By Travis Johnson
The Hollywood Reporter tells us that once and hopefully future Dredd star Karl Urban, recently seen in Thor: Ragnarok, has been cast in The Boys, the upcoming Amazon series based on the hyper-violent, hyper-offensive, yet still worth a read comic book series by Garth Ennis (Preacher) and Darrick Robertson (Transmetropolitan).
Set in a darkly (so, so darkly) satirical world populated by superheroes, The Boys follows the exploits of the titular CIA black ops team, who are charged with policing the superhuman community and keeping the capes in line – with lethal force if necessary. Told from the point of view of new recruit Wee Hughie (Jack Quaid in the TV series), The Boys is deep dive into superhero history and hypocrisy, presenting recognisable analogues of famous characters in the the bleakest way possible: the Justice League has a casting couch, the X-Men are a pedophile ring, Batman is a complete psychopath, and so on. Urban is set to play Billy Butcher, the leader of The Boys, a ruthless operator with a staggering capacity for violence and a deep love for his pet bulldog, Terror.
It’ll be good grist for the mill for producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who have brought Ennis’ previous comic, Preacher, to the small screen (rather unsuccessfully, but it seems popular nonetheless). Supernatural‘s Eric Kripke is on showrunner duties, and the cast is rounded out by Karen Fukuhara, Erin Moriarty, Antony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Chace Crawford and Nathan Mitchell.
Expect The Boys late in the year.