Meet the Characters of 'The Boys,' an 'Anti-Superhero Show' (PHOTOS)
Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid)
An average joe, Hughie rises to action following the accidental death of his girlfriend at the hands of a super.
Billy Butcher (Karl Urban)
The man who has a taste for vengeance is the undeclared leader of “The Boys” who is focused on his true objective — taking down the “supes.”
Homelander (Antony Starr)
The All-American “hero,” Homelander is the leader of the “The Seven,” a group of superheroes connected to the Vought International.
Starlight (Erin Moriarty)
This young hero is chosen as the latest recruit of “The Seven” at the beginning of the series, but she learns that the gig isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
A-Train (Jessie T. Usher)
This speedy superhero has a dirty secret that “The Boys” will work to uncover throughout the season.
Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue)
This top exec at Vought International plays dirty when it comes to politics, ethics, and more.
Frenchie (Tomer Capon)
A member of “The Boys,” Frenchie has an affinity for multiple identities, weaponry, and more.
The Female (Karen Fukuhara)
This one may not be a woman of many words, but her secret could hold the key to the answers “The Boys” seek.
Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso)
This member of “The Boys” had been out of the game for some time, but he steps back in for some wild situations after some convincing from Billy.
Hughie’s Dad (Simon Pegg)
Pegg plays the ever-concerned father of protagonist Hughie, who shows little faith in his own son’s abilities.
Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott)
There’s more than meets the eye to this tough woman with a few dark secrets.
The Deep (Chace Crawford)
The water-based hero shows his true colors at the beginning of the series, and it won’t be smooth sailing from there.
Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell)
The lethal hero is less vocal and more physical when it comes to his abilities in “The Seven.”
The Avengers have assembled, the Arrowverse has expanded and comic book adaptations are pretty much everywhere. But none are quite as, um, colorful as The Boys. "This is in many ways the anti-superhero show," says showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural). "It's for people who maybe are getting a bit tired of superhero stories."
Based on Garth Ennis' 2006–12 comic book of the same name, the irreverent (and very adult) action comedy imagines a world where costumed crime fighters including Queen Maeve and The Homelander (Dominique McElligott and Antony Starr) are egotistical, entitled and responsible for property damage and deaths from their save-the-day tactics.
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"What would happen if superheroes existed in the real world with all their privilege, influence and power?" says Kripke. "They'd be huge a**holes! So who's going to handle them?"
That would be the Boys, a CIA-funded covert-action unit that surveils, intimidates, blackmails and occasionally kills superheroes who represent the greatest threat to human society. Led by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), the Boys are far from superpowered. "They're blue-collar," Kripke says. "They fight dirty."
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Indeed, the series does contain some pretty brutal scenes. But Kripke promises that the show is more than that. "I want the audience to feel like, 'Oh, yeah, this stuff is crazy, but it's a really good story and really good characters,'" he says. "I think people will be surprised by how much heart it has."
Click through the gallery above to meet the many faces of The Boys before streaming it on Amazon Prime Video.
With additional reporting by Meaghan Darwish
The Boys, Series Premiere, Friday, July 26, Amazon Prime Video
