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Based on the (really rather excellent) comic book series from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, Prime Video's satirical superhero romp The Boys picks up the genre deconstructionist torch passed by Alan Moore's Watchmen. The tone is less philosophical but even more cynical, suggesting that power doesn't just corrupt—it makes people absolute dicks.
It's set in a world where people with superpowers work for a powerful multinational corporation, with plenty of money and a powerful PR machine behind them to clean up their messes and excesses, and keep them in the public's good graces. When the girlfriend of Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) is gruesomely killed by an indifferent superhero, he's recruited by the titular group, which is determined to keep the "supes" in line by absolutely any means necessary. The show's rude and crude veneer masks a disturbing truth: If superpowered people really existed, this is probably how they would act.
While you wait for the premiere of the show's fifth and final season next year (and prepare for the forthcoming prequel Vought Rising), you can check out the spin-off Gen V, the animated miniseries Diabolical—and these 12 other shows that might scratch the same itch.
Creature Commandos (2024 – )
The old DCEU ("old" as in 2023) was definitely not shy about being edgy—consider that the plot of cinema's first Batman/Superman team-up turned on a urine explosion—but the new, James Gunn-lead iteration is willing to go harder. This animated show sees Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, reprising the role) assembling a black-ops team to protect a foreign nation from the Amazonian sorceress Circe. Waller can't be trusted with actual humans, so her team is made up entirely of literal monsters: The Bride (Indira Varma), Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), Eric Frankenstein (David Harbour), and aquatic mutant Nina Mazursky (Zoë Chao), alongside Nazi-obsessed G.I. Robot and the rodent-like Weasel (both Sean Gunn). The cartoon is extremely violent with a dark sense of humor, but Gunn also brings an impressive amount of heart. Stream Creature Commandos on HBO Max.
Slow Horses (2022 – )
Go with me on this one. Based on the Mick Herron books, this series does for spies what The Boys does for superheroes. Headed by Gary Oldman's rude, farty Jackson Lamb, Slough House is a dumping ground for has-been (or never-were) MI5 agents, who either can't be trusted with important missions or, in Lamb's case, have pissed off far too many people. They're not super-spies, mostly being only mediocre at their jobs, but their expendability frequently puts them in the line of fire, and their general scrappiness and disregard for the rules has saved them more than once. Kristin Scott Thomas is Lamb's foil, a politically savvy spymaster in the main office. It's probably my favorite Apple TV+ show, and it earns extra points for coming out on a consistent schedule; it has been renewed through a seventh season. Stream Slow Horses on Apple TV+.
Doom Patrol (2019 – 2023)
Here's an uncharacteristically bold and indescribably freaky entry in the superhero canon, including characters like the non-binary Danny the Street (a literal street), paranormal investigators the Sex Men, Imaginary Jesus, and orgasm-generating body builder Flex Mentallo. But all the weirdness is grounded in excellent, frequently emotional character work from the entire cast, including Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer, April Bowlby, Diane Guerrero, Joivan Wade, Michelle Gomez, and Timothy Dalton, all playing characters processing copious amounts of trauma and guilt while becoming something like superheroes in spite of themselves. It’s very queer and very sex-positive, making it a standout among the usually chaste, straight world of superheroes on TV. Stream Doom Patrol on HBO Max.
