In The Boys, superheroes are real, and they're a product. They're owned by a corporation called Vought International, managed by publicists, licensed for films and merchandise, and sold to cities as a protection service. Most of them are vain, reckless or worse. The most powerful of all, Homelander, is a man with Superman's abilities and none of his conscience.
The story begins when a speedster runs straight through Hughie Campbell's girlfriend while she's standing next to him. A foul-mouthed stranger named Billy Butcher offers Hughie a chance to get even, and recruits him into a small team of people who hunt "Supes." Based on the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the show sorts neatly into three sides: Butcher's crew, the Supes, and the corporation and politicians behind them.
- Developed by
- Eric Kripke
- Based on
- The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson
- Network
- Prime Video
- Run
- 2019–2026, five seasons
- Spin-offs
- The Boys Presents: Diabolical, Gen V
The Boys
Butcher's team is a handful of damaged people with a shared grudge against Supes and very few resources. They win by blackmail, research and improvised violence, and they fight each other nearly as often as they fight Vought.
Billy Butcher
Leader of the Boys
Butcher is a charming, profane Englishman who hates every Supe alive, and Homelander most of all. He believes Homelander assaulted his wife, Becca, who then disappeared. He'll lie to and use his own team to get his revenge, and the show keeps asking whether there's much difference between him and the monsters he's hunting. His relationship with Becca's son Ryan, who is also Homelander's son, becomes the soft spot he can't cover up.
- Actor
- Karl Urban
Hughie Campbell
Electronics store clerk turned vigilante
Hughie is a polite, nervous young man from New York with a dad he adores and a girlfriend, Robin, whom A-Train kills in the first episode. Grief makes him say yes to Butcher. He's the person on the team most likely to say "we shouldn't do this," and the series follows how long he can keep saying it. His relationship with Starlight is the show's main love story.
- Actor
- Jack Quaid
Mother's Milk (Marvin)
The team's conscience and planner
M.M. is a methodical, rule-following family man. Soldier Boy's violence wrecked his family when he was a child, which is why he's in this fight. He's also trying to stay present for his daughter, Janine, and to manage obsessive-compulsive habits under constant stress. He often ends up as the team's acting leader when Butcher goes too far.
- Actor
- Laz Alonso
Frenchie (Serge)
Weapons and chemistry expert
Frenchie is a Parisian ex-criminal who can build, mix or fix almost anything. He's emotional, impulsive and haunted by things he did for a dangerous former employer. His bond with Kimiko is the tenderest relationship in the show: he learns her sign language and protects her without trying to control her.
- Actor
- Tomer Capone
Kimiko Miyashiro
The Female · Supe
Kimiko is a young Japanese woman who was abducted, given Compound V and forced into a terrorist group. She has enormous strength and regenerates from almost any wound. She doesn't speak, communicating through sign language, and her journey is about whether she can live as more than a weapon. She's the only Supe on Butcher's team, which makes her a constant contradiction to his worldview.
- Actor
- Karen Fukuhara
The Seven
The Seven are Vought's flagship team, an obvious parody of the Justice League. On screen they're symbols of America. Behind the scenes they're a dysfunctional office run by a man nobody can fire.
Homelander
Leader of the Seven
Homelander can fly, shoot heat from his eyes and survive nearly anything, and he's raised to be the face of America in a red, white and blue cape. He was also raised in a lab, without parents or affection, and he's desperate to be loved and terrified of not being. That neediness makes him unpredictable. Over the seasons he sheds his restraint and becomes the show's sharpest satire of celebrity, nationalism and power that answers to no one.
- Actor
- Antony Starr
Starlight (Annie January)
Newest member of the Seven
Annie is a sincere, church-raised hero from Iowa who absorbs and projects light. Joining the Seven is her childhood dream, and the dream breaks almost immediately. Instead of quitting, she stays and starts leaking Vought's secrets. She's the one Supe who acts like a hero is supposed to, and that makes her a target from every side.
- Actor
- Erin Moriarty
Queen Maeve
Veteran member of the Seven
Maeve is the show's take on Wonder Woman: superstrong, battle-hardened and completely burnt out. Years next to Homelander have taught her to drink, keep quiet and protect herself. Vought hides her relationship with her girlfriend Elena until it becomes a marketing opportunity. Her slow return to heroism is one of the show's most satisfying threads.
- Actor
- Dominique McElligott
A-Train
The fastest man alive
A-Train is a speedster terrified of losing his place, and he's taking Compound V to stay on top. Killing Hughie's girlfriend is an accident he barely acknowledges at first. Over later seasons he has to reckon with that, with his health and with how Vought uses him as its Black face while ignoring the communities he comes from.
- Actor
- Jessie T. Usher
The Deep
Underwater hero
The Deep talks to sea creatures and has the self-awareness of a damp sponge. He's an Aquaman parody, and after he abuses Starlight in the first episode he's exiled to Ohio. He spends seasons trying to buy his way back, including through a cult called the Church of the Collective. The show plays him for laughs and never lets you forget what he did.
