The Boys’ Bold Themes Are the Major Reason for Its Success as It Nears Its Finale

Over the last few years, The Boys has become Amazon Prime Video’s most-watched TV series, winning the hearts of audiences and critics alike.

The penultimate season of the satirical superhero series premiered on June 13, and it will be followed by season 5, which will serve as the last season of the show, according to showrunner Eric Kripke. Season 4 is set to have eight episodes, with the season finale airing on July 18. The first three episodes were made available to watch simultaneously on June 13, after which the show will revert to a one-episode-per-week format.

Based on Garth Ennis’ comic book series, The Boys was initially set to be a feature film, with Columbia Pictures attached as the production company and Adam McKay helming the project. However, the idea was shelved due to creative differences between the studio and McKay, after which the project went into development hell. A similar story played out when Paramount Pictures secured the rights and took over in 2012, finally canceling the film adaptation in 2016.

The Boys finally came to life when Amazon acquired the rights to the TV adaptation after Cinemax’s hesitance to move forward with it. Cinemax hired Erick Kripke as the head writer, and Amazon chose to retain him, which, in hindsight, turned out to be a brilliant decision for all parties involved. The studio’s objective was to emulate the success of dramas like HBO’s The Walking Dead and Netflix’s Stranger Things, and as of 2024, it can be said that Amazon has a show that can rival these titles in terms of popularity.

For instance, in 2022, The Boys season 3 outranked all Disney+’s MCU shows that came out that year in terms of viewing numbers. While not a single Marvel show made audience measurement firm Nielsen’s top 15, the Prime Video TV series drew in an astonishing 10.6 billion minutes of viewership. It wouldn’t be controversial to suggest that The Boys’ satirical and political themes, mixed with its adult-friendly content, have been a breath of fresh air for audiences, who are used to the run-of-the-mill DC and Marvel content when it comes to the superhero genre.