The Boys season 3, episode 6 finally did Herogasm in live-action, but the grotesque event from the comic was not nearly as bad as it could have been.
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Boys season 3, episode 6!
The live-action adaptation of Herogasm finally happened in The Boys season 3, episode 6, but it surprisingly was not nearly as bad as the comics make it out to be. Ever since Amazon announced that Garth Ennis’s The Boys comic series was getting the TV treatment, those familiar with the source material have been waiting to see if it would ever dare touch the controversial Herogasm storyline. After primarily focusing on the brewing war between The Boys and The Seven for the first two seasons, which pushed the boundaries of adult superhero content, The Boys season 3 became the place for the Herogasm plot to happen.
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The comic version of Herogasm takes place over a six-issue limited series. The premise is that once a year, Vought’s superheroes would unite for a team-up to save the world from an intergalactic threat, but in reality, they went to a remote location where their craziest and wildest desires could be fulfilled. Ennis’s Hergoasm comic storyline is filled with sex, drugs, alcohol, gore, and everything else in between. It includes controversial and shocking moments like Homelander tricking Soldier Boy into having sex with him, as well as changing the events of 9/11. But it was really the sexual content of the comics that left many wondering how The Boys TV show could adapt Herogasm.
Related: Homelander vs Soldier Boy: Who Would Win & Who’s More Powerful?
The Boys season 3, episode 6 is largely dedicated to exploring the event known as Herogasm, but it is — shockingly — not quite as expected. The version of Hergoasm depicted in the show is confined to the home of Soldier Boy’s former Payback teammates, the TNT Twins, and is a more secretive event. This scales down the scope of the event in a good way. There are still a number of major Supes participating in the event, but the focus is not really on their sexual acts. There are other story reasons for The Boys‘ characters to interact with the 70th annual Herogasm, and the show keeps viewers’ attention there — even as the wild events of Herogasm take place all around them.
While there are plenty of graphic sexual acts and nudity throughout the episode, it is all mostly in the background. Garth Ennis’s comics focused heavily on the obscenity of the event and the participating characters, often just for the sake of showing readers something shocking. The Boys season 3 takes a more restrained approach in comparison. The mere appearance of Love Sausage‘s love sausage would be enough to outdo most major TV shows, but when readers think back to the Herogasm comic storyline, the show makes the smart decision to not leave viewers surprised by what they see but also not strictly focus on which Supes are doing what.
Not every viewer will feel that The Boys season 3’s Herogasm is relatively tame, but it is important to remember that this is strictly in comparison to the comics. It could even be argued that The Boys season 3’s Termite scene is way worse than anything that happens in the show’s Herogasm adaptation. Ultimately, it should not come as a surprise that the show found a better way to utilize Herogasm‘s crazy comic story. Showrunner Eric Kripke and his team of writers have consistently found ways to elevate the source material and add more nuance to the ideas previously presented. The Boys‘ Herogasm is still certainly an hour of television unlike anything seen before, but the original comic proves that it could have been much worse.
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More: The Boys Is Heading For Butcher’s Comic Ending (And It Really Shouldn’t)
The Boys continues Friday on Prime Video.
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