Serving as an appetizer before the recent release of season 3 of The Boys, the spinoff anthology series The Boys: Diabolical premiered in March of this year. The eight episodes delivered some reckless, adult animated stories that expanded the universe of the corrupt supes managed by the evil corporation Vought.
A mix of stylistically diverse stories by the likes of Justin Roiland, Seth Rogen and Aisha Tyler to name just a few, The Boys: Diabolical ranges from the rampage of an overpowered baby to the origin story of one of the most powerful supes in the series. Through some emotional and unhinged episodes, the animated anthology presented some bizarre and complex supes that add some spice to the world of The Boys.
Laser Baby
Vought first appears in The Boys as a magnificent, omnipresent company that dedicates all its efforts to the protection of humanity, but quickly revealed are the dark and malevolent tactics behind this benevolent facade.
As a cute and small experiment escapes the facilities, a naive but merciless baby with laser eyes obliterates everything that comes in its path. This episode written by Seth Rogen and animated in a Looney Tunes fashion hilariously presents the juxtaposition of this destructive ability in the control of an innocent and adorable child and poses some theories around season 3.
Ghost
"An Animated Short Where Pissed-Off Supes Kill Their Parents" reveals another unwanted effect of Vought’s actions as a bizarre crew of young supes with not-so-super powers teams up to seek revenge on their oblivious and irresponsible parents.
One of the characters affected by Vought and her own parents’ avarice is Ghost, a depressed immortal girl whose ghostly intangibility allows her to pass through matter. It also means she is unable to interact in any way with the physical world. After she leads the strange group through their quest and sadistically enjoys her vengeance, she is left the only survivor of a Vought retaliation, leaving her part in The Boys' universe an open question.
Sun-Hee
As her husband steals a serum to cure her cancer, Sun-Hee is invaded by a murderous power that takes on a life of its own until she finally fights back and embraces the horror that originated out of her.
This anime-styled episode is the emotional peak of the anthology, as the old couple fights with the horrible disease that has infected Sun Hee, who finally makes a great sacrifice to stop it from continuing its destruction. This love and tragedy tale once again portrays the dangers of Compound V but also shows how good, this time in the form of a dying old lady, will be there to fight the monstrosity the super serum can generate.
Boyd Doone and Cherry Sinclair
When Boyd Doone volunteers to test a temporary moisturizer that turns him into the version of himself he dreamed of, his neighbor Cherry also takes a small dose of the product and becomes a cat-woman. Together, the supernaturally handsome duo become celebrities on social media.
But as fame starts to wear them down and the moisturizer runs out, they fall apart and fight for what little is left, and Cherry displays her feline martial abilities. This episode serves as a reflection on social media, where Cherry and Boyd confuse good looks with happiness and eventually fall for the wicked perks of Vought experiments.
Boombox
Boombox would mostly be considered an unfortunate result of Vought experimentation. As all his communication is limited to "Only Wanna Be With You" by Hootie and the Blowfish, and he seems to enjoy working out and displaying his butchery skills at the rhythm of the cheerful pop song, nobody can truly say how happy he is with his bizarre and faceless power.
Boombox displays the infinite possibilities of Compound V and sets the question of how useless and uncomfortable powers can still be cool.
Nubia and Nubian Prince
When life is a series of heroic deeds and your superpowers determine your destiny, retired ordinary life can seem dull. After supes Nubian Prince and Nubia fall in love during their fight with villain Groundhawk, it seems as a perfect super-couple has formed.
However, years later they resent each other and fight in presence of their daughter Maya, who councils them through another super time together. Nubia and Nubian Prince are normal people who see the simplicity of ordinary life completely detached from their supe existence, and this dissonance brings trouble to their marriage and daughter.
Great Wide Wonder
Part of Vought-American, this supe can fly right around the world at supersonic speed. Like many Vought employees, he finds his superpower not enough to satiate his urges for speed or altitude, so he searches for a higher high through heroin.
Not preoccupied by the earthly limits of ordinary people, he kills two girls during a tour to space. Butcher and Frenchie then seek justice by delivering an even stronger chemical to Great Wide Wonder through his fixer, and the supe ends a public demonstration with a supersonic and gory mess that takes his and another Vought supe’s lives. Same as many Vought supes, Great Wide Wonder demonstrates what happens when a great power isn't accompanied by great responsibility.
Groundhawk
Another supe whose power turned out to be quite hindering for a pleasant life, Groundhawk struggles with his hammer hands after retirement, as his weaponized limbs aren't too practical for daily uses such as grabbing a soda.
When the daughter of his former colleagues and enemies Nubia and Nubian Prince appeals to him for help on her marriage fix plans, Groundhawk empathizes and overcomes his cynical and angry temper to help the child. He then becomes a punching bag for the Nubian couple, who once again find love while enjoying the beating of Groundhawk.
The Narrator
Voiced by Christian Slater, who worked in projects similar to The Boys such as Rick And Morty and Inside Job, the Narrator uses his omnipresent power to describe the events of this revenge story in a way that enriches the irreverent and grotesque narrative.
As the ugly smart kid pays his folks a friendly visit, we learn about his twisted sense of humor and how he turns out to be the only character that gets away with his quest unharmed. However, because of the transcending nature of his ability, his comeback to the universe would be a little more complicated than that of Ghost.
Homelander
The strongest supe in the world makes his appearance in three episodes of the anthology. He first makes use of his impeccable killing obligations by annihilating the young supe crew led by Ghost. In the following episode, he complies with his leadership duties when the supersonic mess caused by Great Wide Wonder occurs.
The last episode of the series focuses on the first mission of Homelander as part of the Seven, in which his savior facade quickly falls and his maniac temperament turns the mission into a carnage. In this origin story, we see how the all mighty semblance of the main antagonist of the series was fragile and untrue from the beginning, and this last episode serves as a reminder of what a Superman-like hero looks like in the brutal world of The Boys.