“They just don’t like the word Nazi, that’s all”: The Politics of Adapting Politics in the Age(s) of Trump in The Boys

by Shawn Gilmore In significant ways, the Amazon Prime television adaptation of The Boys hews closely to its comic-book source material, with a titular government-supported team of jaded individuals attempting to hold reckless supes—the term in both the comics and show for super-powered individuals—in check.1 Collected editions and digital reprints of the comics helpfully lay out the narrative status quo of The Boys, which the show maintains: ▲ The Boys vol. 1: The Name of the Game (Dynamite, 2007), rear cover ▲ The Boys vol. 1: The Name of the Game (Dynamite, 2007), rear cover In a world where costumed heroes soar through the sky and masked vigilantes prowl the night, someone’s got to make sure the “supes” don’t get out of line. And someone will. Billy Butcher, Wee Hughie, Mother’s Milk, The Frenchman and The Female are The Boys: a CIA-backed team of very dangerous people, each one dedicated to the struggle against the most dangerous force on Earth—superpower. Some superheroes have…