Should You Binge-Watch 'The Boys' or Skip It? Here's What Critics Are Saying
Updated April 27 2020, 4:25 p.m. ET
Amazon Prime Video released The Boys on July 25 — several hours before its scheduled debut. This irreverent black comedy follows a group of vigilantes known as The Boys who set out to take down a group of celebrity superheroes who are abusing their powers.
The series is based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. But does its quirky concept translate onto the screen? Here are some of The Boys' reviews so far.
So are The Boys' reviews bad, good, or super?
We haven't typically seen superheroes with snark, so The Boys is really venturing into new territory in that sense. The risk was worth the reward, though — at least according to the majority of early reviews we've seen.
Rotten Tomatoes averaged up 44 critics' reviews for The Boys to give its first season a 75 percent "fresh" rating. The critics' consensus was that "The Boys' violent delights and willingness to engage in heavy, relevant themes are sure to please those looking for a new group of antiheroes to root for."
Of course, some critics really like The Boys.
Screenrant critic Kevin Yeoman wrote that The Boys is, "a razor-sharp satire of comic book tropes, from their origin stories down to the little details that make them unique..."
Games Radar writer Bradley Russell gave The Boys 4.5 out of 5 stars, adding, "DC and Marvel take note: your new competition is here."
And some critics didn't think The Boys was so super.
Glen Weldon, a top critic for NPR, wrote, "The Boys isn't the bold deconstruction of superhero tropes its creators seem to think it is."
Liz Shannon Miller echoed that sentiment in her review for The AV Club, writing, "The Boys is all about tearing down false idols, but it doesn't build up anything in their place."
Audiences seem to love The Boys so far, though.
A quick scroll through #TheBoysTV hashtag on Twitter shows that fans are fully embracing this superhero satire.
"[The Boys] is one of the best comic adaptations i've ever seen, it brings everything I loved from the Garth Ennis comic to the screen," wrote @AnothermillennR. "For comic fans [it's] a must watch."
Another Twitter user, @elDeezo, wrote, "I'm barely on the 4th episode, but #TheBoysTV is easily one of the best shows I've seen in years."
Everyone seems to agree that The Boys has an incredible cast.
We've yet to come across a review with anything but praise for the stars of this series. Jack Quaid plays Hughie Campbell, a man who joins The Boys after his girlfriend is accidentally killed by a superhero. The other members of The Boys are played by Karl Urban, Laz Alonso, Tomer Kapon, and Karen Fukuhara.
Anthony Starr plays Homelander, the leader of the group of superheroes known as The Seven. The other members of The Seven are played by Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie Usher, Chace Crawford, Nathan Mitchell, and Alex Hassell.
The Boys is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
