The Boys season 3 is better than anything Marvel has done in the last 2 years

The Amazon series The Boys settles accounts with Marvel and DC and is damn good at it. That the cynical view of the genre of superhero series at the same time one of the best superhero series of recent years has produced is all the more astonishing.

Just a look at the ratings of the Moviepilot community shows: The Boys is (with a rating of 8.2) all Marvel series the last two years (none with more than 7.4 points) way ahead.

The Boys knows what it wants to be, while Marvel doesn’t

Marvel can really only learn from The Boys. Because with a few exceptions the MCU shows always weaken in the same areas, which The Boys implements so much better even without a mega budget. The most striking thing (besides the even better CGI effects) is the tonality.

What is meant by this is the implementation of themes, styles, rhythm or even narrative language. After 3 seasons The Boys has proven that she knows exactly what she wants to tell. This series has a clear voice. And she conveys this with unshakable self-confidence.

Watch the trailer for The Boys Season 3 on Prime Video here:

Tonality is one of the most annoying problems of the Marvel series. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight or The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: They all make a promise at the beginning that is rarely kept. In six short episodes each, none convinces with a consistent vision or a real consistency in themes and genres.

For example, Moon Knight begins as a dark psychological thriller, only to suddenly mutate into an Indiana Jones adventure with a talking hippo after just a few episodes. This may be interesting when viewed individually, but it hardly fits into the tone established at the beginning.

The youngest MCU entry, Ms. Marvel, also turns its back on its teenage high school setting after a short time. New mythologies, new villains, new settings: the series wants tell too much without even having the time to do so. And so many of the current Marvel series seem complete with their short duration overloaded and overwhelmed.

The Boys knows how to trade their own term better

I love Marvel and also the series of the MCU. But when I then watch the current season of The Boys, I’m shocked that the superhero satire makes it, a lot more focused and concentrated to tell without losing the entertainment factor.

For example, the story of the new Supes Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) on a bloody vendetta in Season 3 not only gives a clear structurebut also weaves together all the individual plot threads over the course of the eight episodes and always has one direct or indirect influence on all characters.

The Boys never seems rushed and never wants too much at once. Although there are only two more episodes per season than the average MCU show, the story about Homelander (Antony Starr), Butcher (Karl Urban) and Co. takes a lot of time for its characters – despite a much larger ensemble than any Marvel- Series – and consistently tells its thematic arcs to the end.

Another specialty of The Boys is the impressive balancing act between drama and humor. On the one hand, totally wacky sex scenes, exploding penises and other disturbing moments of violence cause bewilderment and laughter.

On the other hand we have intricate character studies and harrowing tragedy. And yet The Boys always works as if made of one piece – which an MCU blockbuster like Thor 4 unfortunately cannot claim to be.

The Boys shows what makes a good superhero series

Of course, MCU series and The Boys are drastically different in content. Both worlds are about superheroes. That’s actually where the similarities stop.

But considering that Marvel continues to dominate the genre with its Disney+ series and in the future, it is all the more astonishing that Amazon with its anti-Marvel series (Season 3 parodies several Avengers) almost everything better does what the MCU has conjured up on our screens for the past two years.

Marvel shows don’t have to feature sex orgies and ultra-violent violence to match The Boys quality. You just have to more confident, consistent and courageous be.

Ms. Marvel, for example, addresses fandom and glorification of heroic characters for the first time. But what remains here only as an uncritical meta-view of one’s own fans becomes simple and stringent with The Boys right from the start always thinking at least one step ahead.

That’s not to say the MCU needs to become more self-aware (which Deadpool 3 will surely fix). But is it too much to ask that Marvel times a meaningful well-structured and homogeneous series delivers?

Away from all the shock, disgust and bitter social criticism, The Boys deals with complex and deeply human conflicts and manages to captivate week after week with its multidimensional and elaborate characters. It doesn’t need bombastic CGI battlesbut just an honest closeness to the central characters.

Because that’s what makes The Boys a fantastic superhero series. She has her own identity, which can be felt in every single episode and scene. Maybe that’s the big criticism of the Amazon hit against the competition.

The Boys and more in the podcast: The 22 best series of 2022 (so far!)

The series year 2022 brought us a lot of binge fodder in the first half. But what was really worth it? We look back at the 22 best series of 2022 so far.

The six-month top 22 includes new series such as Heartstopper and Severance, as well as new seasons of The Boys and Stranger Things. From comedy, drama and thriller to horror, fantasy and science fiction, there is guaranteed to be something for everyone.

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Do you think Marvel series should learn something from The Boys success?