Diving Into ‘The Boys’
Photo: Amazon Prime
Though the fourth season of The Boys has been delayed by the ongoing Hollywood strikes, fans of the series will get some relief when spinoff series Gen V premieres on September 29. Following a class of college-aged “supes,” this show is the second spinoff of Amazon Prime’s anti-superhero superhero show, the first being the animated show Diabolical. And there may be more to come — it all depends on how Gen V is received, according to Head of Television at Amazon Studios Vernon Sanders.
“Once we committed to Gen V, we really wanted that to be the next [installment of The Boys] out,” Sanders told Entertainment Weekly early September. “And once we have it out and get a chance to see how everyone’s reacting to it, we can start talking about… what comes next.” While it appears that showrunner Eric Kripke is dedicated to exploring as much of the fictional universe created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, Amazon’s commitment to expanding this world with more series that tell different stories will hinge on the reaction of audiences to this latest spin-off. That means that the future of the extended Boys universe depends in large part on the ability of Amazon to market Gen V effectively. And with the SAG strike keeping actors from promoting their shows and movies, the only way to do that is to get back to basics and understand the audience that The Boys, and therefore, Gen V, appeals to.
Amazon likely knows plenty about the viewers of one of its most popular series, but we at Ranker can provide added insights into what it is fans like most about The Boys, as well as the other shows from streamers besides Amazon they tend to love most. We’re taking a deep dive into the show and its fan base to find out exactly what kind of person to whom Amazon Prime should be reaching out as they promote the second of what will hopefully be many spinoffs of The Boys.
Gen V premieres September 29 on Amazon Prime Video.
Photo: Amazon Prime
What Do Fans Love About The Boys?
One thing that this show’s rankings tell us immediately is that there is strong appetite for more content. The Boys is #1 on The Best TV Shows Returning In 2023 (9K votes), a list designed to gauge anticipation of returning TV shows. It’s tragic that the top show on this list in all likelihood won’t return until 2024, but for Amazon, it’s a strong indication that they won’t have to do too much nudging to get their subscribers to tune into Gen V — that conclusion is supported by the show’s #1 spot on the list of The Best Amazon Original Series (12K votes).
Another thing we can glean from The Boys’s position on some of Ranker’s most competitive TV lists is that it’s beloved for its high-octane action, earning it the top spot on the list of The Best New Action Shows Of The Last Few Years (22K votes). It’s also much beloved by superhero fans, who voted it up to #3 on The Best Live-Action Comic Book Shows Of All Time (19K votes), putting only Daredevil and newcomer The Sandman ahead of it. The show’s dark sense of humor is also a major asset, earning the show a #4 placing on The Best Current Dark Comedy TV Shows (3K votes).
More than anything, these rankings tell us that there are few shows on the air today that command more respect from viewers than The Boys. It’s among the Top 25 in our massive list of The Greatest TV Shows Of All Time (2 million votes), ahead of classics and mega-popular hits like Cheers, House, M*A*S*H, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Its overall sentiment score on Ranker is 70%, meaning that of the 30,000 votes cast for the movie on lists across the Ranker, 70% indicate positive sentiment about the show. That’s a higher score than that of The Mandalorian, House of the Dragon, and Stranger Things. Disney+, HBO, and Netflix are all dedicating resources to building the fictional universes of their respective hit series — Amazon Prime shouldn’t miss the opportunity to the same for The Boys.
#1 - The Best TV Shows Returning In 2023 (9K votes)
#1 - The Best Amazon Original Series (12K votes)
#1 - The Best Superhero Shows Right Now (3K votes)
#3 - The Best Live-Action Comic Book Shows Of All Time (19K votes)
#4 -The Best Current Dark Comedy TV Shows (3K votes)
#24 - The Greatest TV Shows Of All Time (2 million votes)
Who’s Reaching The Boys Fans?
The Boys is one of the most popular shows among current Amazon subscribers, but when it comes to those who subscribe to other streamers, which segments does the show appeal to most? With new content becoming more and more scarce thanks to the ongoing strikes, Amazon has a unique opportunity to pull in viewers more likely to enjoy The Boys by enticing them to check out Gen V.
DISNEY+
It makes sense that there are plenty of The Boys fans with subscriptions to Disney+, which has the streaming dollars of a lot of comic book enthusiasts thanks to its popular Marvel Cinematic Universe series. But what about those MCU fans who haven’t had the opportunity yet to check out this darker and more violent take on the superhero genre? According to Insights, Amazon should look for fans like this among the fan bases of Loki and The Mandalorian, both of which are 5X more likely to appeal to fans of The Boys, as well as Moon Knight, which is 4X more likely to be beloved by The Boys fans.
These viewers love The Boys and… The Mandalorian, Loki, Moon Knight
APPLE TV+
The brands of both comedy and science fiction for which Apple TV+ is best known are decidedly dryer and subtler than the ultra-violent and outrageously funny The Boys, but there does appear to be overlap here, suggesting that Apple’s base of prestige-loving subscribers may be worth targeting for Amazon. The shows that appeal most to the audience of Amazon’s comic book show are appropriately action-packed — The Boys fans are 5X more likely to love the dystopian action series See, 5X more likely to love alternative history drama For All Mankind, and 3X more likely to love epic sci-fi/fantasy Foundation.
These viewers love The Boys and… See, For All Mankind, Foundation
HULU
The Hulu shows that share fans with The Boys are indicative of the Amazon original’s strong sense of humor, seeing as how it’s managed to appeal to fans of a diverse range of comedies. Fans of The Boys are nearly as likely to love the auteurish dramedy The Bear (4X) as they are to love the absurdist, semi-autobiographical comedy DAVE (5X) from rapper Lil Dicky. But those who enjoy the sci-fi slapstick of The Boys seem to also be drawn to the supernatural sitcom, as they’re more likely to love What We Do in the Shadows (6X) than any other Hulu offering.
These viewers love The Boys and… What We Do in the Shadows, DAVE, The Bear