Cancel everything (not just Netflix): The Boys are back in town, and by town I mean on Amazon Prime Video. The dark, often disgusting and gleefully demented superhero saga returns for a third season today and it's safe to say there will be blood. Lots of blood. Three times more blood than season 2, we're told.
If you haven't seen Seasons 1 and 2 of The Boys, take the day off work or college and binge it today. You can thank me later. It's the most fun I've had since Preacher (also on Amazon Prime) and shares the same delightfully bleak sensibility: this is a world where the superheroes are worse than any villains and where everything is turned up to eleven (not Stranger Things' Eleven, though – but that's another must-watch show).
The Boys is about a group of misfits taking on some of the most popular and most dangerous humans who have ever lived, and it'll make you laugh so hard you might hurt yourself. Its new series goes live today, Friday 3 June, on Amazon Prime Video (opens in new tab). I've embedded the trailer below; please be aware that it's NSFW (like, a lot!).
Why The Boys is must-watch TV
The Boys is based on the comic books of the same name, which were written by Garth Ennis – who also wrote Preacher – and illustrated by Darick Robertson. It keeps the often cruel humour of the comic books (which are brilliant), and I love that it's also kept the social commentary: while it's first and foremost big, dumb, gory fun, it also has things to say about sexism and misogyny, about corporate media and fame, and about the superhero genre generally. It's also one of very few TV shows that's had me absolutely howling with laughter at extreme violence.
I'm not typically a fan of superhero shows: the extensive collection of Marvel shows and movies in my Disney+ subscription is going to stay unwatched. But if you do like your MCU movies I think you'll enjoy the way The Boys gleefully subverts so many hero and superhero tropes, and if you'd rather saw off your own legs than endure another Avengers movie then I think you'll revel in The Boys' gleeful gore and raven-black humour.
If you're already a Prime subscriber you can watch all three seasons of The Boys for free; if you're not, you can get a 30-day free trial and binge to your heart's content.
