Why The Boys, Amazon Prime superhero satire, is gaining new fans with every new season
- Fourth season of ‘vigilantes vs superheroes’ satire The Boys is the most popular yet, with its tight hold on today’s fast-moving pop culture
![A still from Season 4 of The Boys on Amazon Prime. Rather than losing fans with every season, the superhero satire has become more popular with viewers. Photo: Jan Thijs/Prime Video](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1020x680/public/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/07/65b3ae7e-2e55-42b3-b328-457ddc0430f0_57dee8ba.jpg?itok=yfjFwars&v=1723022084)
As the real world seems to get crazier, Amazon’s superhero satire The Boys just gets more popular.
Coincidence? Perhaps. The fourth season of the audacious series set in a society where superheroes are ingrained in every aspect of American life, and often not in a good way, is the most watched so far, according to Amazon.
The company’s internal data show 55 million viewers watched some portion of Season 4 of The Boys throughout the world in the 39 days after it premiered. The audience has increased 20 per cent compared with Season 3.
In the United States, The Boys – a title that refers to the band of vigilantes out to take down the out-of-control “supes” – has lodged in Nielsen’s top 10 streaming shows for four straight weeks since entering the list in June, with the entire series topping a billion minutes viewed each week.
![Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler and Karl Urban as Billy Butcher in a still from The Boys. Photo: courtesy of Prime Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler and Karl Urban as Billy Butcher in a still from The Boys. Photo: courtesy of Prime](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/07/7ee45f12-97b5-43e3-8bd7-9aaee0ea3fd5_47c09ae8.jpg)
The current batch of eight episodes is the second most-watched season of a TV series in Prime Video’s history, says Vernon Sanders, head of television at Amazon MGM Studios, which produces The Boys with Sony Pictures Television.
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