In the final trailer for Amazon’s The Boys, things are just as bloody and provocative as you might expect from a TV show based on a Garth Ennis comic series. (The guy who wrote Preacher.)
It begins with the facade. Superheroes, in this world, put on a show for the public that’s all about heroism, patriotism, and compassion for the little guy. Then the reality sets in.
Hughie (Jack Quaid) is out with his girlfriend on the street when A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), the resident speedster of super-group the Seven, comes barreling straight through her, showering Hughie in globs of blood and guts. It’s a jarring, traumatizing moment that shows who these super-powered people really are: a bunch of self-obsessed, sociopathic bastards.
Enter the Boys. Led by Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, this group of blue-collar vigilantes have one goal when it comes to the Seven: “Spank the bastards.” Of course, by spank, Billy really means eviscerate them in the most brutal way possible.
Just as Hughie is our eyes and ears into the world of the Boys, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is our window to the Seven. In a revamped role from the comics, she becomes the new recruit and quickly learns her teammates are a bunch of psychopaths with their own dastardly agendas.
Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk), Tomer Capon (Frenchie), and Karen Fukuhara (The Female) star as the other members of the Boys, while the cast portraying the Seven include Antony Starr (the Superman-esque Homelander), Chace Crawford (Aquaman stand-in The Deep), Dominique McElligott (Wonder Woman lookalike Queen Maeve), and Nathan Mitchell (Batman-adjacent Black Noir).
Simon Pegg, whose likeness served as inspiration for artist Darick Robertson when he drew Hughie for the comics, guest stars as Hughie’s father on the show. Elisabeth Shue, meanwhile, plays Madelyn Stillwell, the corporate wrangler and publicist for the Seven. Supernatural creator Eric Kripke serves as showrunner.
The Boys, which has already been renewed for season 2, will premiere on Amazon Prime Video this Friday.
Related content:
- Amazon’s The Boys season 2 gets the official blood-stained thumbs-up
- How Eric Kripke’s superhero satire The Boys riffs on DC and Marvel
- Superheroes gone wild! Supernatural creator previews The Boys, his super-R-rated new show
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