The HBO Max streaming drama is made light of by The Boys in a recent Vought International tweet. A satirical series by Prime Video, The Boys is dark, gritty, and comedic, taking aim at many superhero tropes as well as larger real-life societal issues over the course of three seasons. In addition, the social media accounts associated with the show often reference relevant events, with a recent example being the digital Homelander (Antony Starr) trading cards meant to mock the Trump digital card collection.
The Boys has satirized the rise of streaming bundles before, with a previous tweet announcing a bundle to access Vought media properties, called Vought++, for “only an additional $29.99 per month” with a similar design and color scheme to that of HBO Max. Now, the official Vought International Twitter account has posted an update on Vought++, which seems to take aim at the HBO Max streaming drama yet again with the scathing line, “we’ve…eliminated 35% of our films” as they announce the shift from Vought++ back to Vought+. In the tweet, Vought International also announces that apps have been “unbundled,” and viewers can get the new deal “for the new low price of $119/month,” poking fun at the rising prices of streaming services. See both tweets from Vought International below:
The HBO Max Drama Explained
The many shakeups endured by HBO Max have been highly publicized, with several television projects being canceled and movies being shelved, including Batgirl, which incited an outcry on social media. An extension of Warner Bros., which was acquired by Discovery in 2022, HBO Max has been subject to brutal cost-cutting measures since the merger. This has led to many questions about the streaming service’s new direction. The drastic cuts and cancelations imposed on HBO Max have been explained as corporate restructuring, referenced in the above tweet, and continue to disappoint fans of the service’s content as their favorite shows or movies are removed from the service altogether.
The Boys Is The Perfect Superhero Satire
Based on the graphic novels by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys is the perfect answer to the flood of superhero content brought on by the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Universe in recent years. The series kicked off in 2019, introducing a team of vigilantes that band together to take down the secretly abominable superhero team called The Seven, which is controlled by an even worse corporation, Vought International. By hiding its wrongdoings, many scandals involving its heroes, and lucrative pharmaceutical arm with a focus on the sensationalism associated with its heroes, The Boys takes its satire of superheroes a step forward by skewering morally bankrupt corporations and hero worship.
Moving into season 4, The Boys is fully embracing the political aspect of its satirical world with Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) serving as a major villain and Homelander’s status as a fascist figure continuing, since season 3 ended with the impact of his hateful rhetoric on his followers. This dedication to exploring every aspect of hero worship in modern society is part of the reason The Boys works so well as a satire on the genre, because it thoroughly examines the connection between corporations, government, the military, and superheroes while simultaneously showing how the public internalizes those things as separate entities. In The Boys season 4, the series will hopefully retain the biting commentary that viewers have latched onto and not hold back with its future storylines.
Source: Vought International/Twitter
