'The Boys' started as a satire. Then the world went nuts

The cast and showrunner Eric Kripke talk about real life 'out-crazying' the series during its five-season run

- Story by Max Gao

WHEN COMIC creator Garth Ennis first conceived "The Boys" in 2004, blending the cult of celebrity with the high stakes of politics seemed merely like a dark thought experiment. But by steering the live-action Prime Video adaptation directly into the anxieties of the zeitgeist, showrunner Eric Kripke has transformed the superhero satire into a terrifying tale about the perils of authoritarianism.

"The Boys" centers on the eponymous band of vigilantes, led by the relentless Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), who fight to expose media conglomerate Vought International and stop the Seven Vought's premier ensemble of "Supes," fronted by the megalomaniacal demagogue Homelander (Antony Starr) from abusing their powers. Always infamous for its graphic depiction of sex and hyperviolence, the show has, over its five-season run, become must-see TV for its all-too-familiar parallels with the real world.

Actors Erin Moriarty, left, and Karen Fukuhara.

As "The Boys" expanded both in scope and audience, Kripke insists that his creative team remained unafraid to cross any line. At the start of each season, he would ask his self-described "Satan's writers' room" the same question: "What's happening in the world that you find infuriating or terrifying?" Those issues-political polarization, corporate greed, media manipulation, religious extremism - were then woven into the characters' emotional arcs, turning superpowers into metaphors for real-life corruption.