Amazon's The Boys looks set to include a Herogasm adaptation that may yet herald an MCU-like disaster in the show. Developer Eric Kripke revealed during filming The Boys season 3 that the series' sixth episode will adapt the infamous comic book miniseries, stating that the episode is "the craziest dailies he has ever seen" and "that people are not ready to watch it." While certainly ratcheting up the anticipation for an extreme portion of The Boys narrative, Kripke was also careful to note there will be changes to the original Dark Horse comic storyline, with Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy representing at least one big deviation from the source material.
Herogasm is a six-issue limited comic book series from The Boys' creator Garth Ennis, which takes the spotlight off Butcher, Hughie, and the other "heroes" in favor of following the "Supes" in unexpected scenarios during their shared vacation. Herogasm centers around an annual party of the same name, which essentially boils down to a superpowered orgy sponsored by the ever omniscient Vought. The original Herogasm series garnered acclaim upon initial release in 2009, with its gleeful depictions of oft-depraved debauchery providing fresh impetus to the overarching The Boys canon.
Yet, in Amazon Prime's The Boys, the Herogasm adaptation is a much-hyped trick that will instead mark the start of an MCU-level disaster. Ripping Herogasm straight from the Dark Horse comic pages is too straightforward for The Boys, whose showrunners have already proven they are set on creating a fresh narrative for the series. With the original Herogasm plot likely too risqué for any streaming service, The Boys' TV adaptation will instead utilize the debauched conference as an opportunity to introduce a more daunting threat beyond Butcher's crew to the Vought-sponsored Supes.
Herogasm Is Too Predictable For The Boys
The Boys has already gone to great lengths to set itself apart from its comic book predecessors, making a carbon copy of Herogasm on-screen highly improbable. Kripke and company have previously stated their desire to subvert audience expectations of the show, especially those with prior knowledge of the source material, so adding Herogasm to The Boys season 3 in its original format would mark a deviation in the showrunner's ideology. What is much more likely for Herogasm's new incarnation is widespread changes from the comics, as has been the case throughout the entire The Boys TV series. Prior examples in the Amazon show include changing Stormfront's gender, adding entirely new tertiary Supes like Mesmer, and altering Hughie's age, which highlight notably fresh permutations for the established The Boys canon.
Becca Butcher Proves The Boys Changes The Plot
Amazon's The Boys has already proven it is adept at handling the aforementioned, more superficial changes, but is also no stranger to creating deeper plot deviations that move away from the source material. Becca Butcher's plotline is one such example, with her survival and raising Ryan (Homelander's son) marking a notable change from the comics. Becca has greater agency in The Boys season 2, with her handling of Ryan leading to a fateful showdown in the season finale, whereas, in the comics, she offers very little to the overall narrative. Ryan follows the same pattern here, with his burgeoning powers in the show in stark contrast with his death as an infant in the comics. Becca's glaring changes by the showrunners display an ability to deftly alter the narrative course of The Boys, with Becca's death and Ryan's potency marking new nexus moments for key characters such as Butcher and Homelander. This willingness to sculpt a brand new story and explicitly surprise fans of the franchise ensures that Herogasm's adaptation will be a unique experience in The Boys season 3.
Herogasm Is Too Much For Amazon Video
Aside from narrative changes, the real crux of the matter is the challenges presented by adapting an unabridged version of Herogasm to the screen. Even by the original comics' unabashed standards, Herogasm represents the zenith of The Boys' debauchery, containing numerous overtly sexual and bizarre scenes depicting intercourse between Supes. Despite Kripke stating, "if we showed everything we saw in the dailies, we for sure would be rated X," The Boys is still likely to tone down these cuts in the final reckoning to make the episode somewhat palatable. While The Boys is certainly no stranger to including shocking portrayals of sex and violence, it is unlikely Amazon Prime's governing TV body would sign off on a borderline pornographic episode on its streaming service. As a result, a much more likely outcome for Herogasm rather than a televised orgy is a classic bait-and-switch by the showrunners, who will continue building hype for season 3's sixth episode before utilizing Herogasm as a gateway to new plotlines, much as the original comics did with Hughie and Butcher a decade ago.
Herogasm Could Satire The MCU Far More Through Its Own Endgame
While the very essence of the original Herogasm comics is a satirical swipe at the rose-tinted canons of other superhero stories, Amazon's version has an opportunity to push this concept even further. In the Dark Horse comics, Herogasm's debauchery initially masks unfolding plotlines before the final two comics culminate in tumultuous, plot-altering scenes. While it would be significantly shorter than the protracted runtime of MCU Avengers installments Infinity War and Endgame, introducing a Thanos-level threat would allow for The Boys to satirize the MCU on a greater level than it has done thus far, while still using Herogasm as the plot divergence it was always designed to be. Whereas in the Avengers movies, Thanos' threat causes the Marvel heroes to successfully unite, The Boys can poke fun at the MCU by showing the Vought superheroes in complete disarray even in the face of extinction. This new threat would also explain the inclusion of Captain America's send-up Soldier Boy, who will mark another distinct change from the comics. Jensen Ackles' character is confirmed to be the embodiment of overt masculinity from a bygone era instead of the sniveling Soldier Boy from the comics, whose yearly attempts to gain Seven membership by pleasuring Homelander are destined to fail. Reintroducing the new-look Soldier Boy as a credible character suggests the showrunners will build up Ackles' superhero to be knocked down, which again could be the result of an MCU-level threat appearing during Herogasm. With the series' narrative continuing to accelerate, introducing an MCU-like disaster is the perfect way to set up an Endgame for The Boys in season 3.