The Boys (Diabolical, Season 3 etc.)

[up_the_hampipe]

Some news in the world of The Boys. They've just released a new series "The Boys Presents: Diabolical", sort of like the Marvel's What If anthology series. Trailer here. Those who have contributed to the series include Justin Roiland, Kevin Smith, Simon Pegg, Andy Samberg, Awkwafina, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Cera, Jason Isaacs and of course some of the original cast.

There's also going to be another spin-off series, set in a college for supes, but there's little information on the release for that yet https://screenrant.com/boys-spin-off-release-date-story-updates-amazon/

Season 3 of the actual show is finally coming on 3rd June. There will be a bunch of new supes coming in, including Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy (teased in this adaption as "Homelander before Homelander") and Laurie Holden as Crimson Countess. There will also be an episode based on the notorious 'Herogasm' comic (an orgy festival for supes if you weren't aware). Here's a teaser which gives some indication of Homelander's mental state for this season. Expecting more impeccable acting from Antony Starr who really is the whole show.

Speaking of Antony Starr, however, he got himself in big trouble this week https://www.informacion.es/alicante/2022/03/02/antony-starr-patriota-detenido-alicante-agresion-castanos-63352490.amp.html
While in Spain shooting a movie, he drunkenly assaulted a chef at a pub. Sounds like he glassed him, resulting in the chef needing stitches. Starr got himself a suspended prison sentence, provided that he pays a fine. Not sure if this will affect his future on The Boys. If so, we might see Homelander's defeat sooner than later, and the show itself might be in jeopardy.

[BeardFaceMan]

Yeah have to agree, Starr is the best thing going in this by a country mile, he's the main reason I stuck with the show, I don't think it would survive if he had to leave.

[Alberon]

Skimmed through Diabolical yesterday and, for the most part, it is. There's a couple of decent ones, though my favourite by a country mile is the one where

Spoiler alert

the comic original versions of Butcher and Hughie appear. They even have

Spoiler alert

Simon Pegg

[close]

do Hughie's voice.

[close]

[up_the_hampipe]

I really liked the Justin Roiland one (episode 2) as well as the Homelander backstory. I thought Jason Isaacs did a great job as Butcher in episode 3, but yeah overall a very mixed bag.

[Shaky]

I hope S3 is a step up from S2, which lost me by the end somewhat. I hadn't seen that Homelander teaser before and it's amazing, though.

[bakabaka]

The end credits on Diabolical are delightfully Voughtian - a long list of large type, one to a screen credits for the corporate 'producers' that goes on for ages before the animators and others who actually make it finally appear, in tiny type, forty to a screen.

[Mister Six]

Yeah have to agree, Starr is the best thing going in this by a country mile, he's the main reason I stuck with the show, I don't think it would survive if he had to leave.

No chance. A fight with a man - a foreign man at that - while drunk, in Spain? Most Americans aren't going to give two shits about that, do neither will Amazon. If the victim were a woman, then maybe.

[up_the_hampipe]

New trailer:

As predicted, it looks like they're

Spoiler alert

giving Butcher and the lads some Compound V.

[close]

Cinematography has really stepped up, lots of new characters and Homelander milking a cow. I'm looking forward to this more than Better Call Saul.

[Mister Six]

The bit you've spoilered there is in the comic from the jump, and I'm surprised it's taken them this long. In fact, it basically took two seasons to get The Boys into the position they're in at issue #1.

[up_the_hampipe]

The bit you've spoilered there is in the comic from the jump, and I'm surprised it's taken them this long. In fact, it basically took two seasons to get The Boys into the position they're in at issue #1.

Of course, hence the predictions from people but I thought I'd spoiler it just in case. That was before I saw the thumbnail though, hah.

[BeardFaceMan]

The bit you've spoilered there is in the comic from the jump, and I'm surprised it's taken them this long. In fact, it basically took two seasons to get The Boys into the position they're in at issue #1.

That was my biggest problem with the show, it's taken too long to get going. Without that spoilered bit happening, there's no way they could hope to physically fight supes and that's kinda the premise of the whole thing.

[Mister Six]

That was my biggest problem with the show, it's taken too long to get going. Without that spoilered bit happening, there's no way they could hope to physically fight supes and that's kinda the premise of the whole thing.

