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⁾