- Actor
- Chace Crawford
Black Noir
Silent masked fighter
Noir never speaks or removes his suit, and he's the Seven's most frightening fighter. Season three finally shows what's under the mask, and why he's so loyal to Vought's founders.
- Actor
- Nathan Mitchell
Translucent
Invisible hero · Season one
Translucent can turn his carbon-hard skin invisible, and he uses it mainly as a voyeur. He's the first Supe the Boys capture.
- Actor
- Alex Hassell
Stormfront
Season two newcomer
Stormfront arrives as a punk, anti-corporate breath of fresh air with electricity powers and a huge online following. She's far older than she looks, and her real beliefs are much uglier than her image. She pulls Homelander toward something worse.
- Actor
- Aya Cash
Sister Sage
The smartest person on Earth · Season four
Sage's power is intelligence, and she uses it to steer Homelander and public opinion for her own ends. She's bored by almost everyone.
- Actor
- Susan Heyward
Firecracker
Conspiracy streamer · Season four
A pyrotechnic Supe who hosts a conspiracy-theory show and has a long grudge against Starlight.
- Actor
- Valorie Curry
Lamplighter
Former member
A fire-controlling hero who left the Seven after a terrible act tied to Grace Mallory's family. He's guilt-stricken and stuck working for Vought.
- Actor
- Shawn Ashmore
Other Supes
Soldier Boy
America's first superhero · Season three
Soldier Boy is a Second World War-era hero in Captain America's mould, Vought's star long before Homelander. He's been missing for decades. When he returns, he's exactly what a 1940s propaganda hero would really be: violent, prejudiced and out of time. His shaky alliance with Butcher and his connection to Homelander drive season three.
- Actor
- Jensen Ackles
Crimson Countess
Member of Payback
Soldier Boy's former teammate and ex-lover, who can project heat blasts. Now reduced to fairground appearances, she has every reason to fear his return.
- Actor
- Laurie Holden
Ryan Butcher
Homelander and Becca's son
A young boy with his father's powers who was raised in hiding by his mother. Both Homelander and Butcher want to shape who he becomes.
- Actor
- Cameron Crovetti
Victoria Neuman
Congresswoman
A rising politician who campaigns against Vought in public. She has a secret power and her own reasons for hiding it, and she becomes a major player in Washington.
- Actor
- Claudia Doumit
Supersonic
Starlight's first love · Season three
Annie's childhood boyfriend, a flying Supe who's brought into the Seven briefly and is far nicer than its usual members.
Vought International and politics
Vought makes the heroes, owns the heroes and sells the heroes. Its executives are where the show's corporate satire bites hardest.
Madelyn Stillwell
Vought vice-president · Season one
Stillwell manages the Seven, and Homelander in particular. She's cool, efficient and possibly the only person who can handle him, which she does with a disturbing mix of corporate talk and motherly manipulation.
- Actor
- Elisabeth Shue
Stan Edgar
CEO of Vought
Edgar is the one person at Vought who doesn't fear Homelander, because he understands exactly what Homelander is worth and what he isn't. He's calm, measured and treats superpowers as a business line.
- Actor
- Giancarlo Esposito
Ashley Barrett
Vought publicist
Ashley is a perpetually panicked PR executive who keeps getting promoted into jobs that are more dangerous than she can manage. Her stress is often played for laughs, and it's entirely reasonable.
- Actor
- Colby Minifie
Grace Mallory
Former CIA officer
The woman who founded the Boys years ago and now advises Butcher, reluctantly, from a distance. She has her own history with Soldier Boy.
- Actor
- Laila Robins
Family and friends
- Becca Butcher (Shantel VanSanten) — Butcher's wife, who disappears after an encounter with Homelander and is raising his son in secret.
- Hugh Campbell Sr. (Simon Pegg) — Hughie's gentle father. Simon Pegg was the artist's model for Hughie in the original comic, which is why the show cast him as the dad.
- Robin Ward (Jess Salgueiro) — Hughie's girlfriend, killed by A-Train in the first scene of the series.
- Elena (Nicola Correia-Damude) — Maeve's girlfriend, who wants Maeve to be braver than Vought lets her be.
- Monique and Janine — M.M.'s ex-wife and daughter, whom he's trying to keep safe and keep close.
