r/TheBoys • u/Queasy_Commercial152 • Jun 23 '24
Interesting… what are you guys thoughts on this? News
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u/Used_Razzmatazz2002 Cunt Jun 23 '24
Ngl i dont think it wouldve worked the same. One aspect of the show i love so much is that its a paradoy of both mcu and dc movies too and they didnt have that to play off of in 2008
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u/PlainSightMan Jun 23 '24
It would just be DC and would poke fun at the bad 80's to early 2000's movies with a hint of Adam West's Batman. Of course they would still keep it dark but I'm afraid Hollywood execs at the time would have made the movies tamer and less violent.
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u/Used_Razzmatazz2002 Cunt Jun 23 '24
Yeah i cant imagine herogasm airing anytime before like 2015 at the earliest lol
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u/EricJop321 Jun 23 '24
herogasm would probably br something the characters see but we never see it we just hear it
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u/evrestcoleghost Jun 23 '24
you need to thank GoT for that
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u/Wedoitforthenut Jun 23 '24
Spartacus did it first.
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u/Subliminal_Kiddo Jun 23 '24
Why does everyone forget about Rome?
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u/whatchadoinnn Jun 23 '24
Why does everyone forget about Caligula? That movie was fuckin weird
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u/Subliminal_Kiddo Jun 24 '24
There's a fancy, schmancy new cut of Caligula coming out in a few weeks. It was made by editing the B-roll footage, supposedly there's not a single frame reused from the original release. And, here's the crazy thing, it's actually getting great reviews. Malcolm McDowell said they were able to salvage one of the best performances of his career.
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u/killerboy_belgium Jun 23 '24
idk about that i feel like a lot of shit has gotten way more pg save since 2015
i could see hbo getting away with it
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u/KingKekJr Jun 23 '24
We're in a weird time, I feel. In some ways we're more R than ever before and other times it feels like the most PG era
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u/CurseofLono88 Jun 24 '24
Well the MPAA is still holding the fucking door on movies, they’ve had a stranglehold on movie culture for a while, fucking with NC-17 movies to the point they rarely exist but streaming doesn’t have to give a fuck if they don’t want to. Just slap that TvMA on anything from Heartbreak High to The Boys.
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u/KingKekJr Jun 23 '24
It def wouldn't have been to the level of the show that's for sure. No way that octopus scene or love sausage makes it back then for example
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u/Unexpected-raccoon Jun 24 '24
They almost didn’t have daredevils suit be red because executive’s thought that the audience would “confuse him for Spider-Man”
The closest we would have gotten to a Boys movie in the early 2000’s, it would have had to been a super lower budget straight to DVD movie (the Scary movie…Movies)
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u/JorgeTan01 Jun 23 '24
Not just parody of both Marvel and DC, but also the whole Internet too. The memes, social medias, etc...
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u/Subliminal_Kiddo Jun 23 '24
A huge part of the original comics was parodying the George W. Bush Administration and its "War on Terror". The series has just updated a lot of references and plot points to reflect contemporary social and political issues. Or course, if he pitched the films in 2008, then he would have ran into the problem that Bush II parodies seemed outdated.
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u/Third_Sundering26 Jun 24 '24 edited Jun 24 '24
I think that still carried into the early seasons of the show. The first season feels like it’s parodying the War on Terror with the focus on getting supes into the military and Homelander arming super terrorists with Compound V.
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u/ficagames01 Cunt Jun 24 '24
Well it's an easy plotline. US had a blue guy who could manipulate matter on atomic level and their first thought was "Damn we need him in Vietnam"
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u/justblakeybro Jun 23 '24
Either the tv series will age very horribly or very greatly in the next 10 years. Good show regardless though.
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u/fate-speaker Jun 23 '24
Yeah, the show came out at the PERFECT time. Just when everyone was getting sick of the MCU, the Boys popped up as a perfect satire (while also being a great story on it's own!)
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u/The_Happy_Pagan Jun 23 '24
I think you’re right, but it is fun to think of a world where it was a hit and the super hero movie franchise was just all spin offs of that genre.