Yeah, it was my big issue with season two - all the supe stuff was interesting, but The Boys themselves were disempowered and had no actual remit or goal. Them being reactive and on the run worked in season one, but they really needed to get

Spoiler alert

a CIA sanction, doses of Compound V and an actual mission to fuck the supes up

[close]

earlier in season two.

[13 schoolyards]

I (somehow) got the impression that the producers thought there was a good chance The Boys wouldn't last beyond two seasons (or even just the one), and so decided to hold off on the expensive super-fighting stuff in favour of telling a relatively small-scale story they could easily wrap up if ratings and public reaction cut the series short.

[dissolute ocelot]

Just watched a bunch of Diabolical; it seems best when it's being very silly. I'm not a huge Rick and Morty fan but Justin Roiland's has some brilliantly stupid super-powers, and touches of actual emotion. And while I'm sure it will prove divisive, I thought Awkwafina's "BFFs" was delightful, very cute animation and one for all fans of South Park's greatest hero

Spoiler alert

Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo.

[close]

I'm looking forward to Season 3, season 1 would have been good on its own if it hadn't been renewed, but as others have mentioned it dragged things out a bit too much in season 2 - it was great fun initially watching our heroes battle supes with minimal resources, but less fun watching them squabble and act all lovelorn.

[Mister Six]

I (somehow) got the impression that the producers thought there was a good chance The Boys wouldn't last beyond two seasons (or even just the one), and so decided to hold off on the expensive super-fighting stuff in favour of telling a relatively small-scale story they could easily wrap up if ratings and public reaction cut the series short.

I dunno, it can't have been cheap to produce the stuff that was up on the screen.

Bit miffed that by the looks of the trailer they're

Spoiler alert

giving The Boys "proper" superpowers. In the comic they just have increased strength and endurance, and a healing factor. So they can cause a ruckus, but they're still vulnerable and have to play it smart - can't just start lasering off people's heads or anything. The limitations, subtlety and uniformity of their powers also means they're not just another bunch of crazy superheroes.

[close]

[13 schoolyards]

Yeah, by the time that dead whale turned up it was pretty clear they had decent money behind them. Somebody somewhere suggested the reason why the first two seasons felt a little aimless was because the whole concept is pretty aimless once you remove Ennis' visceral loathing of actual specific superheroes and gleeful joy in kicking the shit out of thinly veiled parodies of them (plus his slow burn attack on the US military-industrial complex), and that's possibly a better explanation.

I'll be interested to see the route this season takes with one particular development - it worked in the comics because the comics were a lot more about the system that had created superheroes and that wasn't really a problem they could just

Spoiler alert

punch, so having superpowers was more about them realistically staying alive and being able to convincingly stand up to low-level losers to get information and murder them entertainingly. Whereas with the TV series it's going to be hard to resist them getting into a punch-up with Homelander, which shouldn't really be the point

[close]

[badaids]

I (somehow) got the impression that the producers thought there was a good chance The Boys wouldn't last beyond two seasons (or even just the one), and so decided to hold off on the expensive super-fighting stuff in favour of telling a relatively small-scale story they could easily wrap up if ratings and public reaction cut the series short.

I rewatched the first series recently, having enjoyed it a lot, and was amazed at how much of it was just superheroes talking in rooms. I wondered if money was tight, hence the bottle episode ethic, or if they were going for the George Lucas Phantom Menace sit on a sofa and talk thing.

[dissolute ocelot]

I rewatched the first series recently, having enjoyed it a lot, and was amazed at how much of it was just superheroes talking in rooms. I wondered if money was tight, hence the bottle episode ethic, or if they were going for the George Lucas Phantom Menace sit on a sofa and talk thing.

Even in the Marvel movies with all the CG money in the world, a lot of the superhero action isn't particularly interesting. Also, The Boys' main trick of things exploding in red CG gloop is easy to overdo. So it definitely worked well exploring the consequences of the superhero system, showing dissent and politicking and sleazy corporate manoeuvres, and having Homelander give as many asshole speeches as possible. It definitely helped that the cast is so strong, not just Starr but more or less across the board especially on the Supes side. Even those who can't act especially well can still look sweaty and panicky.

