Summary

• The Boys explores darker side of superheroes, focusing on branding and realistic depiction of powers going rogue, led by menacing antagonist Homelander.
• Gen V adds depth to The Boys' universe, following students at university while introducing new characters and plotlines.
• Despite mixed reviews, each season of The Boys maintains high standards, with season 2 being the standout, pushing boundaries and uniting key characters.

Gen V. Focusing on a realistic depiction of superheroes, The Boys highlights some of the more sinister realities of having people with superpowers being relied upon to protect the world. Their resilient nature makes the possibility of them going rogue much darker, with the central antagonist, Homelander, perfectly highlighting what a narcissistic and uncontrollable supe would look like.

The series also explores how these superheroes are branded, with Vought International using them less as crime fighters and more as merchandise sellers. Gen V plays into this by focusing on students at a university designed for heroes. While some study actual hero work and dream of ing The Seven, others focus on becoming celebrities and using their powers to enhance their image, which the university prepares them for. The Boys season 5's confirmation has made the IP one of Prime Video's most popular assets, and while every season is of a high standard, some rank slightly higher than others.

5 The Boys Season 4

2024, 8 Episodes

The Boys season 4 was easily the most anticipated outing so far, but its political satire and slow-paced storytelling ultimately divided audiences, leading to mixed reviews. While the season still performed well critically, The Boys season 4 received a rotten audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, becoming the first installment in the franchise to do so. Although some of that criticism is valid, a lot of the negativity resulted from The Boys' social commentary and political themes, proving the audience score is not an accurate reflection of the season's overall quality, as there were still plenty of high points.

New additions like Sister Sage and Firecracker elevated the show and continued to make The Seven fascinating despite losing Queen Maeve. Likewise, A-Train's redemption was a great storyline and The Boys season 4's ending was one of the show's most exhilarating episodes yet, setting up a thrilling final outing. Season 5's confirmation unfortunately meant that season 4 lacked the same feeling of jeopardy, and even some of the stronger plots had a filler element as The Boys played for time ahead of its grand finale. Having said that, season 4 proved that, even at its weakest, The Boys is still a great series that can keep its audience entertained.

4 The Boys Season 3

2022, 8 Episodes

Despite being one of the weaker installments in The Boys franchise so far, season 3 was still a fantastic season of television. Its sixth episode, "Herogasm," is arguably the best episode in the entire series, highlighting that season 3 is still full of quality. It introduced Soldier Boy, a memorable character portrayed by Jensen Ackles who proved so popular that he was brought back for a cameo in Gen V.

The lack of unity between the main cast made for a great narrative but also dragged the season down a little.

After seasons of build-up, Homelander and Billy Butcher finally had a physical fight when Butcher took Temp V. Much of the story revolved around this substance, giving The Boys a chance to fight back on a level playing field against supes. Season 3 also showed the division between the main characters, with Hughie and Starlight becoming split on how to approach fighting Vought. The lack of unity between the main cast made for a great narrative but also dragged the season down a little.

Having separate The Boys characters take their own approach somewhat slowed the flow of the season, and as great as Soldier Boy's addition was, he failed to really help progress the overall story. Even if season 3 wasn't the series' best season, it continued adding drama to The Boys' Homelander and Butcher feud heading into season 4 while also providing audiences with laughs and shocking moments.

3 Gen V

2023, 8 Episodes

Gen V was a surprise inclusion to The Boys universe. The franchise has often parodied other superhero brands for their extended universes, making a spinoff that tied in with the main series unexpected. While this could have easily gone wrong, Gen V proved to be fantastic and helped offer fans a new setting for the crazy world of The Boys.

Gen V followed a group of students at Godolkin University who discovered some of the university's dark secrets, and the show did a great job of giving each of their main characters proper development and interesting powers, while also tying neatly into the franchise's main story. Characters such as Victoria Neuman, Ashley Barrett, and even of The Seven all had appearances throughout the show.

In addition, the conclusion featured Homelander showing up and seemingly ing a supe takeover, which meant Gen V's ending set up The Boys season 4 perfectly. Although the spinoff may have been designed to lead into season 4, it also did a great job of introducing its own plotlines and characters that will become a big part of the franchise. Therefore, the spinoff experiment was successful and Gen V's impact will be felt in The Boys universe for years to come after introducing some of the series' strongest supes.

2 The Boys Season 1

2019, 8 Episodes

The very first season of The Boys is easily one of the show's best, and it put the franchise on the map. Introducing a more realistic depiction of superheroes and what it would be like if many of them were selfish was something that hadn't found this level of mainstream appeal. The superhero medium has become so popular that there has been a bit of fatigue around it, yet The Boys proved to be a breath of fresh air.

With such a fast start, the show highlighted it wasn't going to pull its punches, and A-Train killing Robin in the opening sequence proved it. Establishing all its different characters and their motivations was done extremely well in season 1, and it managed to build a truly memorable world. The Boys indicated its strongest characters were to be feared, and that while the protagonists of the show didn't lack motivation or intelligence, they couldn't go toe-to-toe with the most powerful supes.

The Boys is full of outrageous moments that are only possible due to season 1's bold introduction.

The Boys is full of outrageous moments that are only possible due to season 1's bold introduction, and this compelling idea of regular people trying to take down superheroes is what made season 1 work so well, allowing Gen V to come in with an even riskier opening season.

1 The Boys Season 2

2020, 8 Episodes

Out of every season The Boys has produced, season 2 is the best of them all. It mimics many of the same qualities as season 1 but builds off its success to become crazier and more chaotic. Despite already having Homelander, the show introduced another villain named Stormfront who was just as bad, if not worse. She projected her white supremacist beliefs onto Homelander's son, Ryan, which even stunned the show's biggest villain. By already having most of the key characters introduced in the season prior, this eight-episode run allowed them to be further developed and have stronger character arcs.

Much like Gen V, The Boys season 2 benefited from season 1's bravery and allowed the show to become even more outrageous. It really pushed the limits in of what they could get away with and made it clear that The Boys was like no other show on TV. Starlight, Kimiko, and Queen Maeve uniting together and defeating Stormfront also proved to be a satisfying conclusion to the season that amplified each character.

The Boys season 2 is the show at its best and while both seasons 3 and 4, alongside Gen V, have maintained a similar quality, the franchise is yet to clear the high bar it set in 2020, despite coming close.