The Boys is an American media franchise, consisting of action-drama/satirical black comedy superhero television series which follow the residents of a world where superpowered individuals called Supes are recognized as heroes by the general public and work for a powerful corporation known as Vought International, which markets, monetizes, and (secretly) creates them, with most being selfish and corrupt outside of their heroic personas.

The first season of The Boys, developed by Eric Kripke with executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, was released in July 2019, with an ensemble cast led by Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Karl Urban, and Antony Starr.

Executive producers were reported to include Kripke, Goldberg, Rogen, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Ori Marmur, James Weaver, Ken Levin, and Jason Netter.

He did not want to fall into the overused convention of killing off female characters to motivate the heroes and also saw an opportunity to surprise readers of the comics by changing the story of Butcher's wife Becky.

[10] On April 30, 2018, it was announced that Dan Trachtenberg would direct the series' first episode, replacing Rogen and Goldberg, who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

[15] Kripke confirmed that he was already starting to write the scripts just before the series premiere revealing that it took "a lot of tiptoeing around expectations for the hit's sophomore outing".

[19][20] Kripke revealed that unlike the comics where Stormfront is male, the character would be gender swapped for the series with the intention of creating "Homelander's worst nightmare that would be a strong woman who wasn't afraid of him and proceeded to steal his spotlight.

"[21] Ahead of the second-season premiere, on July 23, 2020, Amazon renewed the series for a third season at the aftershow hosted by Aisha Tyler for the 2020 San Diego Comic-Con@Home.

[36] Eric Kripke stated that the idea to create Diabolical arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the producers wanted to release something during the wait for season three of The Boys.

[39][37] On September 20, 2020, a live-action spin-off of The Boys, initially titled The Boys Presents: Varsity and later retitled Gen V,[40] was announced, with Craig Rosenberg writing and executive producing the series with Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Michaela Starr, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Sarah Carbiener, Erica Rosbe, Aisha Porter-Christie, Judalina Neira, and Zak Schwartz.

At the start of the series, Hughie Campbell is recruited to the Boys by Billy Butcher after the former's girlfriend Robin is accidentally killed by the speedster A-Train, while elsewhere, the superhero group known as the Seven are joined by Annie January, a young and hopeful heroine forced to face the truth about those she admires.

[69] The third television series, Gen V, follows young adult Supes as they are tested in The Hunger Games-style challenges at the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, run by Vought International.

Described as being "part college show, part Hunger Games", the spin-off is to be set "... at America's only college exclusively for young adult superheroes (and run by Vought International)" and is described as "an irreverent, R-rated series that explores the lives of hormonal, competitive Supes as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities".

[72] On May 11, 2022, filming of the series began at the University of Toronto in May 2022 and the Claireville Conservation Area, Brampton in July, intended for an October wrap.

Titled The Boys: Mexico, the series will be created by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, producing alongside Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal, who will also star.

[50] A prequel series starring Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash, reprising their respective roles as Soldier Boy and Stormfront, was announced at 2024 San Diego Comic Con.

The series follows a twisted murder mystery about the origins of Vought in the 1950s, the early exploits of Soldier Boy, and the diabolical maneuvers of Stormfront.

The film follows Butcher as he visits an elementary school as a guest speaker, in order to teach children to fear and be wary of Supes, in particular Homelander and The Seven, and of what can be done to combat them.

[77] A companion short film titled Butcher, set between the first and second seasons of The Boys, was released to Twitter on September 10, 2020, with Urban again reprising his role.

[78] Set in the aftermath of "You Found Me", the film follows Butcher as he evades the authorities after being framed for Madelyn Stillwell's murder, and reaches out to Jock (portrayed by David S. Lee), an old friend of his from the Royal Marine Commandos.

Singer), a mad scientist with a robotic arm, and Boomstick (voiced by Chad James), an alcoholic country man with a shotgun for a leg, other content would animated fight shows without research called DBX (primarily hosted by Marshall, a.k.a.

[91][92] Written by Matt Berns, directed by Chris Sacco, and starring Chace Crawford and Katy Breier, reprising their roles from the television series as Kevin "The Deep" Moskowitz and his wife Cassandra Schwartz, the series follows the couple as they sit down for a "no-holds-barred podcast interview" about their relationship and escape from the Church of the Collective, and about their recent memoir and film adaptation about as such.

[117] On July 22, 2019, Slipknot released a new single called "Solway Firth" with an accompanying music video which featured clips and audio from the show.

"[124] On October 3, 2020, Eric Kripke said that the in-universe pornographic superhero film scenes briefly glimpsed in the second season The Boys episode "Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker" had been produced in full, expressing interest in releasing them under the name Supe Porn to the website of the same name, registered to Sony Pictures,[125] as well as supposedly requesting Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Antony Starr and the other followers of his Twitter page to join him in petitioning Prime Video and Amazon Studios to allow the potential web series to be uploaded.