[Mister Six]

Yeah, by the time that dead whale turned up it was pretty clear they had decent money behind them. Somebody somewhere suggested the reason why the first two seasons felt a little aimless was because the whole concept is pretty aimless once you remove Ennis' visceral loathing of actual specific superheroes and gleeful joy in kicking the shit out of thinly veiled parodies of them (plus his slow burn attack on the US military-industrial complex), and that's possibly a better explanation.

Sorry for being such an Ennis apologist, but once you're past the awful first year and a half, the criticisms of the military-industrial complex, corporate invulnerability and toxic masculinity make up the backbone of the whole thing. There's certainly enough there to draw from for the show, especially with the massive changes they've already made.

No, I'm certain that the problem is that The Boys basically don't have a mission for most of season two so there's nothing for them to proactively seek, and they're forced into being passive and reactive (at some points they're reduced to watching the supes' storylines on TV!). And since the supes can't cause a bit ruckus until the end of the season, that means not very much happening for our protagonists for far too long.

[13 schoolyards]

Well, there was that whole plotline with Butcher's wife and (not his) son not being dead to keep them occupied, not that any of it added up to much.

Otherwise I'm basically agreeing with you, as my point about the series not picking up on Ennis' interests is that the comic is all about a): Ennis' fondness for exploring generic tough guy characters and exposing how messed up they are (with Butcher on one side and Hughie as the counterpoint), b): Ennis' distaste for the profiteering side of America's war machine (here symbolised by the Supes), and c): taking the absolute piss out of mainstream superhero comics, characters, and the culture around them.

But the series, in the first two seasons at least, hasn't really been all that interested in any of that. It's largely relied on some soap opera stuff with the Supes to keep things moving while the Boys (again, agreeing with you) don't do much. The issue is that the comic is largely structured with the Boys dealing with a new band of Supes every story arc while The Seven lurk in the background, but with Starr easily the breakout star of the TV version Homelander's got to be doing a fair bit each episode as well. So you end up with a show about two rival teams that can't actually interact all that much because they're diametrically opposed and that conflict would be the end of the show (as it was in the comic) so they have to drag it out as long as possible.

Really, what the series needs to do is constantly bring in a lot more disposable parody super heroes that the Boys can keep busy with by killing them off at a steady pace, but presumably casting and budget issues apply there.

[up_the_hampipe]

Episode titles and air dates for season 3 here:

Episode 1: Payback airs June 3
Episode 2: The Only Man In The Sky airs June 3
Episode 3: Barbary Coast airs June 3
Episode 4: Glorious Five Year Plan airs June 10
Episode 5: The Last Time To Look On This World Of Lies airs June 17
Episode 6: Herogasm airs June 24
Episode 7: Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed airs July 1
Episode 8: The Instant White-Hot Wild airs July 8

Lots of links to the comics here, episodes 2 and 6 will probably/hopefully be quite extreme.

[Mister Six]

Otherwise I'm basically agreeing with you

Aye, fair enough. I still have hope they'll explore some of the toxic masculinity stuff with Hughie, but they've absolutely fucked up Butcher from the jump. :(

[BeardFaceMan]

Just watched the first 3 episodes of Diabolical. Does this tie in to season 3 in any way because I'll be honest, I'm struggling with this.

[up_the_hampipe]

Just watched the first 3 episodes of Diabolical. Does this tie in to season 3 in any way because I'll be honest, I'm struggling with this.

I think the last one about Homelander does, but mostly no.

[BeardFaceMan]

I think the last one about Homelander does, but mostly no.

I'll try skipping straight to that one then, i just turned the 4th ep off, not for me I'm afraid.

[up_the_hampipe]

New proper trailer alert:

Can't tell you how excited I am for Antony Starr's performance this season. Homelander's fully lost the plot and I'm ready.

[BeardFaceMan]

New proper trailer alert:

Can't tell you how excited I am for Antony Starr's performance this season. Homelander's fully lost the plot and I'm ready.

His performance is so fucking good, a full season of Homelander going full-on bonkers is something I'm very on-board with.

[up_the_hampipe]

Funny fake trailer for "Dawn of the Seven" here including their way of handling the whole Stormfront situation https://twitter.com/VoughtIntl/status/1527680600466984968

[bgmnts]

That was my biggest problem with the show, it's taken too long to get going. Without that spoilered bit happening, there's no way they could hope to physically fight supes and that's kinda the premise of the whole thing.

Yeah same.

[up_the_hampipe]

First three episodes drop tomorrow!