The Boys is Amazon Prime Video's satirical superhero series (adapted from a 2006 comic) where corporate-backed supes act like sociopaths and a small crew of vigilantes hits back.

Where did The Boys come from?

It started as a 2006 comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, then landed as a TV adaptation on Amazon Prime Video on June 26th, 2019.

What does The Boys mean?

In meme contexts, 'The Boys' refers to the vigilante crew from the show, led by Billy Butcher, and the memes riffing on the show's dark satire of corporate superheroes.

How do you use The Boys?

Common formats include Butcher one-liner captions, screencaps paired with real-world satire, and callbacks to the March 2020 Amazon calendar page featuring The Deep.

Is The Boys still popular?

The show and its memes took off after the June 2019 premiere, and /r/TheBoys ranked among the fastest-growing subreddits by August 2019.

The Boys

2019TV show memessemi-active

Published July 17, 2026

The Boys is a wave of memes tied to Amazon Prime Video's satirical superhero series and the 2006 Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson comic it was adapted from. The show premiered in June 2019 and quickly picked up steam on Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter, with fans producing screencap edits, character quips, and jokes about the Amazon promotional calendar that showed a visible bulge on The Deep.

the boys memes amazon prime memes tv show memes comic book panel memes dark humor memes

Overview

The Boys is a superhero series where the supposed 'heroes' are actually corporate-backed sociopaths, and a small crew of vigilantes tries to hit back against them1. Writer Garth Ennis built the concept out of his open frustration with standard cape comics, which he found shallow and dishonest about power1.

Memes tied to The Boys pull from the show's most shocking scenes, foul-mouthed one-liners, and jabs at the fake corporate PR that surrounds its 'supes1.' The output leans into dark comedy and absurd violence, with meme communities picking up steam right after the TV premiere in mid-2019.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Comics (2006) / Amazon Prime Video (2019 viral spread)

Date

2019

The comic The Boys launched in October 2006, co-created by writer Garth Ennis and illustrator Darick Robertson, following a CIA Black Ops team including Billy Butcher, Hughie Campbell, Mother's Milk, The Frenchman, and The Female who target morally corrupt superheroes3. Ennis, previously known for Preacher and The Punisher, built the story around his disdain for typical superhero comics and their tendency to ignore how selfish and amoral costumed power might actually behave1.

How It Spread

The Amazon Prime Video TV adaptation, developed by Eric Kripke, premiered on June 26th, 2019, casting Karl Urban as Billy Butcher and Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell3. The /r/TheBoys subreddit had actually been created back on November 8th, 2011, years before the show existed, and it exploded after the premiere, ranking among the fastest-growing subreddits by August 20192. Fans also spun up a Facebook meme group called The Boys Sevenposting, feeding out edits pulled from show scenes in a style similar to MarvelShieldposting3.

In August 2019, Amazon released a promotional calendar for July 2019 through June 2020 built around a photoshoot of The Deep played by Chace Crawford1. The March 2020 page featured The Deep bursting from the water for Dolphin Awareness Month, and internet users quickly spotted a distinct bulge visible through his tight suit1. Twitter user @james_lohan flagged the image on August 15th, 2019, and news outlets including Screen Rant picked up the gag over the following days1.

How to Use This Meme

The format typically pulls a still or one-liner from the show, often featuring Billy Butcher's blunt commentary or the Seven's corporate PR posturing, then pairs it with a caption skewering a real-world situation that mirrors the show's satire1. A recurring visual gag references The Deep's bulge from the March 2020 page of Amazon's promotional calendar1.