10 Shows To Watch if You Love ‘The Boys’
Created by Eric Kripke, Prime Video’s The Boys is an adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson‘s comic book series of the same name, and it’s a superior superhero satire in pretty much every imaginable way. Poking fun at superheroes, Hollywood, politics, and modern American society, it’s a show that’s not afraid to take things far with its dark sense of humor, twisted gore, and complete lack of reverence for what’s considered “in good taste” in television.
It’s such a fun series with such loyal fans that it’s quite likely that they’ll want to get more of the same kinds of experiences without having to wait for the next season of the show. Fortunately, there’s a solid variety of TV shows out there that are similar enough to The Boys that it’s pretty much guaranteed that fans will enjoy them. These are ten of those shows, ranked from least to most likely to appeal to The Boys fans’ tastes.
10
‘Banshee’ (2013–2016)
Created by David Schickler and Jonathan Tropper
The Boys has some jaw-dropping, Emmy-worthy performances, something that’s not all that common for genre shows like this one. For those who love the show for those performances—namely, for Antony Starr‘s terrifying turn as the murderous Homelander—, the intriguing procedural thriller Banshee is a must-see.
One of the most underrated drama shows out there, Banshee is shockingly violent and graphic, which fans of The Boys will surely also be able to appreciate. It’s also surprisingly intelligent in how it constructs its mysteries and labyrinthine character dynamics, though, which makes it engrossing from pilot to series finale.
9
‘Daredevil’ (2015–2018)
Created by Drew Goddard
For those who love the superhero side of The Boys, why not watch the single greatest superhero TV show ever created? That is, of course, Netflix’s Daredevil. When it was announced that the streaming giant would add its own little street-level microuniverse to the MCU, no one expected a story as gritty, mature, and deeply compelling as this one.
With plenty of riveting and brilliantly shot action scenes, some of the most engaging plotlines in the genre, and Netflix Marvel’s best characters, Daredevil is about as perfect as superhero TV series get. It can be dramatic and emotional with just as much ease as it can dive into butt-kicking fun action, but smart writing is always at the core of everything it does.
8
‘The Boys Presents: Diabolical’ (2022–)
Created by Eric Kripke, Simon Racioppa, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg
One of the most underrated animated series for adults, The Boys Presents: Diabolical is far from perfect, but it’s everything a fan of The Boys could hope for in an anthology series set in this fascinating universe. Mostly comprised of non-canon stories, but also with a particular canon episode that adds tons of depth to Homelander’s backstory, it’s a show that no lover of the original should miss out on.
Although, as can be expected when watching any anthology series, some episodes are certainly worse than others, the ones that are great really make up for whatever shortcomings the rest of the show may have. It’s a fantastic, creative, often hilarious animated series that really deserves to get a second season.
7
‘Supernatural’ (2005–2020)
Created by Eric Kripke
Eric Kripke, the creator of The Boys, has a long history in television. The first TV show he ever created was the cult classic Supernatural, one of the longest-running and most iconic fantasy series in television history. For those who love the dark tone, twisted humor, nuanced character dynamics, and pop culture references of The Boys, Kripke’s previous smash hit is a must-see.
Like any show that runs for 15 years tends to do, Supernatural definitely had its fair share of ups and downs—but the vast majority of those ups were terrific, making the occasional downs much easier to ignore. Throughout its whole run, it remained fun, emotionally compelling, and consistently unpredictable, perfectly balancing monster-of-the-week plots with entertaining overarching storylines.
6
‘The Umbrella Academy’ (2019–2024)
Created by Steve Blackman
Based on the comic book series of the same name written by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance fame, The Umbrella Academy is one of Netflix’s biggest hits. Highly imaginative in how it mixes different genres, tones, and styles to tell a lighthearted but constantly intense narrative, it’s a show that was thoroughly entertaining until the day it ended last year.
