Eric Kripke is the creator of the show The Boys, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson have written the comics on which it is based. Originally, the directors had decided to make it into a film, but that never took off due to creative differences. Cinemax revived it in 2016. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg came in as executive producers.
The series revolves around a group of vigilantes who have all suffered personal losses at the hands of superheroes. They aim to curb the corruption of the elitist and most powerful superhero team, the Seven, and the corporation that runs them, Vought.
that have been inspired heavily by Marvel and DC characters.
We have the strongest and most powerful Homelander (Anthony Starr) with flying abilities, laser eyes, and super strength. He is modeled along the lines of Superman, with the color palette being that of Captain America.
Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) has a costume and powers very similar to the Amazonian princess of DC Wonder Woman. It could also be Warrior Woman of Marvel. Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) is a mixture of Batman and Nighthawk. A-train (Jessie Usher) is easy.
He could be Flash from DC or Quicksilver in MCU. The Deep (Chace Crawford) is a creepier and sleazier version of Aquaman. Can you believe the chocolate boy hunk Nate Archbald from Gossip Girls played this sleazy character! Now, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is a bit of innovation. She doesn’t shoot light like Captain Marvel; she controls it. Green Lantern uses green light for construction but cannot control it.
The seventh member keeps changing! The Boys has a policy of no holds barred bloody gory scenes with gut-wrenching clarity. They have incorporated several real-life incidents into the series from the season till now. Here is a list you might have missed while watching.
20 of the easter eggs and pop culture references
1. The Supernatural connects BEFORE Soldier Boy
In season 1 of The Boys, we see Jim Beaver playing the Secretary of Defense in The Boys universe. This happens in the final episode, where we see him speaking to Madelyn Stillwell (then Vought Senior VP). Supernatural fans will notice that he is also the actor who played Bobby Singer, a father figure to Sam and Dean Winchester. The Easter egg is that that in The Boys, he is called Robert Singer! Creator Eric Kripke has made both shows.
This was a great foreshadowing of the fact that Dean Winchester actor Jensen Ackles becomes a part of the cast in season 3 of The Boys as Soldier Boy who fought in world war ii.
2. Billy Joel
Since season 1, we have known that Hughie is a big fan of the famous singer Billy Joel. In one of the episodes in season 2, Hughie wears a James Taylor t-shirt. This show is consistent in its details. Uptown Girl by Joel is heard in the background in the season 3 premiere as Hughie and Annie gets ready in the morning.
3. Comic-con of Vought
The show mentions Vought con a few times, a kind of parody of a comic con. Comic con is originally a comic book convention where comic book authors, actors playing in movies adapted from comic books, and their fans come for a sort of meet and greet. It is very famous in the USA, and the original one takes place in California.
4. Parody of Hawkeye
In season 2, we briefly see a superhero, Eagle the Archer, who voiced his doubts about using traditional weapons in a tech-ruled world like now. This is a direct nod to Hawkeye of the Marvel Universe, who uses a bow and arrow to fight villains.
5. Charlize Theron plays a superhero in films
In the first episode of Season 3, a scene of a movie getting shot in The Boys universe plays out where Charlize Theron plays Stormfront. The actual nazi superhero Stormfront was in hospital then. This is the second time we see Charlize Theron cameo as a supe. The last we saw her was in the Marvel movie Doctor Strange Multiverse of Madness, where she played a new magical star Clea in the end credits.
6. Fan theory of bursting through Thanos’ backside!
Remember when Avengers Infinity War and Endgame were released? Everybody was speculating what would happen if Ant-man shrunk himself and went up Thanos’ posterior and then increased his size! The Boys, never subtle in their ventures, played out the scene for the fans with a supe of their own Termite. Termite has similar powers to Ant-Man. In a scene, Termite goes inside his lover’s body but then, by accident, returns to his original size while still inside. The body of the other man bursts into pieces, with blood and flesh pieces flying around everywhere.
7. Madelyn Stillwell’s son
In season 1, we saw the Vought VP Madelyn Stillwell having an infant son. She was in a codependent relationship with Homelander. But expectedly, that did not end well. In the season 1 finale, Homelander fries her brain with laser eyes. We never saw what happened to the baby, but it we assumed the baby to be dead.
In season 3, we see Hughie visit an orphanage for superheroes where a toddler Teddy has telekinetic powers. He is the son of Madelyn Stillwell. Guess that is how he escaped Homelander that night!
8. Little Nina from the comics
In the comic version, Little Nina appeared in the second volume as a dangerous drug trafficker for whom Frenchie worked. In season 3, we see Nina, and her backstory is almost the same. But still, no connection is there between her and the supe team. While in the comics, she has given compound V to more than a hundred people.
