The VCU: All the fake movies and shows from 'The Boys' (original) (raw)
Of course a show that regularly lampoons pop culture's superhero obsession has its own cinematic universe. Welcome to the VCU, a.k.a. the Vought Cinematic Universe, from The Boys.
Amazon's Emmy-nominated satirical drama takes place in a world that looks much like our own, only it's filled with supes. These heroes usually come prepackaged with their own merchandise and, yes, movie and TV franchises, courtesy of their corporate overlords at Vought International.
The Boys is filled with movie posters, TV promos, and casual mentions of this vast entertainment library, some of which you really only glimpse by scrutinizing the backgrounds of certain scenes. You just gotta know where to look.
Here are all the fake movies, shows, news programs, and specials created especially for the world of The Boys, which returns for season 3 on Amazon Prime Video this June 3.
Movies
Black Noir: Insurrection
Black Noir and Seth Rogen talk about 'Black Noir: Insurrection'. Amazon
The idea that there's an entire blockbuster out there in this fictional world starring the supe of very few words is tickling.
Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), the silent assassin of the world's premiere supe team the Seven, stars in Black Noir: Insurrection. Seth Rogen, who's an executive producer on The Boys, plays a fictional version of himself that makes his first foray into the VCU with this film. A promo they shot suggests Rogen had a role in the movie and wasn't a director or screenwriter.
"The movies are incredibly violent and tons of people die, but they're still really good for children," Rogen says.
Crimson
'The Boys' showrunner offers a closer look at the poster for Crimson Countess movie 'Crimson'. Amazon
Here's a classic from the Vought library. A poster for Crimson, an R-rated movie starring Crimson Countess (to be played by Laurie Holden on The Boys season 3), is spotted on the walls of Billy (Karl Urban), Hughie (Jack Quaid), and the gang's hideout in season 2. Showrunner Eric Kripke offered a closer look at the key art on social media.
The poster advertises "'the 'Countess' you can count on! ... using the Fire of Freedom to Fight the Commie Machine!!" It also bills Jeffrey T. Jeffries, Pamela Chow, Curtis Huang, and Tony Schlenk among the cast.
Dawn of the 7
Queen Maeve in a scene from 'Dawn of the 7'. Amazon
We know perhaps the most about Dawn of the 7 than any other movie from Vought.
It was meant to be an Avengers or Justice League-like team-up event, featuring the supes from the Seven joining forces to fight crime. The title alone suggests it's more of a spoof of DC's Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. It also flaunts a script rewritten by Joss Whedon, who in the real world came on to direct Justice League after Zack Snyder's departure.
Storyboards from the fictional filmmaker Adam Bourke suggested an international crime lord named Martinez may have been the main villain. Homelander (Antony Starr) arrests him, which inspires the supe to form the Seven. But there's also an army of mutants that attack New York City. Actor Greg Grunberg plays an Agent Coulson-like figure named Agent Pearson. Lovina Yavari plays a character named Ruby, who helps the Seven by hacking into the Department of Homeland Security's mainframe. She also falls in love with Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) in a story line that heavily exploits the supe coming out as a lesbian. (Even though Maeve is really bisexual, but Vought found lesbianism was more clear-cut.) It was mentioned that, in light of Translucent's (Alex Hassell) death during the events of season 1, Lin-Manuel Miranda wanted to do the voice of the hero.
Dawn of the 7 was said to be the most expensive Vought Studios feature ever produced, with a budget north of $350 million, according to Seven on 7 (more on that program later). It was originally set to premiere in the summer of 2021, but there was some controversy. One of its stars, Stormfront (Aya Cash), was revealed to be an actual Nazi who's been alive since the time of Adolf Hitler. The film also shot a sequence that set up speedster A-Train's (Jessie T. Usher) retirement as a superhero. While A-Train was in fact being retired from the Seven outside of the movie, he was brought back in light of the Stormfront controversy.
It's unclear whether Vought will actually release the movie or shelve it indefinitely.
G-Men: World War
In The Boys, the comics, the G-Men were a supe team comprised of names like Silver Kincaid, Ground Hawk, and Critter. In The Boys, the show, Vought's head of supe relations, Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue) mentioned during the 2019 Vought shareholders conference that this film had grossed shy of $1.7 billion worldwide.
