Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT According to Garth Ennis, creator of The Boys, social media would have radically altered how he wrote the series –though exactly how he thinks it would have changed the story is another example of the author's patented cynicism, which was everpresent throughout The Boys run. However, it is worth considering an alternate perspective on technology, and how it could have informed the story in very different ways.
For context, The Boys began publication in 2006 – the year before the first iPhone hit the market. Though Twitter was created the same year, it didn't truly start become the society-altering platform that it is today until 2012, just as The Boys was concluding its run. For the majority of its run, much of the plot of The Boys hinged on the ability of the U.S. government, alongside the corporation known as Vought-American, to control the flow of information about superheroes to the public. Through the force of omnipresent media, Vought was able to manipulate the narrative about superheroes, effectively drowning out dissenting voices.
In his answer, Ennis acknowledges his perspective on social media and internet culture is not positive. He would have seized upon the worst aspects of it, producing the same cutting critiques that The Boys applied to everything from superhero stories, to the self-interested actions of corporations at the expense of their customers. The Boys would have looked very different as a contemporary story – but that is, above all else, a product of Garth Ennis' perspective as a creator.
The question of social media's impact on The Boys is best consolidated down to the series' primary – though ultimate – antagonist, the leader of the Seven and Superman-esque figure known as Homelander. Conceptually, Homelander's character stems from the question of what it would be like if Superman's clean-cut image, and his committment to "truth, justice, and the American way," were all fronts for a truly deranged, power-mad individual.
Amazon's "The Boys" Can Address Ennis' Concerns About Social Media The Benefit Of Adaptation Close For Ennis, the internet would have made his story " 90% worse ," but for the many members of the audience, especially Millennial and Gen Z fans, there is a great deal of positive potential for the impact of social media on the story of The Boys .