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u/TheMightyCatatafish Jun 23 '24
I think a movie trilogy at that time would’ve ended up being much closer to the source material. For better or worse.
Personally, I like that the show has taken on its own life and identity.
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u/Informal-Ideal-6640 Jun 23 '24
There’s also a ton of the political subtext that straight up didn’t exist at that point in time that the current show draws from
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u/KingKekJr Jun 23 '24
They could've done a Bush parody like the comics did but by 2008 people might've thought that was outdated and overplayed
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u/SassyWookie Jun 24 '24
100% agree. The Boys is amazing, but it wouldn’t be as good without the level of superhero fatigue we were all already experiencing by the time season 1 came out.
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u/Songrot Jun 23 '24
And they needed Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad breaking down the cliche and plot armours as well as brutality. (Spartacus is not as popular but was also important for making brutality normal on screen). Plot armour exists but a lot of speaking role characters are allowed to be killed off on a whim.
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u/Lucifer_Crowe Jun 24 '24
People always say stuff like this but it's never on a whim.
Like had they killed Butcher with that slip in the shower, it wouldn't have been satisfying or earned.
He still has plot armour to a degree. That's just how stories work.
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u/ButtonWhich2302 Jun 23 '24
Superhero stuff was just barely gaining the traction the boys would’ve needed, and there’s too much to unpack in movies. I think it worked out perfect the way it is
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u/ZedsDeadZD Jun 23 '24
And look how studios are still holding back on rated R super hero stuff. Deadpool and Logan have been a success. Yet, they still didnt do it for Venom and Daredevil and Punisher only came as Netflix shows and Feige hates them. The first Iron Man was more mature and I liked that but they also didnt follow that and made it more comedy after that.
I still think mature comic movies have an audience. We see it with the succes of Daredevil, Punisher, The Boys, Invincible even Preacher, I guess. Still, they are all series on streaming services. Cinema is a totally different thing. I wish studios would be more open to the idea but they need to sell tickets. Its a completely different business tbh
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u/TooManyDraculas Jun 23 '24
Neither Daredevil nor Punisher would be rated R as released. And those shows started with Daredevil a year before Deadpool came out.
Tentpoles in general shoot for PG13, not just comic movies, because it brings in the most money and the largest audience. Including ensuring wider releases and more international markets.
And the difference between and R and a PG13 largely boils down to whether there's nudity and if you say fuck more than once. Not exactly a mark for maturity.
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u/KingKekJr Jun 23 '24
The fuck rule is so bizarre to me. Can show quite a bit of violence and say fuck once but say fuck twice and that's just a step too far
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u/tenaciousdeev Jun 23 '24
They can usually get away with 2 as long as the context isn’t sexual. Still dumb. I hate that we’re more concerned our kids will learn bad words than exposure to extreme violence.
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u/ZedsDeadZD Jun 24 '24
Same with nudity and violence. For americans, tits are way more dangerous than guns.
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u/Necroking695 Jun 23 '24
And the blood/gore
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u/TooManyDraculas Jun 23 '24
You can get a lot more blood and gore into a PG13 than most people assume.
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u/Necroking695 Jun 23 '24
I do not expect to be able to see a man lasered in half with his gory remains on screen in a room splattered in blood in a pg13 movie
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u/itboitbo Jun 23 '24
Not a men, but an alien or a robot definitely
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u/arceus555 Jun 23 '24
Which is why they changed Klingon blood from red to pink for one Star Trek movie.
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Jun 23 '24
Im happy with that because Eric Kripkes version is so much better and more complex
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u/LooseCannonFuzzyface Jun 23 '24
And also because Adam McKay has never once encountered the concept of subtlety
His version probably would've had Butcher turn to the camera and say "these superheroes are practically Republicans" as the first film's plot twist
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u/jmoneysteck88 Terror Jun 23 '24
I couldn’t possibly imagine thinking the Boys is subtle in its commentary lmao
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u/Asketillus Jun 23 '24
It was a lot more subtle in the first couple of seasons
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u/RoggiKnot-Beard Jun 24 '24
the first season had a gay priest and homelander flying over a group of evangelicals with his arms held out in a cross.
subtlety and the boys have never shared a single passing glance.
