Season 2 of the Amazon Original show The Boys is getting ratings that rival Netflix's most-watched shows. The show is based on a comic series of the same name, written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Darick Robertson. The show follows the titular "Boys," a group of (mostly) powerless vigilantes who are looking to expose the true nature of the superheroes that inhabit their world. The show follows Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), an electronics store clerk, after his girlfriend gets accidentally killed by a superhero named A-Train (a take on The Flash). In his quest for vengeance, Hughie meets Billy Butcher (Karl Urban)—another civilian who has been wronged by superheroes in the past—and the two set out on a revenge mission against The Seven (basically the show's version of the Justice League).
The show rose in popularity during its first season, largely because of its over-the-top nature and subversive take on the very familiar superhero genre. In both the comics and the show, superheroes are portrayed as decadent celebrities who lead morally questionable lives behind closed doors. Most of the heroes in The Boys are far from paragons of morality and justice like they're so often portrayed in other media. Several shocking scenes threw into question what exactly someone with unlimited power would be capable of and seeing such a wildly different take on the superhero genre proved to be very refreshing in the age of the MCU.
The Boys' subversion of superhero tropes has really struck a chord with audiences, as Nielson's latest streaming numbers (via Forbes) reveal that The Boys' ratings are rivaling some of Netflix's most popular shows. The Boys managed to be the third most-streamed show in the past week, marking the first time a non-Netflix show has managed to crack Nielson's top ten since they began tracking streaming numbers last month. The show hit 891 million minutes watched (which is how Nielson measures streaming views), beating out heavyweights like Shameless, Criminal Minds, and even The Office. The only shows that performed better were Cobra Kai (2.17 billion minutes watched) and Lucifer (1.42 billion minutes watched).
Interestingly, these massive ratings come at a somewhat controversial time for the show. Amazon decided to eschew the typical release structure for streaming shows (dropping the entire season at once) and opted for a weekly release schedule instead. This choice infuriated a large part of the fanbase—who resorted to review-bombing the show in an effort to protest Amazon's decision. Judging by the ratings, those upset fans seem to be in the minority.
The Boys' increase in popularity shouldn't come as a surprise. Although it is far from the first to portray a subversive take on the superhero genre, it did come at the perfect time. Between television and film, we are constantly being bombarded with superhero stories. With the massive popularity that they have (Avengers: Endgame is currently the highest-grossing movie of all time, unadjusted for inflation), it's no wonder that a show that flips the genre on its head would resonate so much with modern audiences. This also marks a big moment for streaming platforms, as Netflix's dominance within the space will surely be tested more as time goes on. Despite its controversial release structure, The Boys continues to be a show that (mostly) everyone is tuning in for.
Source: Forbes