Homelander: Origins
Antony Starr's Homelander in 'The Boys' season 2. Jasper Savage/Amazon Studios
Homelander: Origins was just one of the many movies Homelander rattled off to try to impress his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) in season 2 of the show. As most titles do, this one seemingly pokes fun at some of the real-life superhero movie names we've seen over the years. Major X-Men Origins: Wolverine vibes.
Homelander: Rise of a Hero
Another Homelander flick, this one is having fun with the "Rise of" trend. (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.)
Homelander: Darkest Day
"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight," is the beginning of the Green Lantern oath from DC Comics. Homelander's next pairing of films switches it up a bit.
Homelander: Brightest Night
And here's the presumed sequel to Homelander: Darkest Day.
Light and Shadow: Journey Into Night
Lamplighter at the premiere for 'Light and Shadow: Journey Into Night' in 'The Boys' season 2. Amazon
The Boys season 2 flashes back to tell the story of Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore), and we see the supe attend a red-carpet premiere. The posters in the background advertise a film called Light and Shadow: Journey Into Night.
Pocket Romance
'Seven on 7' covers 'Pocket Romance,' a new rom-com starring Termite that's coming to Vought+. Amazon
Seven on 7 ran a brief report on a new rom-com coming to the Vought+ streaming platform. The supe Termite, with the ability to shrink down to the size of a, you know, stars in Pocket Romance. The film follows Dolly, a lonely store manager who finds Termite hiding out among action figures during an undercover mission. Action, hilarity, and romance ensue.
Queen Maeve: Her Majesty
A 'Queen Maeve' poster is spotted in Vought headquarters in New York. Amazon
Long live the queen! Queen Maeve gets her own movie, which is clearly channeling Wonder Woman. Appropriate for the character modeled after DC's Amazon.
Rapid Transit
A poster for 'Rapid Transit,' A-Train's movie, was spotted in Vought headquarters. Amazon
A-Train's big flick is titled Rapid Transit, as spotted in posters from The Boys season 1. Seems pretty self-explanatory. The dude's fast.
Red Thunder
'Seven on 7' mentions Soldier Boy's classic movie 'Red Thunder'. Amazon
Red Thunder seems like the Die Hard or Red Dawn of Vought's lexicon. The film stars Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), a character we've heard about on the show but is making his official debut in The Boys season 3. It was released in 1983 and is considered a classic.
Rising Tide
The Deep stars in 'Rising Tide,' as seen in a movie poster. Amazon
If Jason Momoa's Aquaman movies helped solidify the DC Comics character as more than just "the fish man," here's hoping Rising Tide did the same for The Deep (Chace Crawford).
Tek Knight Lives
After a fraught meeting between Homelander and Vought President Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), the executive makes mention of a Tek Knight movie called Tek Knight Lives. He's another character from the original comics who doesn't really have any superpowers but instead operates a high-tech suit.
Terminal Beauty 1 + 2
We know there are at least three movies in the Terminal Beauty series, which stars Popclaw (Brittany Allen), the supe who can pop claws (get it?!) out of her wrists. Nothing else is known about them.
Terminal Beauty 3
Billy Zane stars in 'Terminal Beauty 3'. Amazon
The third Terminal Beauty brought in actor Billy Zane in another instance of a star playing a fictional version of themself. He played a character by the name of Donovan, a love interest for Pop Claw who is later suspected of killing her partner.
Translucent: Invisible Force
Translucent (Alex Hassell) promotes the 'Invisible Force' movies on 'The Tonight Show,' as seen in an episode of 'The Boys.'. Amazon Studios
One of the first movie posters we see on The Boys is the one for Translucent: Invisible Force 2 on the back of a bus. So, there must be an Invisible Force 1. Apparently, it wasn't very good, though. One of two boys discussing supe movies at the start of season 1, episode 1 mentions, "Invisible Force 1 was lame."
Translucent: Invisible Force 2
Seth Rogen talking about Translucent: Invisible Force 2'. Amazon
Translucent went on The Tonight Show to promote the Invisible Force sequel in season 1, while in season 2, Rogen came out to talk about the franchise as a whole in light of the supe's death. The sequel's tagline read, "You can't kill what you can't see."
