The Creepy Connection Between The Boys And What We Do In The Shadows

What does Prime Video's "The Boys" and FX's "What We Do In The Shadows" have in common? Well, nothing immediate or obvious at all, as these respective shows dabble in distinctly different brands of genre subversion. While "The Boys" takes an irreverent, sharp, and satirical approach to the superhero genre, "What We Do In The Shadows" completely embraces vampire mythos while leaning hard into heartfelt charm and genuine hilarity. Neither show can be strictly considered horror, but do contain slivers of the genre, employed to lighthearted and gruesome extremes along the course of its seasons.

The only overlap between these two shows comes in the form of shared special effects teams who sometimes recycle props from one show and use them in the other. The practical and digital effects in "What We Do In The Shadows" mostly highlight (or evoke) something fantastical or supernatural, such as CG bats, invisible objects, or a mundane explosion. Puppeteering is also used in some cases: For instance, practical effects, in combination with puppeteering, have been used to intensify the expressions on the Nadja doll, whereas visual effects have been used to establish exterior shots or grant the illusion of shapeshifting (via VFXVoices).

On the flip side, the VFX used in "The Boys" helps bring the most gruesome, realistic spectacles to life, ever-present in the series right from its first bloody death to the super-odd, difficult-to-pull-off Termite sequence in season 3. Moreover, special effects play a key role in making the central premise more believable, as it helps shape the visual impact of someone like Homelander cutting someone in half with his lasers or The Deep being uncomfortably familiar with one of his underwater mollusk friends.

Although the special effects for both shows are used for distinct ends, one commonality helped forge a connection between the two.

Spoilers for "The Boys" and "WWDITS" to follow.

Haley Joel Osment played Charles/Mesmer in season 1 of "The Boys," where the telepathic Supe character assisted the titular group to better understand Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and her troubled past. Things do not go quite as planned after Kimiko crushes Mesmer's arm beyond recognition, and he later betrays the group by meeting A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and furnishing Vought with information about the group. Although Mesmer was smart enough to attempt an escape, an angry Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) bashed his head against a sink repeatedly, killing him.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Osment explained the mutilated arm prop that was used in the first season of "The Boys" was later used in season 2 of "What We Do In The Shadows," where the actor played the later-resurrected zombie familiar, Topher Delmonico:

"A fun bit of behind-the-scenes trivia for you. I had an arm mutilated on 'The Boys' in Toronto last year and it was still hanging around in a warehouse. Some of the effects people from 'The Boys' were working on 'What We Do In The Shadows', funny enough. So when they were prepping this episode, they realized they still had my arm and we used it again."

The episode in question was "Resurrection," in which Topher is hired as a familiar by Laszlo (Matt Berry) and Nadja (Natalie Demetriou) after the former charms everyone with a suave facade. Only the slightly miffed Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) realizes that he is a phony, and a series of unfortunate events lead to Topher's death and eventual zombification. It is a great episode, and it makes sense for the prop team to make use of an already-existing mutilated arm prop to execute the hilarious scene where Guillermo accidentally knocks Topher's arm off.