The Boys adult superhero comic book series is one of the most successful source materials that has been adapted into a live-action series. Originally created by Garth Ennis, the saga has easily cemented itself as one of the strongest fan-favorite comic book storylines of all time. So much so that it was even going to have its own live-action movie as well.
This would have taken place under the guidance and supervision of Ennis. However, its success wouldn’t have been guaranteed to reach the same heights as the smash hit television series due to one too many reasons. For one, it just may have led to Ennis sacrificing some major satirical elements of his blockbuster storyline just to get the movie greenlit.
Garth Ennis’ The Boys Movie Would Have Been Much Less Satirical
As the comic book readers and television series fans of his works must already know, Garth Ennis doesn’t hold back while drafting wild and wacky stories. If anything, his entire premise is based on satirically humorous and blasphemous plotlines that leave fans absolutely baffled. The same has been seen with The Boys saga as well, even in the live-action television series.
However, years before the comic book lore came to life with this series, Ennis planned on developing it into a movie. That idea would have truly been epic, had it materialized, becoming a dream come true for fans since it would have resulted in an hour-and-a-half-or-so-long compilation of true blissfully candid events from the saga.
Except, there was a major problem with this: Ennis would have inevitably cut out quite a lot of satirical elements from the storyline, which is one of the most important aspects of the entire saga. As he shared during his appearance at Wizard World 2009 (via FilmBuffOnline):
With ‘The Boys,’ you can just isolate those five characters and you can have a very simple story about people who deal with superheroes.
That’s not all; as he continued to confess further plot twists, it would have led even to his removing all the politics, cultural commentary, and criticism of corporate America from the story. As Ennis said:
You would probably have to lose a lot of the commentary on history, politics, and corporate culture that you get in The Boys, but it really is just a story about a team of guys who beat the crap out of superheroes.
Okay, that would have been a major problem had it been greenlit because all the elements the writer listed above are quite literally the basic premise of what makes the series so absolutely flabbergasting for fans. But there’s one more reason why we’re glad it didn’t come to be: Because Russell Crowe was being eyed to play Billy Butcher.
The Boys Movie Would Have Featured Russell Crowe as Billy Butcher
During another interview with MTV News, director Adam McKay, who was signed on to direct this film that never came to be, confessed how he liked the idea of Crowe for Butcher. He said:
I’ve sat with some people. I really like the idea of Russell Crowe for Butcher. We met and had kind of an interesting meeting.
However, as much as we love Crowe, this idea that Adam McKay “really liked” wouldn’t necessarily have resulted in a good one. For one reason why, Crowe delivering those gruff and filthy lines isn’t something that has been seen a lot, and thus, would have been a very risky move.
While we hold no hard feelings toward Crowe, who is one of the most talented and commendable actors in the entire entertainment industry, imagining him as Butcher comes with a hard pass. This stands especially true after seeing Karl Urban bring the iconic character to life with such profane excellence that fans wouldn’t prefer it any other way.
Besides all of these reasons, there is one further reason why we’re glad the adult comic book series couldn’t be adapted into the live-action movie Ennis had intended: The time period.
Since all of this goes back to sometime around the early 2010s, it might not have been the best time to bring all these chaotically mocking elements out to life. If anything, this would have led to the scandalous element of the story being erased in favor of a safer plot line.
Additionally, the parody of politics & the MCU wouldn’t have hit that hard either since all of that stuff has only recently become so relevant.
Thus, all of this being said, it was, inevitably, for the best that the saga couldn’t get adapted into a live-action movie back then. At the same time, it’s also worth pointing out that, if the creators intend to, now wouldn’t be a bad time to materialize all those ideas into a film since Deadpool has already proven just how much fans want some real R-rated drama to ensue in the cinemas as well.
You can stream The Boys on Prime Video.
