Even before The Boys premiered as a TV show, the series was giving the finger to the most popular movies, shows, and characters of the time. Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic series was even initially cancelled after six issues by publisher Wildstorm after its parent company (DC Comics) decided they didn’t like its anti-superhero messaging. As fans know, Dynamite stepped in, and the rest is history. The TV series adaptation even continued this, going out of its way to roast the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, naturally, DC’s superheroes from the very beginning, but also how pop culture itself became fully engrossed with superheroes.
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Since that first season of The Boys was released, though, the series has only exploded in popularity. Not only has the entire comic series been recollected in new editions, but it’s been adapted into an audio format, and all of that is on top of the three spin-off shows that have been released (Gen V, The Boys Presents: Diabolical, and the upcoming Vought Rising). One would naturally assume that the series has a franchise name, perhaps even “The Boys Cinematic Universe,” but Prime Video has confirmed that there’s a different name, in fact, one that makes it clear The Boys has fully become the thing it was once making fun of.
The Boys’ Franchise Name Proves the Series Has Gotten Too Big
As an addendum to his coverage of the new season in SFX Magazine, Jack Shepherd has revealed (via his Substack; H/T Total Film) that the official name for the largerย franchise at Prime Video is not “The Boys Cinematic Universe,” but actually the VCU, the Vought Cinematic Universe. For the sake of branding, something that is very important to a global conglomerate that is commodifying every piece of a successful show that it can, it makes sense, but for fans of the series that fell in love with the show for its crass sense of humor and irreverent take on superhero media, it’s sending the wrong message.
By using “Vought” as the staple of the entire franchise, The Boys isn’t doing a cheeky self-referential bit of mockery; it’s embracing the identity of the evil company that is at the heart of the entire narrative. Lest we forget, in the context of The Boys, Vought is responsible for major illegal and unethical behaviors, including testing its products on low-income Americans without their knowledge, and that’s on top of spreading its business ventures to encompass everyday life so that it is inescapable. When looked at in that regard, it makes sense for Amazon to follow suit, but if they were truly invested in the future of the series (despite the flagship show ending this year), they would go back to calling it “The Boys Cinematic Universe.”
The main characters of The Boys are the titular group led by Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher. Even though the series has never painted Butcher or his cohorts in a great light, as they will scheme, blackmail, deceive, and even, yes, kill, as needed, they are, for all intents and purposes, the protagonists. The story is about them, and the audience wants to see them win. Homelander, despite his immense popularity, is the villain of the story, and Vought, along with him. Even the expansion of the series with Vought Rising will be unable to get around the fact that the series itself is rooted in rebellion. As gauche as it has become for The Boys to become just another franchise (an entire store page exists for it on Amazon with shirts, hoodies, phone cases, tote bags, and more), officially labeling the entire series around the antagonists feels like a bridge too far, and the series confirming it has officially become the thing it once set out to mock.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
