Seth Rogen and Garth Ennis talk adapting The Boys for Cinemax

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

"Sick of superheroes? Because we are." With those six simple words, Garth Ennis is able to sum up what "The Boys" is all about. The Garth Ennis scripted comic series is set in a world where most of planets superheroes have been corrupted by their celebrity status and thus often engage in reckless behavior which threatens the safety of the world. It's up to a CIA squad, known as The Boys, to keep watch over those superheroes and, if they step out of line, eliminate them. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, fresh off the successful premiere of Preacher on AMC, will be developing The Boys for Cinemax along with Supernatural's Eric Kripke, who will be writing the series. As with Preacher, Rogen and Goldberg will be taking on directing duties for the pilot.

Garth Ennis and Seth Rogen discussed where they're at in regards to production on The Boys during a recent press-conference, with Rogen saying, "we're in a similar place with it now where we were with Preacher. Now that we've convinced everyone to let us adapt this into a show, what are we actually going to do?" Getting Preacher adapted was a tough road, but Ennis believes that The Boys won't have quite as many problems.

I think in terms of plot, it's going to be easier. I think it's a lot more linear. Ten years ago, if you introduced The Boys to a mainstream audience, they would've been mystified, they would be able to identify roughly who was standing in for Batman, Superman, the Hulk, probably Spider-Man and Captain America. Not beyond that. Now, 10 years on, with the success of the various franchises, mainstream audiences have been educated in the world of superheroes. So when an Iron Man-esque guy pops up, they'll know who that is. That's going to be simpler.

The only element which Ennis seems apprehensive about is making sure that "The Boys look[s] as good as a superhero movie. It's less grounded than Preacher in that regard." With television looking more and more cinematic all the time, I've got faith that they'll be able to pull it off. Preacher got off to a promising start (make sure to check out our review) and its second episode will debut on AMC on June 5th.