The Boys Season 1, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video in 2019, delivers a scathing critique of superhero culture through the lens of corporate corruption and unchecked power. Developed by Eric Kripke from Garth Ennis’s comic series, the show subverts traditional superhero narratives by presenting a world where enhanced individuals, managed by the powerful Vought International corporation, often abuse their abilities while maintaining carefully crafted public personas.
At its heart, the story explores the human cost of commercialized heroism through parallel narratives: the journey of Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), whose ordinary life is shattered by superhero negligence, and Starlight (Erin Moriarty), a idealistic new member of The Seven who discovers the dark reality behind her childhood dreams. These personal tragedies unfold against a larger conspiracy involving Compound V, a secret substance that creates superheroes, while examining themes of power, corruption, and the true meaning of heroism in a world where abilities can be manufactured and monetized.
Tragedy Sparks Hero Hunt
The Boys Season 1 begins with the story of Hughie, a young man deeply in love with his girlfriend Robin Ward (Jess Salgueiro). While they’re walking together and stop to chat on the sidewalk, suddenly, one of The Seven’s superheroes, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), accidentally runs through Robin at super-speed, completely destroying her body and leaving only her hands behind. Hughie is immediately traumatized, having witnessed his girlfriend’s death right before his eyes.
After the incident, Vought International approaches Hughie, offering him USD 45,000 in settlement money to sign an NDA about Robin’s death. Hughie initially declines the offer. Meanwhile, a new superhero named Starlight joins The Seven, replacing The Lamplighter. After making her debut at Vought Tower, The Deep (Chace Crawford) takes her aside. There, he sexually assaults her, threatening to have her removed from The Seven unless she complies with his demands.
Elsewhere, Hughie meets Billy Butcher (Karl Urban). Billy offers Hughie a chance to get revenge against A-Train and The Seven. He shows Hughie the dark side of the superheroes at a club. At this club, the heroes engage in wild parties with drinking, drugs, and behavior completely unbefitting of superheroes.
Butcher then asks for Hughie’s help to plant a bug at Vought Tower. Hughie agrees, using his upcoming meeting with Vought International about Robin’s settlement as cover. He successfully plants the listening device under the conference table. However, Translucent (Alex Hassell), a Seven member who can turn invisible and has diamond-hard skin, discovers Hughie planting the bug.
Translucent follows Hughie to his workplace and attacks him. Butcher arrives just in time to save Hughie by ramming into Translucent. During their fight, Hughie manages to incapacitate Translucent by electrocuting him. Butcher then takes Translucent to Frenchie (Tomer Capon), a skilled engineer and chemist. They imprison Translucent in an electrified metal cage to prevent his escape. Frenchie creates a C4 plastic explosive to threaten Translucent.
The Seven’s Dark Secrets
Meanwhile, Homelander (Antony Starr), the leader of The Seven, searches for the missing Translucent under orders from Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue), Senior Vice President of Hero Management at Vought International. Earlier, Homelander had crashed the Mayor of Baltimore’s plane after the mayor threatened to expose information about Compound V.
When Homelander arrives at Translucent’s last known location, Butcher creates a diversionary explosion to drive him away. Though Translucent manages to escape his cage, Hughie confronts him and detonates the C4, killing him instantly. They dispose of Translucent’s remains in a carbon-lined box to prevent Homelander from tracking it with his x-ray vision. Butcher then recruits his friend Mother’s Milk a.k.a MM (Laz Alonso) to join The Boys to help them investigate Compound V. MM is known for his investigative skills and meticulous attention to detail.
Meanwhile, Popclaw (Brittany Allen) is A-Train’s girlfriend and a B-list superhero who was formerly in Teenage Kix with A-Train. The Boys begin surveillance on A-Train and Popclaw by monitoring Popclaw’s apartment. Through this surveillance, they discover that A-Train is using Compound V to enhance his powers. When A-Train competes in a race against Shockwave, The Boys attempt to gather evidence of his Compound V usage, but are unsuccessful.
During a press interview, A-Train publicly denies his relationship with Popclaw, breaking her heart. Devastated, Popclaw uses Compound V, leading to her accidentally killing her landlord with her enhanced strength during an intimate encounter. Butcher seizes this opportunity to blackmail Popclaw into providing information about A-Train and Compound V. She reveals that A-Train gets his Compound V from a facility run by the Shining Light Liberation Army.
Compound V Investigation Begins
When The Boys investigate the location, they find a young Asian woman being held captive. After they free her, she kills all the captors, allowing Hughie and his companions to escape. The woman, later known as Kimiko or The Female (Karen Fukuhara), displays incredible strength and healing abilities. When A-Train learns about the massacre, he suspects Popclaw of leaking information, though she denies it when confronted.
Meanwhile, Vought blackmails Senator Calhoun into supporting legislation that would allow Vought to integrate their superheroes into the U.S. military. They blackmail him with compromising photos from a setup involving a sex worker.