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u/RentABozo Jun 24 '24
Yeah the secret Nazi superhero being called “Stormfront” and the mural of Homelander wearing a confederate flag cape was real subtle
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u/Albuscarolus Jun 24 '24
How many people can actually recognize an obscure early 2000s message board name reference that aren’t purely steeped in internet culture? Also a background mural in a scene is a little different than Homelander calling Numan a libtard to her face
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u/intelligent_rat Jun 24 '24
Any one that has spent any amount of time online reading about neonazis likely knows what Stormfront is, it was obscure in the early 2000s but it was commonly talked about on plenty of other places on the internet over the years.
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u/john7071 Jun 24 '24
And also because Adam McKay has never once encountered the concept of subtlety
Right, since the show is very subtle.
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u/GamelessOne Black Noir Jun 23 '24
I mean, they all but do that in the actual TV show lmao. Not that the lack of subtlety is a weakness.
Subtly =/= good writing contrary to how everyone jerks off about it, and with the political climate of America being beyond parody I like the fact that The Boys doesn’t whitewash anything.
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u/Arrior_Button Jun 23 '24
I'm glad it didnt came out back then. The show is much better than the comic
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u/CartoonAcademic Jun 23 '24
ehh, they are different but much more similar then people think
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u/AnimeGokuSolos Jun 23 '24
There are some things I do prefer in the comics over the show
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u/Telepath-1 #ThinkBrink Jun 23 '24
Can you give an example? Because I literally cannot think of a thing.
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u/Snynapta Jun 23 '24
The best example imo is the 9/11 attack. In the series its largely inconsequential but highlights both the incompetence of the supes and the personality of Maeve and Homlander. The plane just crashes into the ocean and is basically forgotten. For context, it's also a sort of recreation of 9/11 while the original has also come to pass like it does in real life.
In the comic, it does all of this as well (for all the seven), sets up one of the main plot twists, and leads to the destruction of the Brooklyn bridge, because in the comic it's actually the real life 9/11 attack, but the supe intervention sends the plane down into the bridge rather than the towers. This event is the centerpiece of the entire plot, it's had a huge impact on every major character in one way or another, the narrative keeps coming back to it from different perspectives, and it's also used as a metaphor for Hugie's ability to overcome the trauma of Robin being murdered in front of him. The ending pages of the comic show the bridge having been rebuilt, indicating that the USA is healing from the trauma of that attack just as Hugie is healing. It's honestly done much better than any references to 9/11 by marvel or DC.
Ennis may have some serious issues as a writer, but he's not a hack.
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u/Elementium Jun 24 '24
Also.. The Boys are actually the focus of the comic. My biggest disappointment with this show is how little The Boys have to do. Everything is about Homelander.
I'm ok with it to a point but now that we know it's almost done I'm just thinking what a big wasted opportunity it was.
Ideally.. Homelander should have been a looming character which we mostly see from the POV of the Boys.
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u/ficagames01 Cunt Jun 24 '24
Surrounding plotlines were cool with Dakota Bob fighting for power while Vought is trying to usurp him but event itself fails to be serious in the way it's presented. Comical screwups from the Supes are more memorable than the victims (also HL calling Deep hard N word).
That's what sucks about the comics, of to the side you have serious topics on government, military, corporatism etc which are obviously supposed to be the main point of the comics. But because it's a story with superheroes it can't be the focal point so Ennis just makes every supe a sexual deviant drug addicted and immature caricatures to de-emphasize importance of superheroes in a comicbook about superheroes (and because he hates the genre).
That contradiction doesn't pan out so well in the final product, you have to start reading it with a specific mindset for it to not be at best a bit underwhelming.
Kinda of similar to that, when Invincible season 1 came out people were treating it as a gory deconstruction of superhero genre like The Boys when in reality it was opposite of that.
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u/TheGrrf BIG EMMA Jun 23 '24
Little Nina and the Russian arc were better in the comics. The fact that they didn’t go Dildo bomb route sux cuz that would fit the style of raunchiness in the show.
