Amazon’s new superhero series The Boys will arrive later this month and it is already ramping up to make a splash at San Diego Comic-Con, alongside other Amazon series. If that is not enough to get you excited about the dark dramedy, there is also the fact of whose work inspired a pivotal part of it. Superhero director extraordinaire: Zack Snyder.
In the series, there are films made by the company, Vought, which finances the superhumans. When it came to the design for Vought’s superhero movies, the series looked to a powerhouse: frequent DC helmer, Zack Snyder. The Boys’ showrunner, Eric Kripke told EW:
Every time they make a superhero thing, they’re making a Zack Snyder movie. In the stuff that Vought makes, we were inspired more by DC than Marvel. The Marvel stuff is actually reasonably grounded, but the DC stuff tends to get a little pretentious, and we wanted the Vought superhero movies to be a little full of themselves.
Okay then. If you watch the show and notice that Vought’s movies are more DC than Marvel, then you have your answer as to why. You are picking up on the desired effect. The Boys is taking a satirical aim at the former, which has seen its cinematic profile compete with Marvel's. Zack Snyder, of course, has directed several of DC's recent superhero movies.
When it comes to those who have helmed a lot of superhero movies, Zack Snyder was a go-to for DC. Snyder directed Henry Cavill’s debut as Superman in 2013’s Man of Steel, as well as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Snyder’s work has a very distinctive flair to it.
Superhero cinema has exploded over the last decade, leading to a show about superheroes in the "real world" having to consider what those movies might look like in a universe where superheroes are real. The Boys is not another superhero series in the traditional vein, either. The show's trailer included a gruesome example of just how different it will be from anything you could see on The CW or ABC. Unlike the Marvel and DC Universe, these supers are capable of super bad things.
In The Boys, a superhero group known as The Seven (a play on DC’s Justice League) are at the fore. Given that Zack Snyder helmed the Justice League movie, it makes sense to draw on his vibe for Vought’s movie franchise.
The Boys has not been shy about having a go at superheroes. The show, which premieres later this month, stars Dredd’s Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, the leader of the eponymous group who are vigilantes working together to take down corrupt superheroes.
Last year, the show cast a bevy of actors to bring the superhero characters to life. Jennifer Esposito will also star in the “key role” of CIA agent, Susan Raynor. Buckle your seatbelts! It is going to be a wild ride!
It is also worth noting that Zack Snyder directed 2009’s Watchmen adaptation. That universe will be joining The Boys in the television landscape in the not-too-distant future, as it's heading to HBO as a TV series. In short, there will be no shortage of superhero-related content, any time soon.
The Boys begins with its Season 1 premiere, July 26 on Amazon Prime Video. It is among a host of this summer’s new content.
