Prime Video’s Emmy-winning series The Boys, based on The New York Times best-selling comic of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, doesn’t shy away from embracing the wildest moments from the story that inspired it, bringing some of the most incredible scenes to live action over the course of its first three seasons.
Starring Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, and more, the hit superhero send-up puts a unique spin on the superhero genre by focusing on the darker side of what the world might look like if superheroes really existed. At least part of that premise makes for some of the most shocking and hilarious scenes ever put on screen.
With the debut of Season 4 on Prime Video, let’s look back on some of the most head-popping moments to date on The Boys.
1. A-Train’s literal hit-and-run
The moment that started it all. In the series premiere of The Boys, we meet Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), who is spending a quiet afternoon chatting with his girlfriend, Robin (Jess Salgueiro). But in the blink of an eye, Robin is literally liquified when A-Train accidentally runs through her using his super-speed. The moment plays out in gruesome slow motion, with Hughie left standing stunned and speechless, and holding nothing but Robin’s dismembered hands.
2. The Deep’s octopus dinner
A running gag through the series is The Deep’s (Chace Crawford) friendship with aquatic creatures, most notably a friendship with an octopus named Timothy. Homelander (Antony Starr) learns of The Deep’s sexual relationship with his octopus friend, and forces him to eat the animal—alive—while he pleads for his life.
It’s one of those moments that threads the needle for humor and shock, and it’s also the scene that earned The Boys an award from PETA for using a fully CGI octopus. “The Boys’ real heroes are working behind the scenes, creating a realistic CGI octopus so that animals can live in peace,” PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said in a statement. “PETA is celebrating this series for helping viewers see every octopus as an individual like Timothy, not as an entrée or as entertainment.”
3. Courtroom chaos
Just when it seems like Vought International will receive some government accountability at a high-profile hearing, the proceedings are drastically interrupted when the heads of those in the courtroom literally start exploding. It’s one of the most shocking moments in the show’s run, putting a bloody, chaotic twist into a moment no one saw coming.
4. Homelander turns on a protester
The series has often depicted Homelander’s fantasies of snapping and killing innocent humans in his own mind, but he never actually acted on those impulses until the end of Season 3. When a protester throws a piece of trash and hits his son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), Homelander turns his energy blast toward the man and kills him on a crowded street in front of hundreds of witnesses. But instead of shock and fear, Homelander’s supporters cheer on the act of violence.
5. Termite’s ill-timed sneeze
The Boys has never shied away from showing how superpowers and sex can make for strange bedfellows, and the third season opened with one of the show’s wildest moments. Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) infiltrate an underground party, where tucked away in a private room with his lover, the size-changing hero Termite shrinks all the way down to literally enter his lover’s body. But things go from sexy to deadly in a split second when Termite has to sneeze. It turns out he uncontrollably reverts to regular size when he sneezes, essentially creating, well, a bloody, shocking mess.
6. The Whale
In this Season 2 moment, The Boys find themselves in a speedboat and on the run from The Deep, who admittedly has the upper hand with his aquatic powers on the open water. But just when it seems like The Deep has blocked The Boys’ escape path with a whale, Butcher (Karl Urban) punches the accelerator and drives directly through the whale, essentially spearing it with the full-speed boat. It makes for a dreadful if sad moment, as The Deep later mourns the loss of his dear aquatic friend.
7. ‘Herogasm’
When The Boys live-action series was announced, fans wondered how it might tackle the comic book’s “Herogasm” storyline, which featured a superhero orgy that upped the comic’s notoriety. They needn’t have worried. That frisky assortment of supes and superpowers translated into a truly bonkers TV moment.