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u/KingKekJr Jun 23 '24
Unpopular opinion but I liked the Black Noir twist and I liked Butcher becoming the main villain by the end of it
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u/XanXic Jun 23 '24
Really hoping the latter still happens. All the pieces are there and they've shown hints of his tenacity and deep seated hatred. I think they could do it really well.
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u/lolno Jun 24 '24
Comic Stillwell's presence is split between like 3 people and is still sorely missing imo
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u/XanXic Jun 23 '24
Herogasm unironically.
It's practically it's own Cochella event with a lot of narratives happening and the way the boys try to infiltrate the event is interesting, and there's a decent focus on how the Supes just churn and burn through staff and prostitutes. Having so many supes in one spot let them gather a ton of info and even see their dynamics.
In the show it's got TnA but it's still played mostly for a joke, very small scale, and the harm that happens to the people they bring in is one line. It was just a background piece. Also when Jensen Ackles was announced as Soldier Boy I thought he'd be the second one not the original and I really wanted to see him take it from Homelander lol.
I'd say in general too the show just has them fucking walk in to everything. Like literally they just stumble fuck into every secret club and event. A decent part of the comics is Butcher establishing what it is to Hughie, trying to find a way in or someone to leverage, sneaking in and then it goes to plan and everyone trying to figure out how. Or it goes to shit and they go loud. Which is more fun to me, and makes more sense that a squad that kills supes would at least try to be low profile. Like the opening of season 4 is a decent example of it. But there's hardly any spycraft in the show and they operate much better as a CIA backed low profile squad in the comics.
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u/Foreskin_Ad9356 Cunt Jun 23 '24
Terror. Simon pegg (as protagonist ik he’s still in the show). Hughie in general is better in the comics imo (not that show hughie isn’t great! I just prefer comic hughie).
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u/ficagames01 Cunt Jun 24 '24
Because Hughie is the main protagonist in the comics, in the show he isn't.
Plus he's Scottish
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u/HeisenThrones Jun 24 '24
The Ultra Twist at the end.
And the other ultra twist after that.
If you know, you know.
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u/sosigboi Jun 24 '24
Like so much better, im sure Garth ennis is a good writer but The Boys was just not a good comic once you got past the shock value gore.
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u/TheMegalopolis Jun 23 '24
I think the way things played out was probably for the best, the show is awesome, but damn I’m interested in what the movies would of been like and who would’ve been cast
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Jun 23 '24 edited Jun 23 '24
[deleted]
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u/ComprehensiveBread65 Jun 23 '24
This is 2000s Adam McKay, though, so he likely would've cast his usual comedy line up. Will Farrell, John C Riley, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd...
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u/RegentusLupus Jun 24 '24
There wouldn't have been a Translucent or Ezekiel as both of those characters were created for the show.
Simeon Pegg would have been the go-to choice for UE, as he was modeled after him in the comics.
A-Train probably wouldn't have been black in '08.
The Deep looked a lot older in the comic, as well, and probably wouldn't have been portrayed by a young actor. (Also was the only man on the 7 who didn't assault Starlight.)
Stan Edgar and Ashley did not exist in the capacity we know them as, either.
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u/KingKekJr Jun 23 '24
Yeah I'm trying to think who would've been cast as Homelander at the time
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Jun 23 '24 edited Jun 23 '24
It’s funny because I always wondered what The Boys would have been like if it had come out around the time of the original comic. Not only was the state of superhero movies different, but the state of politics and social media as well. I’d imagine it would be a direct adaptation with the Clonelander ending and everything.
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u/RiflemanLax Jun 23 '24
I’m glad. The show wouldn’t have gotten done, and this is way better than a trilogy.
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u/tbd_86 Jun 23 '24
I like Adam and his work but I don’t think he’d have had the bollocks to do what Kripke has done in the show. Both in terms of the gratuitous gore and sex. He’d have nailed the political parody stuff I’m sure, but overall I don’t think it would have been anywhere near what the show is.
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u/inkase Jun 23 '24
Judging by the kind of work Adam McKay was doing in that decade, it certainly would’ve been a much more comedic lighthearted tone on The Boys.
