‘The Boys’ examines relationship between power and corruption
Amazon Prime Video executives are so convinced their new series “The Boys” will be a hit that a second season has been ordered before today’s first season debut. Based on The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the capes-and-criminals series looks at what happens when superheroes become so popular they are treated like gods. Their abuse of power that comes from the hero worship attracts the attention of a group called The Boys, which looks to expose the truth.
Amazon’s show of faith in the project fits with the relationship executive producers Seth Rogen and Eric Kripke have had with the company from the start.
“It has been very different working for them and by-inlarge great,” says Kripke, whose other producing credits include “Supernatural” and “Timeless.” “Being able to create something that’s rated R is something that I haven’t been able to do with all my network travels. It seems like it wouldn’t be a big deal, but anyone who knows me knows I have an incredibly dirty sense of humor.”
The freedom the team has had isn’t just to be able to use profanity or show nudity but was necessary to be able to fully present the story Ennis has written. The biggest concern Kripke had starting was that he would be able to properly adapt “The Boys” both because of the quality of the original work along with his love for the property.
This isn’t the first creation by Ennis that has been adapted to a television series but follows in the footsteps of “Preacher.” Seeing his work go from printed page to small screen is something Ennis finds to be fascinating, especially in regards to what is used and what doesn’t make the cut. The one thing Ennis has learned is to treat the original and the adaptation as two separate things because they inevitably will go in different directions.
Ennis started writing “The Boys” at the beginning of 2005 in reaction to what was going on in the world. Although DC Comics canceled the title after only six issues, Dynamite Comics picked it up and it would run for 72 issues before ending in 2012.
“It seemed to me if superheroes really existed in the real world they would be like rock stars crossed with politicians. They would have the theme and glitz and glamor of rock stars, but they would be having a genuine effect on the world. It seemed to me that effect would be a corporate one because they would be immediately branded and bought,” he said.