The Boys’ showrunner Eric Kripke recently revealed that he is a fan of Marvel’s movies, but feels they are inherently dangerous to society in how they portray superheroes.He also discussed some of the social commentary surrounding The Boys; specifically how it ties in to our country’s current political climate.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kripke briefly spoke about the origins of superhero comics, saying the era they were created in “doesn’t really apply as cleanly today.”He believes there’s “undeniable fascist underpinnings” to early characters like Superman, whose likeness was an inspiration for The Boys’ psychotic antagonist Homelander.
When asked about his thoughts on Marvel and DC movies, he replied, “People might be surprised to know this, but Im actually a fan of the Marvel stuff. The filmmaking is often impeccable. I actually really enjoy the humorous tone that a lot of them are written in. Theyre snarky and fast and glib and I like that style.”
However, despite the lighthearted nature of the films, he believes there’s a much deeper problem that people are missing.
“My issue with them are not the movies themselves, but that theres too many of them overall,” Kripke stated. “I sort of believe its dangerous, not to overstate it or be overdramatic, but its a little dangerous to train an entire generation to wait for someone strong to come in and save you.”
And that’s especially prevalent with the world we live in today.
“Thats I think how you end up with people like Trump and populists who say, ‘Im the only one who can come in, its going to be me,'” Kripke said. “And I think in the way that pop culture conditions people subtly, I think its conditioning them the wrong way because theres just too much of it. So I think its nice to have a corrective, at least a small one in us, to say, ‘Theyre not coming to save you. Hold your family together and save yourselves.’
Even if he doesn’t believe in the messaging put forward by the MCU and other superhero movies, he’s got no problem satirizing the films. In fact, One of Season 2’s moments was directly inspired by a key moment in Avengers Endgame. The all-female superhero team-up during the final clash was one that Kripke found “ridiculous” and led to the parody of Stormfront and Starlight’s “Girls get it done!” moment.
When asked about it Kripke said, “A lot of that came from our executive producer, Rebecca Sonneshine, who came in after the weekend Endgame opened. She was just furious. I saw it, too, and I was like, ‘That was the dumbest, most contrived’ And shes like, ‘Dont get me started.’ She found it condescending and I agreed.”
“So that just created for us a target, a satirical target. When theres something really ridiculous in either superhero or celebrity or Hollywood culture, well immediately go after it. Its an easy shot,” he remarked.
Season 3 of The Boys is set to begin filming in 2021 and has added Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles who is set to take on the role of Soldier Boy, one of the earliest superheroes injected with Compound V during World War II. He and the history of his Payback team are likely going to play a significant role if the first episode’s title is any indication.
For more on The Boys, check out how Victoria Neuman is set to shake things up in Season 3 as well as all the biggest moments explained in the Season 2 finale.
Matthew Adler is a Features, News, Previews, and Reviews writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.
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