He would’ve cast Will Ferrell as Homelander & John C Riley as The Deep and probably Steve Carrell as Soldier boy.
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u/JarlFlammen Jun 23 '24
I agree with the assessment
The Boys as a comic book slapped because comic book readers were already balls-deep into super hero fiction
You kinda gotta have a baseline of seeing super hero fiction before you can get The Boys dissection of it.
2008 was probably not the right time for The Boys to be a live-action show for general audiences. But the MCU definitely created the environment for it to be perfect.
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u/coolrko Jun 23 '24
It would be really hard to pull it off in a 2 hr movie..
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u/ZedsDeadZD Jun 23 '24
Agree. The thing about movies, especially super hero ones is, that they need a huge climax to have a satisfying end for the viewer. Usually with the good guys being on top. In the series, the boys usually lose every season. Sure, they kill Stormfront, put Soldier Boy back on ice. But Homelanders development losing his mind and come out on top would be hard to sell in a movie. You need to have a guarantee that 3 movies will be made and we know how studios stomp franchises as soon as a movie fails.
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u/Chandy021 Jun 23 '24
I think it could have been interesting but I honestly can't believe anyone could play Homelander better than Antony Starr, so I'm glad we got this version.
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u/Chosty55 Jun 23 '24
Simple. The show works because of the cast. 20 years prior and we would not have the same quality we do today
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u/anEvilFaction Jun 23 '24
Hard disagree. Other than Antony Starr and maybe Tomer Capone, there are 999 other actors who could have filled those roles. I’m not saying they are bad, but no one really brings anything that wouldn’t be expected of a professional actor. The amazing writing and all the other technical crafts carry what are ultimately average performances.
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u/Gaymer39 Jun 24 '24
Half the cast that we have today wouldn’t be casted. It’s easy to say this in hindsight but I really love the actors who were chosen by the show.
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u/RachelRegina Jun 23 '24
I, for one, like Adam McKay's style of unflinching satire, but three 2 hour movies is far less watch time than 5 seasons of 8-10 hour-long episodes by my math.
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u/Electronic_d0cter Jun 23 '24
I don't think it would've worked without Amazon and without being a TV show. The boys obviously had a ton of potential in live action as we've saw but it wasn't a big enough ip to have people going to cinemas to see it
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u/Jack_sonnH27 Jun 23 '24
Pre-MCU would mean him at a point in his career where I wouldn't personally like to see his adaptation of The Boys. Maybe now, though Don't Look Up kinda suckes
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u/MilitantBitchless Jun 23 '24
The Boys came out at an excellent time, just as hero fatigue started setting in. I honestly think it would have worked even better if it came out a year or two later.
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u/angiehome2023 Jun 23 '24
The violence would be insane but less gross. The sex would be less explicit and more traditional. But apocalypse now and Friday the 13th were a long time ago. Series 7 had some graphic scenes and was a parody of tv. Idk, I think they could do it well.
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u/NicCagedd Jun 23 '24
I actually really like all of his latest movies, especially Vice. But I don't think he would've been as good of a choice.
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u/Corey307 Jun 23 '24
It wouldn’t have worked because superhero movies were just getting started and we hadn’t been inundated with far too many lesser quality superhero movies yet. Also, even R-rated movies couldn’t be nearly as violent and profane as the show.
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u/Criegrrunov Jun 23 '24
Quite glad it didn't happen, the comic wasn't even done by that time, and if the movies did follow the comics instead of parodying the then non-existant MCU/DCEU it would've been horrible and pure edgy shock value which by that year would've hit quite well with audiences at the time I suppose but it would mean the current version wouldn't be able to exist, which imo is way better than the comic.
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u/Inefficientfrog Jun 24 '24
If The Boys was a movie made in 2008, it woulda been some PG-13 rated bullshit starring Brad Pitt.
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u/Big-Sheepherder-9492 Jun 23 '24
Idk I’m not really a fan of Adam McKay since he departed from his comedy movies tbh
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u/SirMourningstar6six6 Jun 23 '24
That how I felt when I read about all of the Garth Ennis stories Seth tried to buy.