The Boys cast list
| Character | Actor | Side |
|---|---|---|
| Billy Butcher | Karl Urban | The Boys |
| Hughie Campbell | Jack Quaid | The Boys |
| Mother's Milk | Laz Alonso | The Boys |
| Frenchie | Tomer Capone | The Boys |
| Kimiko | Karen Fukuhara | The Boys |
| Homelander | Antony Starr | The Seven |
| Starlight | Erin Moriarty | The Seven |
| Queen Maeve | Dominique McElligott | The Seven |
| A-Train | Jessie T. Usher | The Seven |
| The Deep | Chace Crawford | The Seven |
| Black Noir | Nathan Mitchell | The Seven |
| Stormfront | Aya Cash | The Seven |
| Sister Sage | Susan Heyward | The Seven |
| Firecracker | Valorie Curry | The Seven |
| Soldier Boy | Jensen Ackles | Payback |
| Madelyn Stillwell | Elisabeth Shue | Vought |
| Stan Edgar | Giancarlo Esposito | Vought |
| Ashley Barrett | Colby Minifie | Vought |
| Victoria Neuman | Claudia Doumit | Politics |
| Hugh Campbell Sr. | Simon Pegg | Family |
Major deaths (spoilers)
- Robin is killed by A-Train in the opening minutes of the series.
- Translucent is killed by the Boys in season one, with an explosive Hughie sets off.
- Madelyn Stillwell is killed by Homelander in the season one finale.
- Becca dies in the season two finale, accidentally killed by Ryan as he tries to protect her.
- Black Noir is killed by Homelander in the season three finale after the truth about Soldier Boy comes out.
- Queen Maeve loses her powers in season three and lets the world believe she's dead so she can leave with Elena.
- Victoria Neuman is killed by Butcher in the season four finale.
What the characters are really about
The Boys asks what superheroes would look like if they were real people working for a real company. The answer is mostly unflattering, and every character pushes on a different part of it:
- Homelander is unchecked power with a fragile ego, and the show treats him less as a comic-book villain than as a celebrity who can't be held accountable.
- Butcher is the anti-hero who may be as dangerous as the thing he hates. He's a strong case study in our anti-hero guide.
- Starlight and Hughie are the test of whether decency survives inside a rotten system.
- Vought is the real antagonist: a "corrupt system" villain of the kind described in villain types.
The fun is spotting the targets. The Seven riff on the DC roster, Soldier Boy on Captain America, and the cinematic-universe marketing on the Marvel machine. If the show's anger about money and power is what grips you, Squid Game attacks the same thing from a very different angle.
Where to start
- The Boys, season one — eight episodes that set up nearly everyone on this page. Start here.
- The Boys Presents: Diabolical — an animated anthology of short, standalone stories set in the same world. Optional.
- Gen V — follows students at Godolkin University, a college for young Supes. Its first season sits between seasons three and four of The Boys and links into the main story.
- The comics — the original series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson is far more extreme, and many characters (Kimiko, Starlight, Homelander) differ in big ways.
Our watch order guide explains the general approach to shows with spin-offs like Gen V.
All The Boys character names A–Z
A–B
- A-Train — The Seven
- Ashley Barrett — Vought
- Becca Butcher — Butcher's wife
- Billy Butcher — The Boys
- Black Noir — The Seven
C–F
- Crimson Countess — Payback
- The Deep — The Seven
- Elena — Maeve's girlfriend
- Firecracker — The Seven
- Frenchie — The Boys
G–K
- Grace Mallory — Former CIA
- Homelander — The Seven
- Hugh Campbell Sr. — Hughie's father
- Hughie Campbell — The Boys
- Kimiko Miyashiro — The Boys
L–Q
- Lamplighter — Former Seven
- Madelyn Stillwell — Vought
- Mother's Milk — The Boys
- Queen Maeve — The Seven
R–S
- Robin Ward — Hughie's girlfriend
- Ryan Butcher — Homelander's son
- Sister Sage — The Seven
- Soldier Boy — Payback
- Stan Edgar — Vought CEO
- Starlight — The Seven
- Stormfront — The Seven
- Supersonic — Supe
T–V
- Translucent — The Seven
- Victoria Neuman — Congresswoman
Frequently asked questions
Who is the main character in The Boys?
The show splits its focus. Hughie Campbell is the audience's way in: an ordinary man whose girlfriend is killed by a superhero. Billy Butcher leads the team and drives most of the plot, and Homelander is the central antagonist. Starlight is the main point of view inside the Seven.
Who are the members of the Seven?
At the start of the series: Homelander, Queen Maeve, A-Train, The Deep, Black Noir, Translucent and newcomer Starlight. Membership changes every season. Stormfront joins in season two, Supersonic briefly in season three, and Sister Sage and Firecracker in season four.
Who plays Homelander?
Antony Starr, a New Zealand actor best known before The Boys for the Cinemax series Banshee. His performance, which swings from public charm to private menace, is the most praised in the show.
Who are the members of The Boys?
Billy Butcher, Hughie Campbell, Mother's Milk (Marvin), Frenchie (Serge) and Kimiko Miyashiro. Starlight works with them from inside the Seven and eventually joins them openly.
Is Soldier Boy Homelander's father?
Yes. Season three reveals that Homelander was created in a Vought lab using Soldier Boy's genetic material, which makes Soldier Boy his biological father. Neither of them takes it well.
How many seasons of The Boys are there?
Five. The show premiered in July 2019, and the fifth season, released in 2026, is the final one. The world continues in spin-offs such as Gen V, set at a university for young Supes.