Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys received universal acclaim upon its release last year. Created by Eric Kripke, the show is an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ graphic novel of the same name. Starring Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominque McElligott, Jesse T. Usher, and Chase Crawford, The Boys is a wild and exciting parody of the superhero genre. Unfortunately, veteran director Joss Whedon is the recent victim of the parody.
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Before the premiere of the first episode of The Boys, Amazon Prime had greenlit the second season. The astounding success of the show has now confirmed that a third season is on its way. Horrifyingly graphic in nature, The Boys is a violent, gritty, and realistic take on superheroes when they go unchecked.
Created as a parody, popular comic-book writer Garth Ennis chose the most popular superhero team for his venture; the Justice League. Instead of the Big Blue Boy Scout, The Boys featured Homelander, the leader of The Seven. Each member of The Seven is a parody of the original Justice League. Definitely not subtle about it, the show did not fail to bring Garth Ennis’ vision to life.
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As the show is set in the present timeline, Eric Kripke has taken a few creative liberties to bring forth his vision for the current generation. As a result, The Boys has been taking a few digs at popular superhero culture lately. After taking a dig at Disney+ by introducing Vought+ in the show, The Boys has been ruthlessly taking vicious digs at Warner Bros. In the latest episode (We Gotta Go Now), the show viciously trolled director Joss Whedon and his Justice League (2017).
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In 2017, famed director Joss Whedon took over the mantle of Justice League when Zack Snyder stepped down due to a personal tragedy. Though considered to be a visionary when it comes to the superhero genre, Joss Whedon’s various re-shoots and script were heavily panned by critics and fans alike. As a result, Justice League became one of the biggest financial and critical disaster which almost ended the DC Extended Universe.
Before the Justice League debacle, Joss Whedon was one of the most sought after directors in the industry. In 2012, his Avengers revolutionized the superhero genre and made the Marvel Cinematic Universe one of the most profitable franchises of all time. He also directed Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) which became another box-office success. To his credit, he had also directed the critically acclaimed show Firefly which was unfortunately canceled just after one season. Whedon had also written Astonishing X-Men back in 2004 to universal acclaim.
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However, his years of legacy came crumbling down when he stepped up to direct Justice League. His usage of wisecracking humor and over-sexualization did not sit well with most fans. As Joss Whedon had reportedly done considerable re-shooting, one particular scene involving the Flash and Wonder Woman received considerable backlash when the movie was released.
In recent years, allegations of abusive behavior and infidelity have damaged the director’s shining reputation as a male feminist. Dubbed by many as a fair-weather feminist, Joss Whedon’s abusive conduct on set and his problematic portrayal of feminist ideals in movies have been called out by actors and stunt coordinators.
In the fifth episode of The Boys, Homelander plots a cruel play to terrorize Queen Maeve and her partner Elena. Having previously announced to the world that Maeve is a bi-sexual without her consent, Homelander forces her to show her sexuality in a cheeky and disturbing way.
The opening scene found Maeve searching the rubble of a bombed-out city for a woman named Ruby, who was revealed to be both a master hacker and a leather-clad lesbian stereotype, with blue hair and multiple tattoos and piercings. Maeve randomly praised Ruby’s bravery; not for what she had done to hack a Department of Homeland Security mainframe, but because she was living her life as a lesbian openly and without shame. Maeve then admitted that she was “afraid to show the world who I really am” before confessing her own homosexuality and almost kissing Ruby. The filming was overseen by the psychopathic Homelander, who commented to Maeve, as she took a break while the scene was reset, that “The new Joss rewrite really sings, huh?”
The scene further continued as a man named Agent Pearson appears and identifies Ruby as a fellow agent. The suit-clad Pearson tells Ruby to take the retrieved data to the Tower, which is clearly a parody of the Stark Tower in the Avengers. The scene also eerily resembles the aftermath of The Battle of New York between Loki’s Army of Chitauri and the Avengers.
The scene also had a striking orange filter which was used by Joss Whedon in Justice League. The parody movie, dubbed as The Dawn of the Seven is definitely not a subtle nod to the Justice League which had previously used Unite The Seven as a part of its marketing campaign.
As the scene revolves around Queen Maeve, who is a parody of Wonder Woman, it goes further as Joss Whedon was once attached to a Wonder Woman movie in the mid-2000s which was declined by Warner Bros. As the script of the movie was leaked back in 2017, it was heavily criticized for its sexist and stereotypical plotline and characters.
Joss Whedon is currently under scrutiny as actor Ray Fisher has accused him of abusive conduct on the sets of Justice League. Jason Momoa has also come forward in support of Fisher in his series of allegations against Whedon, Geoff Johns, and Warner Bros. Previously, stunt coordinators Sophia Crawford and Jeff Pruit had accused Whedon of abusive behavior on the sets of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Similarly, actress Charisma Carpenter has also accused Joss Whedon of firing her from Angel for getting pregnant.
As more cases are being piled up against the director, it won’t be a surprise if The Boys takes another vicious dig at the defamed director.
The Boys will return for its sixth episode on Friday, a decision that has been heavily criticized by the fans.
