The One 'The Boys' Scene Amazon Asked To Be Cut
The Boys is one of the more graphic TV shows in recent memory, loaded with gore, sexual situations, and a whole lot more. But despite Amazon being okay with so much adult content on display in the series, there was one scene that they thought crossed the line. Below, show creator Eric Kripke reveals the details behind The Boys deleted scene.
If you watch The Boys, you might get the impression that Amazon let the anti-superhero series get away with everything and anything they wanted. But that's not true. According to series creator Eric Kripke (via ComingSoon), the streaming service took issue with one specific scene involving Anthony Starr's character Homelander, and made Kripke cut it out:
"I couldn't quite understand why considering everything else we have in the show, but: Homelander, after being dressed down by Stilwell in episode 2, was standing on one of the Chrysler building Eagles. He pulled his pants down and started j***ing off, mumbling 'I can do whatever I want' over and over again until he climaxed all over New York City. We shot it! Oh my God, Anthony was the BEST in that scene. Amazon seemed to think it wasn't necessary. I thought it told me something about his psyche. To be clear, they've been great, that may have been the ONLY fight I lost in Season 1."
Kripke has a point: it's almost nonsensical that Amazon would be okay with all the other graphic material from the series, but take issue with a scene of a character masturbating. But that's exactly what happened.
I was not a fan of The Boys, finding myself ultimately very turned-off by its cruel nihilism. In my review, I wrote: "It is void of hope, and void of heart. But that's also the point. In the end, it's a conflicting show – I'm horrified by what it's selling, but I'm supposed to be. I walked away feeling utterly miserable. So...mission accomplished, I guess?"
I seem to be in the minority here, though, as most folks are getting a kick out of the show. So to those of you who dug the show, I ask: would you have liked to see the scene where Homelander jerks off and climaxes "all over New York City"? Or was it wise to just leave this on the virtual cutting room floor?
The Boys is now streaming.
The Boys is an irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as gods, abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It's the powerless against the super powerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about the supergroup known as "The Seven."