The Boys took to social media to parody the drama currently unfolding with the merger between HBO Max and Discovery+. The irreverent superhero comedy, which just aired season 3 on Prime Video, is based on the DC Comics of the same name, following a group of vigilantes hellbent on taking down a superhero group known as The Seven. While The Seven are all complicated figures with their own selfish reasons for their actions, they present a noble front to the public at large thanks to the company Vought International, which has created an MCU-like series of films that are essentially propaganda for the heroes, which include Aquaman parody The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Wonder Woman parody Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott).
The subject they have turned their parodic gaze to has been a complicated story unfolding over the past week. The corporate merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery has also led to a planned merger between their streaming services HBO Max and Discovery+. New CEO David Zaslav has been gutting the service (including canceling the $90 million Batgirl movie while it was in post-production, having nearly a dozen titles quietly removed from the platform, and planning a reported layoff of about 70% of the staff). The official merger of the platforms was announced for 2023 with a graphic that described Discovery+ as having a "female skew" and HBO Max as having a "male skew." This drew plenty of ire from folks across the Internet, especially those who pointed out that the very female-oriented Sex and the City franchise has been one of HBO's flagship properties for decades.
Today, The Boys used their fictional in-universe Vought International account to parody the situation with HBO Max. According to the Tweet, Vought is combining the channels VTV+, VNN+, and VSN+ into "one, fairly easy-to-use app" called Vought++. They make sure to name-drop the idea that their content is extremely gendered, including a graphic that features a cavalcade of films featuring The Seven, including Dawn of the Seven, Black Noir Insurrection, Queen Maeve: Her Majesty, Rising Tide, and Translucent: Invisible Force 2. Check out the post below:
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This is far from the first time that The Boys has used the fictional Vought International entertainment empire to parody current events. Back when they were promoting the beginning of The Boys season 3, they mocked the drama behind the fan-demanded Snyder cut of Justice League by creating a faux trailer for the "Bourke Cut" of Dawn of the Seven. This kind of hyper-awareness of the media landscape that allows for the domination of superhero projects is a key part of the recipe for the show's success.
It will hardly be surprising if The Boys season 4 contains a plotline referencing the scrapped Batgirl movie. The show, which frequently pushes the envelope on graphic sex and violence, isn't afraid to go for the jugular when it comes to satire. While superhero fans are still hoping the film will find a new home, at least they can more or less rely on the show to recognize their shock and reflect it in a hilariously bawdy way.
Source: The Boys