‘The Boys' never pulls punches. But its creator fears a ‘cooling effect' on political TV
'The Boys' is known for chest-bursting tentacles, shape-shifters who bed your boyfriend and merciless satire of capitalist excess and corporate-controlled media.
But last year, Season 4 of the Prime Video series set its sights on a new target in its evolution from comic-book adaptation to hot-button must-see: politics. Set during a presidential election cycle that eerily reflected the one going on in the real world, the show's metaphorical relevance soared to an all-time high.
'Despite all the sex and violence and madness, we take a lot of pride in, maybe, being the most current show on TV right now,' showrunner Eric Kripke says on a Zoom call from Toronto, where 'The Boys'' fifth and final season is in production. 'You're not really expecting a superhero show to have the vibe of 'Veep.' It's just another way that we try to be unexpected.'
Unexpected yet strangely prescient. As an election that will determine the fate of democracy looms, the season details the megalomaniacal Homelander's schemes to gain political power to match his Superman-like abilities. There's something Elon Musk-like about how the most powerful man on Earth wants to make himself — and Vought International, the media/chemical/defense corporation he heads — America's governing oligarch.
There are other elements we might associate with the current administration sprinkled throughout the season too. A Vought network tries to turn a 'Sesame Street'-style show into fascist propaganda. Collectible Homelander NFTs are proposed. Masked agents grab dissidents off the streets.
All coincidental, considering scripts are written long before the final product debuts.
'Sometimes we joke, a little unsettlingly, that we're Satan's Writers' Room,' Kripke says with a laugh. 'But because we're writing about what we view as societal problems, the unfortunate truth is these things were problems two years ago when we wrote them and they'll be ongoing until we really figure out how to get a handle on a lot of this and maybe stop trusting the people in power quite so blindly.'
The mightiest of Vought's ultra-marketed superstars, Homelander, played by Antony Starr, is believed by many in the world of 'The Boys' to be America's greatest hero; in reality, he's an oversensitive, egotistical demagogue. Seemingly invincible, he tends to win despite setbacks that might destroy a lesser being. But Starr insists he doesn't model the character on President Trump. Much.
'Not specifically,' the blond, square-jawed New Zealander says during the same Zoom interview. 'I'm an equal-opportunity poacher. I've taken from a lot of different people. Last season, the idea was really teased about Homelander being like a Caesar. If you dip not far back into history, there are just so many people to choose from.
'What I have found about using one specific person for any character — especially with someone like this — is it doesn't work,' Starr continues. 'You get a two-dimensional portrayal. So, Homelander is a conglomerate of tyrants.'
After all, Homelander, unlike the president, craves breast milk, collects his gray hairs and tears people's torsos apart. Although Kripke has described him as analogous to Trump in the past, he notes that Starr brings out aspects of the character that make him his own man.
'I don't think Homelander is sympathetic, but you can empathize with him,' the showrunner says. 'That's the magic trick that Antony pulls off. Homelander sees himself as so much better and bigger than human, and yet he's inescapably human. That conflict, I think, is driving him slowly insane.
'But he's authoritarian in general,' Kripke admits. 'Obviously, things are happening in the particular country I live in that I respond to. This is a reflection of the things we see and the writers are scared of. What we found early on about the superheroes in this world is there's this interesting intersection of fascism and celebrity. It's a unique yet very current notion — not just in the States but all over the world — how people are using the power of celebrity to advance authoritarian ideas.'
With studios backtracking on diversity initiatives and media magnates like Jeff Bezos — who owns the Washington Post as well as Amazon — reticent to find themselves on the wrong end of the president's bully pulpit, concerns that there may be pressure to ease off on 'The Boys'' scathing satire seem appropriate.
Kripke says no.
'There's been a total of zero notes about pulling our punches or about making things less political or less savage,' he reveals. 'The various powers that be have been really great about it. I think they know that we'd just do it anyway, so why bother?
'Look, not about this particular show, but I'm certainly worried about a cooling effect when, now more than ever, you need people in the back of the classroom throwing spitballs,' Kripke cautions. 'That's not just healthy, that's vital. It's really important that people who can thumb their nose at it don't get scared.'
And though he leaves the politics to the writers' room, the man who plays Homelander understands that 'The Boys'' bold perspective is what's made it so compelling.
'I think actors are some of the worst people to listen to for political advice, especially ones from New Zealand,' Starr says. 'But I will say the passion that our writers clearly put into what they're doing, the care and the love that they have for their country, for what's happening socially and politically, has a broad impact. We all feel like we're part of a machine that has something to say.
'It's a big show in every way and its message is bigger: Never pull punches. Regardless [of] whether you agree or disagree, at least we are part of a show that's putting its neck on the line and taking risks across the board, from performance to thematics to commentary.'
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