The Boys is a superhero television show in the United States.¹⁾

Eric Kripke created it for the Amazon Prime Video streaming service.²⁾

It is based on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comic book of the same name.³⁾

The comic book was first published by DC Comics under the Wildstorm banner before being acquired by Dynamite Entertainment.⁴⁾

It follows the titular vigilante squad as they battle superpowered individuals who abuse their talents.⁵⁾

Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capon, and Karen Fukuhara star as the vigilantes, while Antony Starr, Eri Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Chace Crawford, Jessie T. Usher, and Nathan Mitchell play members of “the Seven,” an official superhero group run by the conglomerate Vought International who, while maintaining a lofty façade, are shallow celebrity figures prone to doing horrifying things in secret.⁶⁾

On July 26, 2019, the first season premiered.⁷⁾

The narrative, storyline, humor, and performances of the ensemble, notably Urban and Starr, have all earned critical acclaim.⁸⁾

In September 2020 and December 2021, two spin-off series were commissioned, the latter of which, The Boys Presents: Diabolical, premiered on March 4, 2022.⁹⁾

Hughie wears t-shirts with a statement, slogan, or music group written in large characters on the front. The same is true for the graphic book character version.¹⁰⁾

Translucent is a brand-new character developed for the program. The last member of The Seven in the comic novel was a “alien” figure named Jack From Jupiter, an expy of DC's Martian Manhunter.¹¹⁾

Hughie is played by American actor Jack Quaid in the series. Hughie is from Scotland in the comic book and looks like English actor and writer Simon Pegg. Pegg was “overjoyed” to be “immortalized as a comic book character”, and he also authored “The Name of the Game,” the introduction to The Boys Vol.1 collection.¹²⁾

In The Boys, Karl Urban plays Billy Butcher. Pegg was meant to portray Little Hughie when the comic was turned into a movie or series, but because it took so long, he ended up playing Hughie's father instead.¹³⁾

The sex, drugs, and profanity, which were all more graphic in the comics, had to be toned down for the program.¹⁴⁾

The Seven, Vought's elite squad of heroes, are a rough parody of DC's Justice League. Homelander/Superman, Queen Maeve/Wonder Woman, The Deep/Aquaman, A-Train/The Flash, and Black Noir/Batman are among the Seven who share powers and appearances with DC's heroes.¹⁵⁾

The Roy Thomson Concert Hall in downtown Toronto is regularly utilized in films and television. The massive X supports served as an appropriate backdrop for an early scene in the first movie of the X-Men (2000) series. Also apt for this program, with X-Men characters serving as inspiration for characters in the novel on which it is based.¹⁶⁾

The series' “Coming 2019” poster is an identical reproduction of the first issue's cover, designed by Robertson and later reused for The Boys Vol. 1 collection, “The Name of the Game”.¹⁷⁾

In the comic book series, Madelyn Stillwell's character was a guy.¹⁸⁾

The designer of Starlight's new outfit is modeled on the persona of The Incredibles costume designer Edna (2004).¹⁹⁾

Garth Ennis, the show's co-creator, collaborated with Seth Rogen to bring The Boys and Preacher to television.²⁰⁾

Antony Starr's childhood crush was Elisabeth Shue.²¹⁾

To prepare for the part of Homelander, Antony Starr went on YouTube and watched films of superheroes like Superman and studied how performers like Christopher Reeve took off to fly.²²⁾

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were slated to helm the pilot, however owing to scheduling issues, Dan Trachtenberg took their place.²³⁾

Parkwood Estate is located in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, and is where Homelander pays a visit to Jonah Vogelbaum. It's the same estate that appeared in Adam Sandler's Billy Madison (1995).²⁴⁾

The original Queen Maeve, or Medb, was a fabled Connacht queen and a prominent protagonist in the Irish epic Táin Bó Cailnge. Her alleged grave still attracts visitors on the peak of Knocknarea, overlooking the town of Sligo. Her role in the series is portrayed by an Irish actress, albeit one from Leinster.²⁵⁾

Hughie's girlfriend's name in the series premiere, Robin Ward, is definitely an homage to Batman's sidekick, Robin. Dick Grayson, the original Robin's alter identity, was originally known as Bruce Wayne's ward and was portrayed by actor Burt Ward in the Batman (1966) television series.²⁶⁾

Kimiko is known as “Mon Coeur” in French, which translates to “My Heart” in English.²⁷⁾

Billy Joel is one of Hughie's favorite musicians. Storm Front is the title of Billy Joel's 1989 album.²⁸⁾

In the original comic book series, Grace Mallory played Greg Mallory, a retired CIA officer.²⁹⁾

Stormfront is a man in the comic book.³⁰⁾