‘The Boys’ Trailer: Amazon Gets an Edgy, Bloody Superhero Show All Its Own
Lest anyone think the latest Amazon series “The Boys” would back off the violent undercurrent in Garth Ennis’ original comic series, know that within a minute of the start of the Prime Video series’ trailer, a guy gets his head smushed like a watermelon. (Assuredly not for the faint of heart.)
Executive produced by the team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (who, after this and “Preacher,” have carved out a handy niche of helping adapt stylized stories of people with superpowers originally brought to the page by Ennis), the show follows an unlikely pair of warring superbeing teams. With “The Boys,” the twist is that the antihero group of the show’s title, led by Bill Butcher (Karl Urban) and Hughie (Jack Quaid) is going after The Seven, a more recognizable squad of would-be heroes who are found to be misusing their powers. (Regardless of their possibly nefarious aims, the floating, invisible man glasses at the superbeing round table is a nice touch.)
The creative team pedigree extends to showrunner and “Supernatural” creator Eric Kripke and pilot director Dan Trachtenberg, who was previously behind the camera for “10 Cloverfield Lane” and the “Playtest” installment of “Black Mirror.” The ensemble for the eight-episode series also includes Elisabeth Shue, Karen Fukuhara, Chace Crawford, Erin Moriarty, and Laz Alonso, along with Simon Pegg in a guest-star role. Kripke will also direct the final episode in the season.
In addition to the trailer below, Amazon also released three bite-sized spots to get viewers acquainted with the new team, including ones focused on Urban and Quaid, The Seven, and Moriarty’s lightbeam emitting Starlight.
“The Boys” premieres July 26 on Amazon Prime Video.