Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Action & Adventure • 2019-2026 • 67 min • Adults (18+)

The Boys follows a ragtag crew of working-class vigilantes trying to bring down Vought International, a corporation that packages its corrupt, power-drunk superheroes as wholesome American icons. The satire is not subtle. The show skewers corporate media manipulation, right-wing political theater, and the mythology of strength as virtue, while positioning grassroots resistance as the moral center. Progressive signals stack up quickly: LGBTQ relationships treated as unremarkable facts of life, prominent female characters with genuine combat agency, racial recasting from the source comics, and a consistent framing that traditional power structures are the villain. The adult content is extreme, but the ideological throughline is consistent enough to earn the label without much debate.
Karl Urban • Jack Quaid • Antony Starr
The Boys follows a ragtag crew of working-class vigilantes trying to bring down Vought International, a corporation that packages its corrupt, power-drunk superheroes as wholesome American icons. The satire is not subtle. The show skewers corporate media manipulation, right-wing political theater, and the mythology of strength as virtue, while positioning grassroots resistance as the moral center. Progressive signals stack up quickly: LGBTQ relationships treated as unremarkable facts of life, prominent female characters with genuine combat agency, racial recasting from the source comics, and a consistent framing that traditional power structures are the villain. The adult content is extreme, but the ideological throughline is consistent enough to earn the label without much debate.
Karl Urban • Jack Quaid • Antony Starr
The series delivers a scathing critique of corporate power, systemic corruption, and the dangers of unchecked authority, often satirizing right-wing political rhetoric and media manipulation. It champions a grassroots resistance against powerful, oppressive institutions.
The series incorporates explicit racial recasting for several key roles. Its narrative strongly critiques traditional power dynamics and toxic masculinity, often portraying characters representing traditional identities in a negative context.
The series features prominent LGBTQ+ characters, including Queen Maeve, whose bisexuality is integral to her complex arc. Her relationship with Elena is depicted with dignity, highlighting personal struggles against corporate exploitation of identity. Other characters, such as Hughie's father, are shown in stable gay relationships, presented as normal and accepted aspects of their lives.
The series includes scenes where female characters demonstrate superior physical combat skills against male opponents. Kimiko Miyashiro, a superpowered individual, consistently uses her enhanced strength and fighting ability to defeat multiple male adversaries in close-quarters engagements throughout the show. Queen Maeve also engages in powerful physical confrontations with male supes.
The series adapts characters from its source material, portraying some as a different gender than their original established depiction. This includes significant figures whose canonical gender was altered for the screen.
The series features characters whose race differs from their original comic book depictions. A-Train, originally white in the source material, is portrayed by a Black actor. Similarly, Black Noir, also white in the comics, is portrayed by a Black actor.
The series consistently portrays and celebrates alternative family structures, often prioritizing chosen family bonds over dysfunctional biological ones. It normalizes sexual freedom and frequently critiques traditional parental authority.
The series satirizes the commercialization and manipulation of Christian imagery and rhetoric by powerful corporations like Vought International. It depicts how religious symbols are cynically exploited to create a false public image for corrupt superheroes, highlighting institutional hypocrisy rather than genuine faith.
The Boys, 2019 does not feature any identifiable transsexual characters or themes. The narrative of the initial season focuses on its core ensemble and the corrupt superhero industry without incorporating these specific elements, resulting in no direct portrayal.
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources



