The Boys openly calls out superhero cliches and gets really meta about comic books.
And we love it!
From MCU potshots to Justice League shout-outs, here are small details that only true fans
noticed about Amazon's The Boys.
It doesn't take long to get familiar with the superheroes or "supes" in the world of
The Boys, because we already know them.
The production is counting on the fact that its audience is already familiar with the
slew of superheroes that have quickly become mainstream over the past few years.
Thus, many of the supes need no introduction or explanation.
We know that Homelander is a Superman clone, The Deep is this world's Aquaman, and Queen
Maeve is Wonder Woman.
Vought's"The Seven" are clearly DC's Justice League.
So where are the Avengers?
They exist, we learn, through a quick quip from Starlight you may have overlooked.
In episode one, Starlight worries that the "Crimson Countess" got the open position in
the Seven rather than her.
"Besides, Countess probably got it.
She's so good."
The Crimson Countess is a member of the Avengers-esque superhero team called Payback, and she's an
obvious riff on Scarlet Witch, the Vision-loving Avenger played by Elizabeth Olsen.
Producer Eric Kripke likes to marry comedy to horror, and slapstick to drama.
This expert weaving of action with witty one liners can is clear from the shows he's produced,
from Supernatural to The Boys.
Both of these shows feature memorable tough guys taking on supernaturally-powered people.
They also both feature a character named Robert Singer, played by Jim Beaver.
Jim Beaver has been a part of each and every production that Kripke has had his hand in.
In Supernatural, Beaver plays fan favorite character Bobby Singer, a cantankerous old
hunter of demons, ghouls, and vampires, with a fatherly influence on the show's wayward
main characters.
In The Boys, Beaver appears in the final episode of season one as the secretary of defense,
also named Robert Singer, as if his appearance alone wasn't enough of a nod to his previous
role in a Kripke hit show.
The Boys reveals that superhero business functions a lot like show business.
Supes aren't vigilantes dedicated to justice.
Instead, they're highly managed talent akin to Hollywood actors.
Vought doesn't allow them to choose where they patrol, who they save, or even what they
wear.
All that is handled by an expert team of marketers who look to statistics, social media, and
stocks in deciding what moves to make.
In episode three, Starlight is given a new costume by Vought that is a little more revealing
than what she's comfortable with.
So Vought VP Madelyn Stillwell brings in Seth and Evan from marketing to try to sell her
on the plunging neckline.
These names are likely purposeful nods to the big names behind The Boys: executive producers
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
Rogen even makes an appearance in The Boys as himself in a promotion for the latest film
in the VCU.
We learn in episode six that Hughie wasn't the only person adversely affected by the
superpowers of supes, as Billy Butcher brings him to an Association of Collateral Damage
Survivors meeting.
In a setup that looks a lot like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, survivors recount their
rescues-gone-wrong and bad encounters with supes.
The wheelchair-bound woman talking as they come in says that she wishes that a supe named
"Tek-Knight" would've been a little more gentle with her spine.
In the comics, Tek-Knight is a kind of mashup between Batman and Iron Man.
He has a mansion, a butler, and a secret cave.
However, he also flies around in a super-powered metal suit and has an uncontrollable libido
that causes chaos for Team Payback.
When it comes to this survivor of collateral damage, it's possible that this is a dark
reference to what happened with Rhodey in the MCU, as he was shot out of the sky and
crippled in Captain America: Civil War, leading to him wearing high-tech leg braces.
And sure, Vision is the one who shot Rhodey down, but ultimately, it was Iron Man's fault.
In episode six of The Boys, we learn that not all superheroes are super famous.
Some can be just as washed up as any old actor.
For example, Mother's Milk goes to the "Heroes and Headliners" autograph show at the American
Adventures Inn in order to seek out Charles, who's better known as Mesmer.
Mesmer has the power to read someone's mind just by touching them, but his days of stardom
are long gone.
He was a child actor on an old show called The Mesmerizer, in which he read the minds
of criminals.
The Mesmerizer looks an awful lot like Law & Order, but it also riffs openly on the show
that gave Neil Patrick Harris his start Doogie Howser, M.D., in which he played a kid doctor.
Mesmer's character name in The Mesmerizer is even "Lieutenant Howser."
It's notable, too, that adult Mesmer is portrayed by Haley Joel Osment, who's best known for
the roles he played as a child.
"I see dead people."
In episode three of The Boys, we learn who the fastest man alive really is.
Sort of.
Rumors had been going around that Shockwave was actually faster than the Seven's A-Train,
whose only power is speed.
But when the two race, A-Train ultimately cheats by using a performance-enhancing super
drug, because being slower than Shockwave would mean that his place in the Seven would
come into question.
After all, why would the best of the best have the second fastest man alive?
This amazing race is a reference to the many races that the Flash and Superman have in
the comics to see who was truly the speediest speedster.
Most recently, this friendly rivalry was featured as a mid-credits scene in the Justice League
movie, with the Flash and Superman getting ready to race to the coast.
Superman jokes that the stakes are high ...
"But if I win, you're off the team."
For much of the series, we see Vought's vice president Madelyn Stillwell making all the
calls when it comes to the Seven and the other superheroes the company manages.
Vought's president, known only as Mr. Edgar, remains mysterious until the final episode
of season one.
It turns out that Mr. Edgar is played by Giancarlo Esposito, best known for his role as the villain
Gustavo Fring in Breaking Bad.
Mr. Edgar gives Stillwell a bonus and some new responsibilities, obviously grooming her
to eventually take his place.
He says that someone will have to be around to run the show when he moves to the tropical
Central American nation of Belize.
This might seem like an innocent turn of phrase, but Breaking Bad fans know better, as Walter
White and Saul Goodman use "going to Belize" as code for having someone killed.
"'Send you to Belize.'
I'll send you to Belize."
Maybe this is a subtle hint that by the end of the series, the Vought president will be
in the grave rather than on a sunny beach.
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