The Boys season 2 has finally arrived to stellar critic reviews and eager audiences ready to consumer the first three episodes today, with the rest being staggered out in the next couple months so the “conversation” can keep going, as opposed the binge watching of last year. Hell, Amazon is even doing an after show now week-to-week like it’s Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead.
And for good reason, too. Amazon has found something in The Boys that it desperately wants, a streaming mega-hit that critics and audiences alike both enjoy, and something that acts as a true “draw” to the service. And with the early look at season 2 supposedly even better than the first, they seem well on their way. A third season has already been greenlit, and there’s plenty of comic runway still to go.
It can be hard to quantify the success of streaming programs in an era without reliable ratings, often self-reported, but I always enjoy seeing how series stack up against other big programs from rivals via IMDB.
Here are most of the top original shows on Amazon and Netflix according to their IMDB ratings:
- When They See Us – 8.9
- Stranger Things – 8.8
- Narcos – 8.8
- Black Mirror – 8.8
- The Boys (Amazon) – 8.7
- Dark – 8.7
- The Crown – 8.7
- Peaky Blinders – 8.7
- Fleabag (Amazon) – 8.7
- Cobra Kai – 8.7
- House of Cards – 8.7
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon) – 8.7
As you can see, the Amazon originals that The Boys is tied with are Emmy winning comedies The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Fleabag. While I don’t know if The Boys will be winning any Emmys itself anytime soon (but seriously get one for Antony Starr’s Homelander, please), that’s good company to keep.
The Boys
And for Netflix? You can see it ranks among the service’s all-time classics. When They See Us was a limited series, though it was powerful, and I’m not surprised to see it up there. Dark is one of the best sci-fi shows in history.
The Crown is one of the best historical dramas. Stranger Thing is Netflix’s most popular series. Cobra Kai was recently bought by Netflix so I’m not sure they can take credit for how good the first two seasons were, but I kept it here just so you can see what company The Boys is keeping. These lists are not perfect, as sometimes you’ll see something that will make you scratch your head like House of Cards staying up that high, despite its quality nosediving off a cliff in later seasons.
The point being, Amazon has really managed to find a massive hit, and a superhero one at that, existing outside the usual Marvel/DC fare. Netflix also has done the same with Umbrella Academy, which is low key one of its most-watched series (at least season 1 was), but The Boys edges it out in terms of overall reviews and ratings.
Time to see how season 2 pans out, as I’ve heard only good things.
