Released exactly a year ago, Amazon Studio’s The Boys became an instant fan-favourite upon its release. Written by Garth Ennis and designed by Darick Robertson, The Boys revolve around a group of violent individuals hell-bent on their path of vengeance against superheroes. The adaptation of the comic-book for the eponymous TV show received critical acclaim.
Starring Karl Urban as the resident bad-ass, thicker-than-oatmeal accent and the de-facto leader of The Boys, Billy Butcher has a personal vendetta against The Seven. His particular hatred against Homelander for the disappearance of his wife is the major motivation behind his visceral and violent actions. Effortlessly offensive and not-so-subtle sadist, Billy leads the team of equally deranged and wild individuals who want to take down the superheroes.
The first season of The Boys introduced us to the rest of the members of the team. Frenchie, an impulsive yet kind-hearted individual who excels at ballistics. Marvin aka Mother’s Milk is a large African-American man who heads the strategy and operations department. Frenchie’s propensity towards not following orders puts him at odds with Mother’s Milk most of the times. Hughie Campbell also joins the team after the demise of his girlfriend at the hands of A-Train. Later, they rescue a feral character named The Female who possesses enhanced strength and superhuman regeneration.
Paraded and marketed as the paragons of humanity, The Seven is the premier superhero team of Vought International. A marked departure from the traditional aspects of a hero, The Seven consists of narcissistic and corrupt superpowered beings who regularly abuse their powers without facing any consequences.
The Seven is headed by Homelander, the most powerful hero on the planet. A parody of DC’s Superman, Homelander is a diabolical character who cares only about his public image. He allegedly raped Billy Butcher’s wife which resulted in her subsequent death in the comics, whence arises Butcher’s vengeance.
The Boys constantly keeps pushing the boundaries of moral decadence and repulsive acts of violence. From Hughie Campbell’s girlfriend’s gruesome death in the first episode to the death of a dolphin after being crushed under a speeding truck, this show is definitely not for the weak-hearted.
If the violence is not enough to make you sick in the stomach, the show depicts some extremely dark twists which are quite irredeemable. From forcing Starlight to perform oral sex to murdering Popclaw, the graphic nature of the show is heart-wrenching at times.
Yet, if you thought that the first season of The Boys was the limit for graphic scenes of sex and violence, we have good/bad news for you depending on your inner monster. Fans of extreme gore will definitely find the upcoming second season suiting their taste buds as Karl Urban and Eric Kripke have claimed that the second season will be all kinds of crazy.
Staying true to their words, a sneak-peek clip was released from the upcoming second season in the San Diego Comic Convention. The released clip has probably outdone Garth Ennis himself when it comes repulsive violence. Fair warning, watch it at your own expense. And, preferably on an empty stomach.
In the clip, The Boys are seen riding a motor-boat near a coastline. A fairly chaotic scene, the boat is being chased by a school of sharks. Frantic and rattled, The Boys soon find out that they are being chased by a member of The Seven; The Deep. Being a marine-based superhero, The Deep can swim at superhuman speed when underwater. He can also communicate with aquatic animals, which was established in the first season during that horrific dolphin getting crushed under a truck scene.
As The Boys keep pumping the gas, The Deep finally makes his appearance in great style. Riding a whale, The Deep tries to block The Boys from reaching the coastline. Using the whale, The Deep moves past their boat and makes the whale stranded near the coast to stop The Boys. But, little does he know about the crazy and diabolical Billy Butcher.
Approaching the stranded whale on the coast, Butcher pulls a brilliant but inhuman idea out of his devilish brain to save themselves from The Deep. Instead of taking a detour or trying to negotiate with The Deep, Billy Butcher rams the motor-boat into the stranded whale, impaling it in the process.
As the boat almost goes through the whale’s body, an insane amount of blood is spattered across the scene. After the probable grisly death of the stranded whale, The Deep falls down on the ground in agony/trauma.
To portray such a graphic scene on television is not an easy task at all. To ensure that the sequence looks believable, a colossal animatronic whale was used in the scene.
Apart from more horrific sexual and violent scenes, a few new characters might also be making their appearance. The second season is set to release on 4th September 2020 on Amazon Prime.
