Garth Ennis & Seth Rogen talk about adapting THE BOYS for TV

You might think Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have their hands full with their adaption of Garth Ennis’ cult-classic comic series Preacher for AMC but they, along with Supernatural‘s Eric Kripke, are also working with the author (as Darryn told us previously) on adapting another of his series, ‘The Boys’, for Cinemax.

For those of you who might be unaware, Cinemax has been working hard to shed the “Skinemax” nickname they received for airing more… risque… entertainment over the years – and anyone who’s watched Banshee knows they’re definitely on the right track. That show is also the main reason why I was quite pleased to hear The Boys was being developed for Cinemax, it features hands-down the most intense and vicious fight scenes on TV outside of a UFC ring, and violence is something ‘The Boys’ definitely don’t shy away from – and neither does the network.

At a recent press conference (via JoBlo) Rogen and Ennis spoke briefly about how the development is progressing, with Rogen saying “we’re in a similar place with it now where we were with Preacher. Now that we’ve convinced everyone to let us adapt this into a show, what are we actually going to do?”

While Preacher certainly deals with controversial themes that can ruffle peoples’ sensibilities, and the pilot has only hinted at just how deep down the rabbit hole we could go, ‘The Boys’ is a bit more straight forward in that regard. Ennis also believes the series will be easier to adapt for television as more people are familiar with the superhero genre in general, saying:

I think in terms of plot, it’s going to be easier. I think it’s a lot more linear. Ten years ago, if you introduced The Boys to a mainstream audience, they would’ve been mystified, they would be able to identify roughly who was standing in for Batman, Superman, the Hulk, probably Spider-Man and Captain America. Not beyond that.

Now, 10 years on, with the success of the various franchises, mainstream audiences have been educated in the world of superheroes. So when an Iron Man-esque guy pops up, they’ll know who that is. That’s going to be simpler.

Ennis does have one concern though, saying, “The Boys look[s] as good as a superhero movie. It’s less grounded than Preacher in that regard.” Which means a bit more budget for special effects, and that’s one of the things Rogen, Goldberg and Kripke are going to have to figure out.

But then again who thought they’d ever see Gorilla Grodd or King Shark not only on TV, but also looking very good?

Last Updated: June 1, 2016