“The Boys” will adapt a controversial storyline from the original comic books in season 3 but what exactly is a “Herogasm?”…
For all the shocking moments that have taken place during “The Boys” seasons 1 and 2, longtime fans of the comic books have been well prepared for the insanity that the series has produced thus far.
Actually — as hard as this might be to believe — “The Boys” on television is actually a very toned down version of the original comics from writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson. Some of the graphic and truly disturbing material contained in the pages of the comic book have been changed or otherwise eliminated (thankfully in some parts) while still very much keeping the spirit of the show and the original source material the same.
But “The Boys” season 3 promises to adapt one of the most controversial and talked about moments from the comics as revealed by showrunner Eric Kripke on Sunday.
“From day one, everyone dared me to make this episode. CHALLENGE MET MOTHERFUCKERS,” Kripke wrote on Twitter.
From day one, everyone dared me to make this episode. CHALLENGE MET MOTHERFUCKERS#TheBoys #TheBoysTV @TheBoysTV @PrimeVideo @SPTV #SPNFamily @Sethrogen @evandgoldberg pic.twitter.com/q4pAMZWZDl
— Eric Kripke (@therealKripke) January 17, 2021
The teaser revealed that “Herogasm” will arrive with episode No. 6 during “The Boys” season 3, which means that particular storyline will take place during the latter part of the season with eight total episodes coming from the Amazon Prime show. The writer of the episode, Jessica Chou, is a new addition to “The Boys” in season 3 after previous working on shows such as “Wu-Assassins.”
If you haven’t read the comic books and you want to know nothing further about what “Herogasm” truly means, stop now but if you want to have some idea of what’s coming during “The Boys” season 3, keep reading.
Now first and foremost let’s preface by saying “The Boys” television adaptation of “Herogasm” might be vastly different from the source material, although there’s a good chance many of the same elements will remain.
In the original comic books, Vought-America (adapted as Vought International in the series) puts on a once a year retreat on a private island for the majority of the superheroes from around the world. While a fake crisis is invented, which then requires all of the heroes to team up in order to stop the threat, what’s really happening is much, much more disturbing.
On this private island, the Supes engage in just about every kind of carnal debauchery that you could possibly imagine. There are huge group orgies that take place between the superheroes as well as sex workers, who are paid handsomely to go to the island and essentially do whatever is asked of them. In addition to the huge sex party taking place, the heroes also take copious amounts of drugs and alcohol and anything else that will make them feel good for the week while enjoying this luxurious spread afforded to them. Many of the scenes taking place in the comic are more or less pornographic, so it’s impossible to know exactly what will be adapted for the series.
Now during the original comic book miniseries where the “Herogasm” is explored, there’s actually a scene where the Homelander has sex with Soldier Boy (in the comic, Homelander is a very free spirit when it comes to his sexuality). Soldier Boy engages in the act because he hopes by succumbing to Homelander that he’ll eventually earn a spot in The Seven. Of course, Homelander turns him down flat after they finish copulating.
This particular scene has already been shot down by Kripke, who said previously that Homelander and Soldier Boy (who will be played in season 3 by “Supernatural” star Jensen Ackles) won’t be hooking up. That said, it’s hard to imagine Homelander’s most twisted fantasies won’t become a huge part of this particular episodes, especially considering all the weird fetishes he’s already explored during the first two seasons.
There’s also another truly disturbing moment in the comics where the Boys infiltrate the island sex party and Hughie is actually sexually assaulted by Black Noir. Hughie doesn’t reveal what happened to him until later but it’s tough to imagine they’ll be adapting this particular story into the series.
One of the bigger revelations made during this week filled with debauchery is that Vought was also partially responsible for the tragedy that took place on 9-11.
It seems at the time when the terrorist attack happened, Vought had placed a sleeper inside the White House with a politician named Vic Neumann — a character that has been adapted into the series named Congresswoman Victoria Neumann. In the comic book, Vic incapacitates the president in order for him to take over control momentarily and he orders the U.S. military to stand down so he can send in the heroes to stop one of the planes aimed at killing Americans. Tragically, the Seven botch the job and the plane ends up crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge, killing thousands in the process. The entire ordeal is then covered up in order to save Vought from facing any kind of justice for their actions.
We know that Victoria Neumann is now a very important character in “The Boys” series so it seems entirely possible she will play a part in this highly anticipated “Herogasm” episode but it’s impossible to know how that might tie back to the original source material.
One thing is for certain, when “The Boys” season 3, episode 6 arrives, expect more than a few jaws to hit the floor because if this is anything even remotely close to the comic books, the series will have a whole lot of people talking the next day.
