The Boys TV Show: Release Date, Story, Characters & Comic Changes

Get ready for a new kind of superhero show, because Amazon is bringing Garth Ennis's The Boys to life on the small screen! Following the success of AMC's Preacher, The Boys is hitting Amazon's streaming service this year, with a darkly funny and extremely adult take on superheroes, vigilantes, and absolute power corrupting absolutely. The cast appeared at New York Comic Con with a first look at the upcoming show, and to talk about what we can expect from this latest super-show, which promises to be like nothing fans have ever seen before.

The Boys takes place in a world where superheroes exist, and are revered as celebrities for their powers. However, these superheroes have a dark side - behind closed doors, they are drug addicts, abusers, and incredibly over-sexed, and the people who celebrate them would be shocked to know what happens behind closed doors. A group of humans does know, however, and this gang is dedicated to taking revenge on the supes for the crimes they get away with thanks to their status.

Created by Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen and Erik Kripke, and starring Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, Karen Fukuhara as The Female, Jack Quaid as Hughie, and Simon Pegg as Hughie's Dad, the show is due to premiere in 2019. While The Boys does not have a release date yet, we've got everything you need to know about what's coming up.

This Page: The Boys' Story And Characters
Page 2: The Boys' Changes From The Comics

The Boys' Cast and Characters

The Boys themselves are a vigilante gang of (mostly) humans, who use weapons, tech, and the occasional extra boost to give themselves a chance against the supes of this universe. They are led by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), and the gang includes The Female (Karen Fukuhara) - a violent and mostly silent killer, Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) - the voice of reason in the group, The Frenchman (actor yet to be confirmed), and Hughie (Jack Quaid) the new recruit who is just getting starting to understand what the supes get up to.

The Seven are the world's biggest team of superheroes, a satire on DC's Justice League. We got our first look at this team at NYCC, and while the heroes may appear to be direct plays on specific Marvel/DC superheroes at first, it quickly becomes apparent that they are in a league of their own. The Seven is led by Homelander (Anthony Starr) - Butcher's nemesis, alongside Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), the speedster A-Train (Jessie T Usher), The Deep (Chace Crawford), Jack From Jupiter (unconfirmed) and newbie Starlight (Erin Moriarty).

As well as these two teams duking it out, expect to get to know some of the previous team members (from both The Boys and The Seven), some minor-league supes, and the government and commercial organizations that have their hands in the superhero game. With the basic characters out of the way, what else can you expect from The Boys?

The Boys Is Definitely Not A Kids Show

First up, The Boys is very much an adult-oriented series, and fans can expect plenty of gore, sex, and swearing throughout. The comic series was described as written to 'out-Preacher Preacher', and it looks like the TV show is going to do the same - with Amazon allowing the creators to include a lot more adult content than AMC could for the Preacher series. Star Karl Urban confirmed that it would be 'hard R' rated,

Q: Are you toning [The Boys] down in a similar way [to Preacher] for this?

Evan Goldberg: NO. No, Amazon lets you go nuts.

Erik Kripke: Although, I got a hilarious note on one of the scripts, and I just want to know who did the legwork. ‘There’s 50 f**ks in this script, and can we get down to a four in front of that number’, and I was like ‘let me look, I don’t know’. [LAUGHS]

Page 2 of 2: The Boys' Changes From The Comics

hughie mothers milk kimiko frenchie butcher

There Are Some Changes From The Boys Comics (But Not Too Many)

Unsurprisingly, there are going to be some elements to The Boys that won't be familiar to comic book readers, but both the main storyline and the majority of characters are going to be coming directly from the comics. Some scenes will also be lifted straight from the page, so fans can look forward to seeing specific moments that they have loved from the books.

Some of the biggest changes include the reveal that Hughie will not be Scottish, and he will look nothing like his character in the comics. However, the big reveal for The Boys at NYCC was the addition of Simon Pegg to the cast. Pegg was the inspiration for the character of Hughie, and will be playing Hughie's father in the show - which you can read more about in our interview with the man himself.

In addition to the extra insight into Hughie's family, we'll also be getting a more developed Female - and she'll even be getting a name! Just as with Preacher's Tulip, it looks like the live-action adaptation of The Boys is going to focus on expanding the few female characters that appear in the comics, and Fukuhara is thrilled about the changes that are being made:

"Yes! YESSSS! I don’t want to give to much away about the speaking portion, but yeah, Erik and I spoke at the beginning of the season, and I was so shocked because you know in the comics, she - her past is with drinking compound V and how she became this supe, but in our version we created more depth and more history, and background on where she came from, and how that connects back to the Female joining the Boys. So without saying too much, I’m thankful that he’s created so much depth and so much background work there."

There will also be some minor changes to Mother's Milk, who will not be on-screen breastfeeding this season (and if that sounds confusing, we can only refer you to the original comics!), and the Deep, who is going to have a much bigger part in the show - and will not be appearing in his comic book helmet.

The Boys Is Something Totally Different

With so many comic book series currently airing, what is it that makes The Boys worth watching? According to the cast and creators, it's simply that this is a series which is completely different. It's not just the hard R rating, but the fact that it turns the superhero genre on its head, making the 'heroes' the villains, and going where no other comic book show has gone before.

Karl Urban: Taking the whole superhero world and flipping it, and you know, presenting a realistic look at the elite 1% and the sense of entitlement that they have. And sort of, supposing that what if these superheroes, they would be just as corrupt and morally questionable as the elite 1% can be in this world, and I love the story about a group of human vigilantes with no superpowers trying to take them down.

Jack Quaid: Every episode has at least one scene where I’ve said to myself, I’ve never seen that on TV before. Ever. I’ve never seen a superhero doing that, I’ve never seen a human being doing that...

Laz Alonso: I can’t wait for this show to come out because it’s something that no one has seen, especially in superhero culture. You know, superhero culture, you know, these shows protect their characters, they are so perfect - and here is the opposite of that. It’s a big middle finger to all of that.