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In a separate incident, Queen Maeve and Homelander attempt to rescue a hijacked plane. However, Homelander carelessly uses his heat vision, which destroys the plane’s control systems, causing it to crash. Homelander and Queen Maeve escape, leaving all passengers to die. Later, Vought spins the incident to convince the public that superheroes need to be involved in the military.
The Boys then track Kimiko as she flees. A-Train is also hunting her, intending to kill her. The Boys manage to capture Kimiko and bring her back to their base. A-Train confronts Popclaw again, and this time she confesses to leaking information. In response, A-Train forces her to overdose on drugs. He then discovers surveillance footage from Popclaw’s apartment showing Frenchie, and begins investigating him.
Truth Behind Superhero Creation
Butcher sends Hughie to infiltrate the Believe Expo, a religious event hosted by Ezekiel (Shaun Benson), leveraging Hughie’s growing relationship with Starlight. Ezekiel is a superhero with elastic powers who preaches against homosexuality while secretly engaging in homosexual relationships. At the event, Hughie blackmails Ezekiel with video evidence of his secret life, forcing him to reveal information about Compound V shipments through his organization, Samaritan’s Embrace.
Ezekiel reveals that Compound V is being distributed to hospitals across the United States. Using this information, MM and Butcher investigate a Compound V delivery at a hospital’s NICU. There, they obtain a sample of Compound V and discover that Vought has been using it to create super-powered babies by injecting newborns.
Back at The Boys’ hideout, Frenchie is caring for Kimiko, who is being kept contained. Developing a bond with her, Frenchie tries to help her adjust. However, they encounter Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), one of The Seven’s most dangerous members. Kimiko fights Black Noir to protect Frenchie but is severely injured. After Black Noir leaves, Frenchie helps Kimiko and witnesses her regenerative healing abilities.
The Boys uncover that Vought has been using Samaritan’s Embrace as a front to smuggle Compound V, under the guise of vaccinations, into hospitals since 1971. Meanwhile, at the Believe Expo, Starlight gives a speech about her sexual assault experience, shocking everyone present. As public outcry grows around The Deep, Vought forces him to make a public apology to Starlight and transfers him to Sandusky, Ohio.
Growing conflicted about his relationship with Starlight, Hughie begins to distance himself from Butcher’s mission. Butcher then reveals to Hughie his motivation for hating superheroes: Homelander had raped his wife, Becca, who then disappeared.
To learn more about Kimiko’s past, Frenchie and Mother’s Milk seek out Mesmer (Haley Joel Osment), a former superhero with telepathic abilities activated through touch. They offer to help him reconnect with his daughter in exchange for his help. Mesmer reveals that Kimiko is from Japan, and along with her brother, was kidnapped by the Shining Light Liberation Army, who used her as a test subject for Compound V.
The Boys learn that Vought has been creating super-powered terrorists using Compound V to advance their military integration agenda. However, Mesmer betrays The Boys by contacting Homelander and providing information about them. Homelander then confronts Starlight, accusing her of helping Hughie and The Boys.
Final Revelations and Confrontation
After discovering Hughie’s involvement, A-Train goes to Hughie’s house and takes his father hostage. When Hughie arrives, he uses the Compound V sample as leverage. While A-Train is distracted, Kimiko attacks him and injures his leg. After this incident, Hughie takes his father to safety.
Butcher then gives the Compound V evidence to Deputy Director Susan Raynor (Jennifer Esposito) of the CIA, who he worked with in the past. With this evidence, Raynor threatens Vought about their military integration plans. During her investigation, she discovers evidence of Vought creating super-terrorists.
Meanwhile, Homelander visits Jonah Vogelbaum (John Doman), Vought’s former lead scientist, to inquire about Becca Butcher (Shantel VanSanten). Dr. Vogelbaum initially claims that Becca had died during childbirth, along with Homelander’s child. However, this is revealed to be a lie.
Butcher takes Hughie to meet Grace Mallory (Laila Robins), the founder of the CIA’s superhero oversight program and original leader of The Boys. She reveals that her grandchildren were killed by Lamplighter, and provides information about Madelyn Stillwell’s manipulation of Homelander.
At Vought headquarters, Homelander confesses to Stillwell that he’s been distributing Compound V internationally to create super-terrorists, doing so to force through the military integration plan. When Frenchie, Kimiko, and Mother’s Milk are captured by Vought, Hughie attempts to free them with unexpected help from Starlight. During their escape, they encounter A-Train, who has a heart attack from his Compound V abuse during the fight with Starlight.
In the finale, Butcher confronts Stillwell at her house with explosives. When Homelander arrives, he reveals that he knows the truth about Becca and his child. Enraged by Stillwell’s lies, Homelander kills her using his heat vision. Despite Butcher’s attempt to detonate the explosives, Homelander saves him. The season ends with Homelander taking Butcher to a secret location, where he discovers Becca is alive and raising Homelander’s eight-year-old son.