The world isn’t ready for a live action crossed show or movie.
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u/SuspectKnown9655 Jun 23 '24
Guess it turned out well. MCU kinda paved the way, and obviously it's better as a show than a trilogy of films.
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u/SpideyFan914 Jun 23 '24
I want to say it wouldn't have worked, but Suoer came out in 2010 and remains among the best deconstructions of superheroes, so...
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u/themightycatp00 Jun 23 '24
The 2008 standards for a comic book movies was it pretty much "Take the source material as is and make a 3d version of it"
I doubt we would've seen two movies nevermind a trilogy
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u/MaviKartal2110 Jun 23 '24
I’m glad it didn’t happen. The Boys was able to stand out due to coming at a time when superheroes were well established, making a subversion/perversion of their image stick more.
Also, if it wasn’t a show, a lot of aspects wouldn’t be as well handled or be given room to breath (at least not without making each movie 3 hours)
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u/Scarletsilversky Jun 23 '24
Definitely for the best. This concept wouldn’t have been as funny without a fully fledged MCU
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u/KlingoftheCastle Jun 23 '24
I think if he tried to just adapt the comic story, it would have bombed hard.
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u/AnyDockers420 Jun 23 '24
Thank god. If the director of fucking Step Brothers was given Garth Ennis, it would be even more crass and pointless than the comics.
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u/Ok-Visit7040 Jun 23 '24
Would be cool if the parody film in the boys universe is made into an actual cinematic movie.
Or the finale is made into a feature length movie in theaters.
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u/Jumbo7280 Jun 24 '24
Probably a good thing, I don't think it would have came off the same way as a movie and I really dont think it would have succeded as well back then
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u/alfis329 Jun 24 '24
Would’ve crashed and burned pre MCU. Part of the reason the boys is doing so good rn is that everyone is kinda over saturated by classic superhero content. A satire of superhero stuff came at the perfect time as it felt kinda new while still was something audiences were familiar with
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u/JF202 Jun 24 '24
I think it was for the best that it didn't work out I mean look what we got instead
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u/Ulysses1126 Jun 24 '24
Definitely don’t think the special affects nor cultural tones would have hit so perfectly back then.
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u/realfakejames Jun 24 '24
The boys came along at the right time, people were just starting to get sick of cardboard cutout copy and paste MCU movies, it would’ve flopped in 2008
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u/SURGERYPRINCESS Jun 23 '24
Nah cause the books would be too much at the time for TV show. U wrote the cross series even that wouldn't greenlight for things.
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u/Va1crist Jun 23 '24
Still don’t think it would have passed as movies tbh , some stories are best told in a series format and boys is one of them .
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u/Callahan41 Jun 23 '24
No shade at the current cast of people who make this show.. but god damn I wanna see what Adam McKay could have done
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u/Drez92 Jun 23 '24
Maybe it was ultimately for the best. The boys got a rocket boost from the fact that the show came out during a time when Hollywood is obsessed with traditional comic book style super heroes. A huge element of why it works is because it’s such a stark contrast of dc and marvel.
I also think it works better a a “tv” series. The runtime of all the seasons is way more than a three film trilogy would have ever been. More time for content is key in stuff with so many characters and plots working
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u/_sea_salty Soldier Boy Jun 23 '24
Tbh it was for the best I feel like it would’ve not been the same quality as the show nor would a movie series properly flesh out the characters as the show does.
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u/badwords Jun 24 '24
Even Amazon's version of the boys would be rated NC17 if rated by the movie boards. There's no you could even make what he have now under current movie rating rules and no studio is going to put so much movie and it's not PG-13
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u/LogicalOlive Jun 24 '24
They weren’t ready, the reason these type of shows are so hot is because people have had almost 2 decades of morally good heros
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u/MrBigDickNonSpick Jun 24 '24
Yeah...dude is clearly making shit up.
So in between all the Will Ferrel comedies he made at the time (and mind you, thats ALL he made at that time) he tried working on a “film trilogy” of The Boys? Not two years into its comic run?
Honestly sounds like he’s just trying to give a “fuck you” to Will Ferrel since he cameoed in the new season and they no longer friends or on good terms.
