By Max McAuiliff, Opinion Editor
Season two of Amazon Prime’s hit show “The Boys” premiered last Friday, with the first three of eight episodes being released. While season one pleased the critics, with the show scoring an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, the second season seems to have impressed critics even more. “The Boys” currently sits at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes is a review aggregate website that compiles reviews from different critics. It seems like nowadays everyone is looking for the next “Game of Thrones,” and “The Boys” might just be it.
Put simply, “The Boys” is a show that centers around the exploits of superheroes. However, “The Boys” doesn’t treat superheroes as movies like “The Avengers” or “Justice League” does. Both of those respective franchises portray superheroes as having few if any flaws. “The Boys” takes a dark and twisted approach to the superhero genre and focuses on what life would really be like if superheroes existed.
Instead of fighting crime for the good of the people they fight crime because their multi-million-dollar contracts force them to. They bask in the public spotlight and are beloved by the public who believe they have been chosen by God to serve a higher purpose. But behind closed doors the only thing the supes (as they are called in the show) care about is money, drugs, sex and power. It serves as an intriguing take on the superhero genre and one that has not been seen before.
Not only is the plot compelling, but the characters are compelling as well. There is one character that stands above the rest and has the potential to be the greatest TV villain of all time. Yeah, I said it. Homelander is the main villain of “The Boys” and the leader of the show’s main superhero team the Seven. There are a few things that make Homelander so intriguing. The first being that he is an evil version of Superman. Homelander has the same powers as the greatest superhero ever; flight, super strength, super speed, invulnerability oh, and he has laser eyes. Homelander is an unstoppable villain and has yet to show any physical weaknesses.
What gives him the potential to be the greatest television villain of all time is the fact that his weakness is not something physical, but mental. Homelander is one of the most powerful and yet insecure characters on television. Anthony Starr, the actor who plays Homelander, does such a great job of humanizing this god-like character and really makes the audience sympathize with Homelander. That is until he murders someone two scenes later and the audience remembers how evil he really is.
The final thing that gives “The Boys” the greatest chance at being the next “Game of Thrones” is that it airs on a streaming service. Like HBO, Amazon Prime is not restricted by network television guidelines. This allows “The Boys” to be as raunchy and violent as the show needs to be. It also means that the show has a much larger budget. One of the great things about “Game of Thrones” was the fact that they had three fire breathing dragons that looked just as real as the characters riding them. While these two things do not make or break a show, it gives shows more liberty.
While it may be hard to find another show as riveting and popular as “Game of Thrones’’ was, “The Boys” definitely has a shot. It has a unique plot, characters and budget that give it the potential to be the next “Game of Thrones.”
mcaulimr18@bonaventure.edu