9. 24th January
In Russia, Mother’s Milk looks through old footage of Soldier Boy to find out notes where “due to the procedure dated January 24, the subject still registers high radiation levels” is written. Ardent fans of Eric Kripke will know that the 24th of January is an important date for him because it is his wife’s birthday. He had made this date the birthday of many of his characters like Dean Winchester and Jessica Moore from Supernatural and Lucy Preston from Timeless.
10. The Legend
In the series, we see Paul Reiser play the Legend as the Vice President in Vought before Madelyn Stillwell. He was in Hero Management. He helps out the boys occasionally. In the comics, this character is modeled along the lines of Marvel legend Stan Lee who made cameos in all Marvel movies. In the MCU movies, we see him helping superheroes occasionally too.
11. Co-creator and Executive Producer Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen has done cameos in his series since the first season. In season 1, he is a co-star of Black Noir in the latter’s film Black Noir: Insurrection. In the second season, he gives an interview about the supe Translucent after his death. This season he voiced the character of Translucent in the film made by Vought in The Boys’ universe. The film was the Bourke cut of Dawn of the Seven. We see Seth Rogen again having a video call with Crimson Countess.
12. Bourke cut
Remember when fans of Zack Snyder flooded Twitter asking the director to release the Snyder cut of the film Justice League? And then it was at last released. The showing of the Bourke cut a superhero movie Dawn of the Seven was an obvious reference to that. The name is also similar to another Snyder-directed superhero movie (having the same characters as Justice League) called Dawn of Justice.
13. Love Sausage
Love Sausage, a supe (having an elongated, ahem, sausage), makes a comeback this season, but the actor changed. In season 2, he was last seen at Sage Grove Center trying to strangle Mother’s Milk. This season when Annie and Mother’s Milk reach herogasm, Love Sausage greet them at the door. Now Derek Johns plays him instead of Andrew Jackson.
14. Riverdale
Apparently, the show Riverdale or some version of it exists in The Boys’ universe. In episode two of season three, Homelander’s birthday bash has an impressive celeb guest list consisting of the cast of Riverdale, among many others, including Dame Judy Dench even!
15. The Captain America connect
Since the trailer of season 3 was released, everybody understood that Soldier Boy is an image of Captain America corrupted with power. Captain America, played by Chris Evans in the Marvel universe, and Soldier Boy, played by Jensen Ackles in The Boys’ universe, are both tall, handsome white males. Both have super strength and have fought in World War II. Also, in this series, there is a theme park by Vought called Voughtland, which has an area dedicated to Soldier Boy. There is a film about him playing. This is an obvious reference to the Captain America Exhibit shown in Captain America The Winter Soldier movie.
16. The Kendell Jenner commercial
Remember the infamous Pepsi commercial in which Kendell Jenner starred in 2017? It trivialized the problems like racism and police brutality by showing they can be solved with carbonated drinks and cheesy words. The Boys parodied it with A-Train doing an almost exact commercial with the Turbo Rush drink.
17. Gal Gadot’s Imagine video
You can accuse this series of many things, but subtlety is not one of them! They did another celeb parody by emulating the celebs singing the song Imagine during the onset of covid. In the series, the celebs singing it were Kumail Nanjiani, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Patton Oswalt, etc.
18. G-men spin-off series
Fans have already heard that a spin-off series based on a college for superheroes is in the works. Vought runs the college, and Jazz Sinclair is one of the cast members. Hughie visiting the supes’ orphanage might be a nod to that. It is a reference to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in MCU, where Xmen stay.
19. Flava Flav clock
Rapper Flava Flav had said that he always wears a clock with his outfit to remind himself of the fact that time is the most important element in our life. Mother’s Milk gifts a Flava Flav clock to his daughter on her birthday as she is a fan.
20. Dog called Terror
In one of the episodes this season, we see a dog-shaped jar in an apartment of Billy Butcher. This is a nod to Butcher’s beloved pet dog Terror back at home. We have seen Terror in seasons 1 and 2, but he didn’t make an appearance in season 3.
If this list has intrigued you, go and give re-watch the series. One of the best series in contemporary times, The Boys, audience ate expecting for season 4 to return soon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: Is the Boys rated R?
Ans: The Boys is rated TV-MA for language, gore, violence, and nudity which means some content may not be suitable for kids. Parents need to know The Boys is an extremely violent, bloody, and adult show with insane sexual content.
Q2: What is The Boys rating age?
Ans: Amazon makes it clear that the series isn’t for children. It carries an 18+ (or a TV-MA) rating. This means it’s, well, for 18 or older.
