More often than not, the guiding principle behind The Boys’ storytelling does seem to be “the worst thing I can think of.” The show opened with Hughie, the non-superpowered mensch (and audience surrogate) played by Jack Quaid, splattered in blood and holding his girlfriend’s severed hands after a super-high superhero plowed into her, killing her instantly. It wasn’t the worst thing I could think of.” “They were already conscious that there was some pretty intense material coming out that was going to be very challenging for an audience to accept,” says Starr. Like the show’s own Vought Corporation, there’s only so far a superhero can go before a corporate overlord will come along and rein them in. The masturbation sequence wasn’t originally intended as Homelander’s big season two climax in fact, it was filmed for season one, but Amazon insisted on cutting it.