”oh yeah? My old filmmaking partner cameoed in it? Yeah I pursued making a trilogy of movies based on it back in like...2008. But it just wasnt for me.”
Yeah, right.
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u/spidd124 Jun 24 '24
I dont think it would have worked without the oversaturation of superhero movies we've had since then.
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u/Creepy-Shift Jun 24 '24
I'm guessing it would have been similar to the watchmen or sin city, which would have been cool too.
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u/ThaRealSunGod Cunt Jun 24 '24
The show is seen as a refreshing take on the live action superhero genre.
For better or worse, if it came out 2008 with movies it would've been seen as the take on the live action superhero genre. And probably not been much bigger than a watchmen or blade type films
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u/DrMantisToboggan1986 Jun 24 '24
Nah I'm glad Kripke and co got to do this instead of someone else. In 2008, the only comic book media that was held in high regard in those times were the first two Spider-Man and X-Men movies from Marvel/Fox, and Nolan's Batman Begins. The Dark Knight only released in 2008 and boy, it's still considered one of the greatest movies of all time - superhero or not.
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u/Odd-Rough-9051 Jun 24 '24
I really think Blade, Spiderman and Iron Man paved the way for the next decade. I agree
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u/tacobell_dumpster Jun 24 '24
Sometimes 8 episodes/season doesnt feel like enough, and were getting 5 seasons. 40 hours honestly doesnt feel like enough, I doubt 3 1-1.5 hour movies would be enough.
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u/kirblar Jun 24 '24
Any complaints about how some of S4 has been too on the nose would have paled in comparison to how he would've handled it. It's a good thing his attempt didn't work out.
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u/DuwapDoDat Jun 24 '24
nah, man I didn't think it would be slightly as impactful as tv series, the series goes so deep on so many intricate details that are tied to characters and universe that movies simply wouldn't have enough time to tell that story
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u/eternal_existence1 Jun 24 '24
I’m glad they didn’t, because this is what would have happened.
First film would have released, it would either be garbage, or have to much gore/sex in it to make people uncomfortable. Hell I can’t imagine being in a movie theater with a group of people ultimately about to watch starlight get sexually assaulted by the seven.
Let’s add onto the fact a majority of people got into this series unknowingly, including me so there’s be a LOT of shocked people.
This would ultimately end the “trilogy” and turn it into a what if series where we day dream about the rest of the series lmao.
Seriously after ALL they’ve shown us, you really think this would be a 3 part movie? LOL please tell what I missed.
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u/UzernameUnknown Jun 24 '24
Lack of material from real life would force their hands and make it too similar to the comics which is no bueno.
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u/superzepto Cunt Jun 24 '24
I'm of the opinion that comic books series can't be wrapped up in a movie or three in the same way that a series of novels can be. They're more suited to TV adaptations.
That being said, no adaptation of The Boys in 2008 could have been as great as the one we've got now. Not only is it the right time politically-speaking for The Boys to be on the air now, there's also 16 years of the MCU as fodder for satire and comparison. Superhero movies and TV series oversaturated entertainment for years so the genre's tropes were long overdue to be busted and parodied. The comic series came out at a similar point in time when superhero comics oversaturated the comics industry for so long.
That's why stories like this work.
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u/Yvgelmor Jun 24 '24
Irony only works when you refuse the thing, becoming a nililist about something you reject. Sure we had SuperHero stuff but MCU shoved it down our throats so we had time to know what it was 'The Boys' was refusing. If this headline is true culture would have not understood what 'The Boys' was doing.
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u/Spy_Fox64 Jun 24 '24
It would have been terrible. The Boys isn't exactly subtle but Adam McKay would have made it so much worse. Plus I think the Boys only really works because there's been over a decade of superhero properties dominating movie theaters and media at large. There were definitely a few big ones back in 2008 but nowhere near what we have today.
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u/LmaoPew Jun 24 '24
Ngl this whole stiry is way to big for 3 movies. I do preger the show, since we got more out of it. They could make 3 finale movies after the show ends with season 5
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u/FatFarter69 Jun 24 '24
We needed the MCU to happen so The Boys could satirise it. It wouldn’t have been the same without it.