It’s gonzo television at its wildest, and for those who appreciate when The Boys stuffs its episodes with crazy ideas and creative decisions that don’t seem to click together but somehow do, Umbrella Academy is a guaranteed new favorite. It’s funny and visually delightful, it has a fantastic cast, and it never ceases to be fun.
5
‘Doom Patrol’ (2019–2023)
Created by Jeremy Carver
The world of live-action DC Comics television is a wild one; and in this wild world of shows both interconnected and standalone, Doom Patrol stands out as one of the best shows that have ever come out of DC. Delectably weird and with a rock-solid cast featuring the likes of Brendan Fraser and Diane Guerrero, it’s obligatory viewing for those who love when The Boys gets hilariously bizarre.
The show’s quirky heart and absurdist sense of humor are balanced in perfect doses, delivering stories that excite with their highly creative oddness and compel with their deeply layered emotional depth. Though it’s about one of DC’s lesser-known teams, so too were the characters of The Boys not exactly mainstream before the show came out. It’s always thrilling when an underrated roster is given their place in the spotlight like this.
4
‘Preacher’ (2016–2019)
Developed by Sam Catlin, Evan Goldberg, and Seth Rogen
The Boys isn’t the only TV show produced by Seth Rogen based on a comic book series by Garth Ennis. Indeed, there are some who might even argue that Preacher is the better show, even if it never managed to live up to the high mainstream popularity that The Boys has so effortlessly acquired.
Gory, visually dazzling, exquisitely weird, and with some exceptional performances by the likes of Dominic Cooper and Ruth Negga, it’s a masterful show that will feel familiar to fans of The Boys in all the best ways, while still offering a satisfyingly distinct experience. Although it has an ending that fans were somewhat underwhelmed by, everything else is so high-quality that it’s still very much worth getting into Preacher six years after it ended.
3
‘Peacemaker’ (2022–)
Created by James Gunn
The Boys isn’t the only satirical superhero show full of gory violence and graphic nudity in town. Indeed, the DC show Peacemaker, created by James Gunn, feels like it shares all of The Boys‘ best qualities, while still offering plenty of its own DC-coded spice. It’s hilarious, well-written, and it offers a shockingly great John Cena performance in the lead role.
In short, Peacemaker can already be counted among the best superhero shows of all time, and its second season hasn’t even come out yet. It’s full of creative ideas, it has some nail-biting action and suspense, and it perfectly knows when to go for crass, absurd laughs and when to slow down and zoom into an emotional character moment. It’s just that good of a TV series.
2
‘Invincible’ (2021–)
Created by Robert Kirkman
With each passing season, Prime Video’s Invincible (based on the comic book series by Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley, and show creator Robert Kirkman) becomes more and more deeply entrenched in contemporary mainstream pop culture. It’s not without its problems, but the bold animation and riveting storytelling make it a show that no fan of superhero television can miss. Certainly not The Boys fans.
Invincible can get violent, bloody, provocative, and pretty darn funny, but without ever sacrificing the emotion and nuance that lies at the core of its storytelling and its character development. It’s a brilliant disruption of the superhero genre, which fans of The Boys will find complements the themes of that show flawlessly.
1
‘Gen V’ (2023–)
Developed by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Eric Kripke
There really is no better show for fans of The Boys to watch than the show’s live-action spin-off Gen V, a show that is leaps and bounds better than anyone expected it to be. The concept of a teen show in a university in the world of The Boys seems, on paper, like the perfect excuse to resort to juvenile humor and trite story formulas, but that’s not what Gen V is. It’s high-quality, high-effort storytelling that feels perfectly different from its predecessor, but still adds depth and lore to it that fans won’t want to miss.
Indeed, judging from the latest season of The Boys and the season finale of Gen V‘s inaugural season, it seems that watching this spin-off will be essential to fully understanding whatever comes next in this twisted, bloody, backstabbing-filled world. That’s a good thing, too, because this is one of the most underrated sci-fi shows of recent years, one that deserves just as much love as the original. It’s funny, smart, emotionally compelling, constantly transgressive, and an awful lot of fun.