Y2KOS
Homelander talks about the movies coming to Vought+. Amazon
Another big Lamplighter movie from his heyday in the Seven was Y2KOS. Details aren't currently known, but it's fair to say it has something to do with the whole Y2K fiasco. The poster, which reads, "We were warned," was spotted in a season 2 scene involving Cherie (Jordana Lajoie) and later in a promo for the Vought+ streaming service.
TV
American Hero
'The Boys' reveals the cast of competitors for the in-world reality show 'American Hero.'. Amazon Studios
Starlight (Erin Moriarty) judges and hosts this new reality series, which sees 10 super-powered individuals competing against each other for a spot in the Seven, following the death of Translucent, the ousting of The Deep, and the scandal with Stormfront.
The supes competing for two open slots are Luckless, Livewire, Jetstreak, Europo, Moonshadow, Lonestar, Critter, Silver Kincaid, Pitstop, and Supersonic (Miles Gaston Villanueva). Supersonic, who previously went by the name Drummer Boy, is an ex-boyfriend of Starlight's and also an ex-boy band member.
Citizen Starlight
Starlight stars in 'Citizen Starlight'. Amazon
We love Starlight. Everyone loves Starlight. But even Starlight rolls her eyes as Citizen Starlight, a Vought drama about how she moved to the big city, realized it wasn't what she thought it would be, and embraced her power to overcome obstacles. We'll take Starlight's word for it.
The Mesmerizer
Mesmer starred in 'The Mesermizer' series as a child actor. Amazon
The Mesmerizer is basically the Law & Order of The Boys, except cases are incredibly easy for its star, the mind-reader Mesmer (Haley Joel Osment). All he needs to do is touch someone's hand to know if they're the rapist or not. It's like a Saturday Night Live sketch made real.
The Seven: The Animated Series
'The Seven: The Animated Series' poster on Hughie's wall in 'The Boys' season 1. Amazon
Among the many posters on Hughie's wall in season 1 was art promoting an animated series about the Seven, which we can hope was this world's version of X-Men, the animated series.
Red, White & Blue Justice
'Seven on 7' covers Blue Hawk's new reality series 'Red, White & Blue Justice'. Amazon
Nick Wechsler will make his debut as the supe Blue Hawk in The Boys season 3. And according to Seven on 7, he has his own reality show. Red, White & Blue Justice follows Blue Hawk as he polices Trenton, N.J. Vought exec Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) described the project as "a gritty reality series that will do for supes what other shows have done for cops."
News and Specials
Seven on 7
Fox News has Tucker Carlson. Vought News Network has Cameron Coleman. Played by actor Matthew Edison, the VNN anchor had been hosting his own segment for the corporation's new conglomerate called Seven on 7, which Amazon has been releasing on a monthly basis as a web series ahead of The Boys season 3. On it, Cameron runs down the top seven stories from around the globe. Watch the first episode.
The Cameron Coleman Hour
Matthew Edison's Cameron Coleman gets 'The Cameron Coleman Hour' show on Vought News in the world of 'The Boys.'. Amazon Studios
On the final episode of Seven on 7, Cameron announced he's getting his own hourlong program called The Cameron Coleman Hour, which we gather is like the previous bile he spewed, just a lot more of it. Edison will return as Cameron in The Boys season 3, which Kripke says will dig deeper into "those fair and balanced patriots" at Vought News.
A Closer Look with Chris Hansen
A Closer Look with Chris Hansen reenacts the death of Madelyn Stillwell. Amazon
Even Chris Hansen has a place in the world of The Boys with his own investigative show, A Closer Look. However, that, too, loses points for spreading disinformation. One episode at the jump of The Boys season 2 aired the false story that Billy murdered Stillwell.
Super in America
The 'Super in America' logo from 'The Boys'. Amazon
G.L.O.W. star Jackie Tohn appeared in The Boys season 1, episode 6 as Courtenay, who was hired by Vought to produce Super in America, a television special that sought to tell the stories behind America's most famous supes. Like so much of what Vought peddles, it was mostly B.S.