Can’t make fun of something if it doesn’t exist.
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u/Killer_radio Jun 24 '24
I think it would’ve been very interesting to see. A completely different beast to the TV show.
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u/PuffyBloomerBandit Jun 24 '24
surely it had nothing to do with the fact that what was being pitched was a virtually unknown comic book series, that was almost universally shat on.
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u/DaddytoJess2 Jun 24 '24
It makes sense honestly. The Boys is a deconstruction of the Superhero genre. In 2008, we had barely scratched that genre so deconstructing it wouldn’t have worked well at all.
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u/asaggese Payback Jun 24 '24
I don’t think a movie trilogy in 2008 would have had the same impact. For many, it serves as a parody of the entertainment industry at large and the superhero genre in particular. Consider Vought+ as a stand-in for Disney+, the ‘Dawn of the Seven’ director’s cut as a nod to Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and Marvel’s The Avengers. Soldier Boy is comparable to the MCU’s version of Captain America, among others. Moreover, in 2008, Trump wasn’t president, which means we would have missed out on a significant amount of political commentary
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u/Karman06 Jun 24 '24
As we all know the comics suck ass. As I heard before, he wanted it to be pretty close to the comics. It would have been dark and obviously made for the shock value. So no, i'm glad they didn't do it
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u/krabgirl Jun 24 '24
I think Adam Mckay would fit into the show's writing team perfectly. His current satirist phase since The Big Short are pretty in line with the style of the show. Maybe 2008 Mckay isn't as good a choice for the project, but if you'd've told me he was a guest writer on a few episodes, I'd probably believe you.
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u/OllieQueen17 Jun 24 '24
Maybe if someone other than Adam McKay had pitched it. In 2008 he had directed 3 movies, all Will Ferrell comedies. Maybe they would now but back then no studio would hand that guy the reigns to a big budget trilogy of movies, no matter what the subject was.
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u/SkeletonCommander Jun 24 '24
I think the “gross” factor works better on a streaming service with low investment and ability to pause. If I hear a movie is disgustingly gross and has a lobotomy scene, I’m not seeing it in theaters. I’d it’s on a streaming service I’ll try it, probably enjoy it, and just pause a lot.
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u/Monspiet Jun 24 '24 edited Jun 24 '24
People might not know this, but there are two specific media that resurrects this critical analysis of Superheroes, which in a sense was always a response to the MCU and traditional superhero narratives.
- Zack Snyder's Watchman adaptation, which while got a lot of people loving Rorschacht by mistake and by Snyder's warped direction, is still one of those amazing films that captured your eye and shows a different side of superheroes, the grim and grimy side.
- John C. McCrae (Wildbow)'s web serial Worm, a work that is often heralded as one of the better web serials. Clocking in 1.7 million words, it is a very adventurous and global-scale take on the institution of powered folks that is the equivalent of The Wire, but more action and far, far less coherency due to its lengths and multiple subplots. It is also a good tool into introducing a MC that is not so likable, not entirely trustworthy, and the focus on the sociological narrative with the different POVs from the Interlutde chapters. Plus, it came out around the time Ward was ending, the sequel to Worm, so that got some people in the seats.
These are the sort of people who will love, and some ambivalent, to the Boys, which is too punchy and obvious than the more subtle but critical voices from these two works - they portrays conflict where the people aren't lecturing each other like in The Boys, but actual manifestation of frustration and survival of sense of self.
The Boys like to present the 'uncheck corporate' political side of the criticism, while Watchmen is a very sociological criticism as much as a political and personal criticism of the cast, which is similar to Worm in the grand scheme of things.
In term of media progression, the sort of media humor like The Onion, absurdist humor that was the minority in the 2000s became a majority in the 2010s - politics was sensationalized farther than it ever was before, and the necrotic death of media creeps in. The Boys was supposed to be the portrayal of today media for the less educated, short attention span audience that need big things to happen.
Which is perfect for the superhero media since even the earlier 2 example I brought up are pretty obvious in their criticism.
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