Mild spoilers for The Boys Season 2 finale.
In the final battle between the Avengers and Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, there’s a scene that involves all of the female superheroes joining forces to storm the villain and protect the Infinity Gauntlet. It’s a very brief moment that some criticized as being disingenuous, considering the overall lack of major women characters in the MCU. As it turns out, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke revealed that the Amazon series was taking a “shot” at Endgame with a key Season 2 finale moment.
In the Season 2 finale of The Boys, Starlight, Kimiko, and Queen Maeve beat the shit out of Stormfront. It was a collective effort that saw the diabolical supe get her just desserts for all the radicalization and pain she’d caused. Near the end, Frenchie states that “girls do get it done.” The all-women beatdown has been compared to the female empowerment scene in Avengers: Endgame, with some arguing that The Boys did it better. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Eric Kripke revealed why the Endgame scene was fair game for the show. In his words:
As for ‘girls get it done,’ a lot of that came from our executive producer, Rebecca Sonneshine, who came in after the weekend Endgame opened. She was just furious. I saw it, too, and I was like, ‘That was the dumbest, most contrived—’ And she’s like, ‘Don’t get me started.’ She found it condescending and I agreed. So that just created for us a target, a satirical target. When there’s something really ridiculous in either superhero or celebrity or Hollywood culture, we’ll immediately go after it. It’s an easy shot.
That Avengers: Endgame scene really ruffled people, didn’t it? I think what’s so different about how The Boys executed the moment was that it was earned. These women all had beef with Stormfront, especially Kimiko given that Stormfront killed her brother. The trio were angry with other supes and the situation, so their teamwork felt more organic. I think it was also a moment that was a season in the making, and it wasn't a throwaway scene at all.
I would argue that such was not the case in Avengers: Endgame. Plus, The Boys’ entire premise is predicated on its commentary about superheroes, absolute power, and corporate corruption, among other things. In that vein, it’s no surprise that the Marvel film was an “easy shot” for the Amazon series.
Eric Kripke went on to add that he’s a fan of the MCU movies and that his biggest issue is that there are simply too many of them. That, he says, is “dangerous” because it conditions audiences to think they need to wait for “someone strong to come in and save you.” If anything, I think The Boys makes a great case for why all-powerful beings shouldn’t be looked up to as superhero saviors to begin with.
The Boys has been renewed for Season 3 and is expected to begin filming in early 2021. The series has already cast Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles in the role of Soldier Boy, the “very first Superhero.” It’s pretty exciting, and I’m sure fans are really pumped for the new season and what’s in store for The Boys after the way Season 2 ended.
All eight episodes of The Boys Season 2 are currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. For more on what to watch, be sure to check out our 2020 fall TV premiere schedule.
