make an appearance. I’m not saying there aren’t some jokes pointed at the great state with several of these references, but as Jack Sparrow made note, “but you have heard of me.” I can only assume this all comes from the creator Eric Kripke and his roots to Toledo, Ohio (special shoutout to Tony Packo’s).
All in all the series was incredibly enjoyable. It is definitely not for the faint of heart as there are mass amounts of sex and violence. I felt it was all very appropriate and necessary to the story, which is not what I felt with the books. Incredibly though, there are some seriously tense moments that will have you gut punched. The story keeps chugging along with fantastic twists and turns. And like I said before, it’s ultimately the characters that make this story compelling. I found myself binging through the screeners desperately in search for more answers. Unfortunately reviewer Jimmy can’t give away too much, but let me tell you, there are a ton of fantastic guest appearances, spoilers, and twists that need to be seen. Once you watch it though, hit us up HERE and let’s talk about it. I can’t stop thinking about it and have no one to discuss it with, so hurry!
So please, watch the series. Get those viewing numbers up. I cannot stress how much I want to see a season two of this show!
I give the first season of The Boys, 5 out of 5 Nerd Skulls.
Check out the trailers below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06rueu_fh30
For more info on comics, video games, movies and anything else nerd, check out Nerdlocker.com, a place for your inner nerd.
Also check us out on:
Nerdlocker Shop: http://www.nerdlocker.com/store
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/nerdlocker
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nerdlocker
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nerdlocker
Podcast: iTunes
Email us at: info@nerdlocker.com
