The Boys is probably one of the most gory and violent series out there. What’s one more franchise that is gory, disgusting, and, foul-mouthed? Ryan Reynold’s Deadpool.
The similarities between the two franchises are many. However, one thing that the world can agree upon is that both franchises feature anti-heroes going up against the good/bad guys, foul language, nudity, and, very many gore scenes. Back in 2008, however, this was not what people were ready for.
The Boys Was Originally Going To Be Released In 2008
Not the current series (obviously), but similar plans about adapting the comic books into a trilogy were underway. American screenwriter and film producer Adam McKay was attached as the director of the trilogy. However, the project never left the ground.
This was because of the trends that people were witnessing in cinemas at that time. There was no word such as “superhero fatigue” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe had barely begun to take shape with Iron Man. Releasing an anti-hero movie with gory and disturbing scenes was something that felt not relatable (at that time).
However, Adam McKay pushed the project quite hard and some basic animations and character drawings were also created! The project never made it past this stage and in an interview with Rolling Stone, The Boys‘ artist and co-creator Darick Robertson talked about the unmade trilogy.
He was doing really cool stuff. It just came down to it being 2008, not 2018. I just don’t think they were ready for it yet.
At that time, Zack Snyder took a dark and mature take on the superhero trope with his infamous film Watchmen, and despite critical acclaim, it was considered a failure at the box office.
So it was pretty clear that fans didn’t want to see superheroes doing cocaine and running like the wind (and through a person). However, director Adam McKay was still not done with the project.
Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool Changed The Game
Although the year was 2008, McKay didn’t give up on it for years. After Zack Snyder’s Watchmen was released, McKay had a faint hope that maybe his plans for The Boys would finally take off.
In a 2015 interview with IndieWire, the director talked about how no one was prepared to talk anti-hero tropes. Stating that he had created a sort of preview of The Boys, McKay went to several studios but they all turned him down.
I was trying to do Garth Ennis’ ‘The Boys’ at one point, and I took it to every studio, every production financing place in town.
He further continued,
And they were always like, ‘No.’ I had this crazy pre-viz reel that I’d done, and it was insane, like superheroes doing cocaine. And they all said, lazily, ‘So it’s like ‘Watchmen?‘
And so, The Boys trilogy suffered under the shadow of Watchmen for a while. It was in 2016 when Ryan Reynolds starred in the iconic film Deadpool and changed the world for good.
Starring as the notorious foul-mouthed mercenary, Ryan Reynolds found worldwide fame and acclaim and Deadpool went on to earn a whopping $782 million worldwide (via IMDB). On the other hand, if The Boys trilogy had gotten the funding, the superhero genre of today would have been wildly different.
The recent success and hype of Deadpool & Wolverine is also a testament to the changing views and perspectives of audiences and how they are in need of something fresh and unique. Deadpool & Wolverine received a rating of 8.3/10 on IMDB and a whopping 81% on Rotten Tomatoes upon release.
The iconic film is currently screening in theaters around the world. On the other hand, The Boys is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
