An Update on Garth Ennis' The Boys

Sick of superhero movies? Yeah, me too sorta. Which is why I've been secretly jumping out of my skin at the thought of Garth Ennis' dark, satirical superhero comic, The Boys, being brought to the big screen. The Boys is an ultra-violent comic book series published by Dynamite Entertainment, about a CIA black ops squad who's sole mission is to keep superheroes in line. In this world Ennis has created, superheroes behave probably how they would in real life. They abuse their powers endlessly, putting civilians at constant risk, engage in wild superhuman orgies, and market the hell out of themselves in order to earn money. The Boys are led by a rogueish thug named The Butcher, who has a serious score to settle with all super powered folks. He's joined in his quest by Mother's Milk, The Frenchman, The Female, and the book's everyman named Wee Hughie.

The film is currently being scripted by Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, who co-wrote the upcoming Clash of the Titans remake starring Sam Worthington. Superhero Hype had a chance to talk to the two writers about their plans for The Boys. Some of the things they had to say are interesting and keep me hopeful.

On Garth Ennis' take on the project....

"Awesome guy and he kind of gave us his blessing to take it where we needed to take it," Manfredi continued. "He said, 'Don't be too precious. Feel free to... if you need to kill someone, kill someone.' Obviously we love love love the books, and the overarching storyline had yet to be finished, so we said, 'Well, we think this is where it's going, are we right? Is this going to happen to this character?' and he was like, 'You're close, don't worry about it. Do what you have to do.' It wasn't in a dismissive way, it was in a very generous way."

"Yeah, and I think ultimately we ended up with the script that we have now," Hay concluded, "which I think is actually quite faithful version of 'The Boys' and then the stuff that's new hopefully very much fits into the world. In short, he was really great, because he understands I think what it is to adapt something, but I think he also sensed from us that we knew and loved his work in and out and we’re going to find a way to get that up on the screen."

On staying true to the books' roots...

"This is very faithful to the characters," Manfredi replied. "We kept all the superheroes and we kept all the characters from 'The Boys' and we've peppered in a few new ones, but in general, we're pretty faithful to the book."

The two go on to say that they are definitely interested in approaching Simon Pegg for the role of Wee Hughie. Garth Ennis and series artist Darick Robertson patterned the character after Pegg's look, so the actor would obviously be a natural fit. It's a role he could absolutely nail, too, as it calls for a ton of self-deprecating humor.  

The Boys is a series I loved for a couple of years, but recently dropped from my subscription pile. While the over arching conspiracy story was compelling for awhile, the main draw of the book is it's graphic nudity, sex, and violence. They did a whole storyline centered around a yearly superhero orgy that takes place, which was cool for about one issue. If and when the film ever hits the big screen(it likely will), chances are it will follow the book's initial storyline dealing with Wee Hughie's introduction to the team. I'm interested in seeing who they get to fill out the cast, and who they might approach as director.