How To Watch The Boys Franchise In Chronological Order (2024)

Prime Video's original series, The Boys, is an ongoing adult superhero drama that started in 2019. The Boys is based on a graphic novel of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, but it has grown much larger over the last five years. In addition to The Boys, the franchise has branched out into several spin-off shows, including Gen V (2023 -) and The Boys Presents: Diabolical (2022-). A few more spin-offs are in the works, including The Boys: Mexico and another show focused on Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character, Joe Kessler.

Even without factoring in the spin-off series in the works, The Boys is already a massive franchise. With three shows currently out, new watchers might find it overwhelming to dive in. Fortunately, there is an easy chronological order to watch these shows, so new watchers and re-watchers won't get lost.

All Three Major Series That Make Up The Boys Universe

• The Boys premiered on July 26, 2019
• The first three episodes of The Boys Season 4 dropped on Prime Video on June 13, 2024

While there are several shows in the works, there are three series currently available to stream on Prime Video. These three series include the flagship series, The Boys, and two spin-offs, Gen V and The Boys Presents: Diabolical.

The Boys (2019 -)

The Boys

TV-MA

Action

Crime

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Drama

Superhero

Release Date

July 26, 2019

Cast

Karl Urban , Karen f*ckuhara , Jack Quaid , Erin Moriarty

Main Genre

Action

Seasons

4

Franchise

The Boys

Creator

Eric Kripke

Production Company

Kripke Enterprises, Amazon MGM Studios, Sony Pictures Television

The Boys is the flagship series of the franchise and is currently in its fourth season. Currently, the series plans to run for five seasons and end with the Season Five finale. That said, it's leaving behind the groundwork for an incredible universe that can continue to expand long after the original series comes to an end. Showrunner Eric Kripke has suggested the series might go on past Season 5, but he refuses to make a solidified comment one way or the other.

The Boys sets up the world in which the franchise operates. Superheroes exist thanks to a serum administered during childhood called Compound V. Some kids develop powers and grow up to be Supes. Supes, however, are more like celebrities than traditional superheroes. They might occasionally save someone, but most of their public persona is carefully crafted for them to make them look like heroes when they probably don't deserve the title. Most Supes, at least many of the more powerful and popular Supes, like members of The Seven, aren't good people. Homelander, for example, is the most powerful Supe in the world, but he's also one of the world's biggest threats.

A small group of completely ordinary humans set out to tear down The Seven, Vought, the superhero company that owns The Seven, and any other problematic Supe they can find. The group calls themselves The Boys, and they're led by Billy Butcher, a man who lost his wife thanks to Homelander's secret evildoing. Since The Boys aren't Supes, they have to come up with creative and extreme measures to achieve their goals but often fail regardless of their efforts.

Gen V (2023-)

Gen V

TV-MA

Action

Adventure

Comedy

From the world of "The Boys" comes "Gen V," which explores the first generation of superheroes to know that their super powers are from Compound V. These heroes put their physical and moral boundaries to the test competing for the school's top ranking.

Release Date

September 29, 2023

Cast

Jaz Sinclair , Chance Perdomo , Maddie Phillips , Lizzie Broadway

Main Genre

Action

Seasons

1

Creator

Evan Goldberg, Eric Kripke, Craig Rosenberg

Unlike The Boys, which focuses on a group of regular people fighting against Supes, Gen V centers on a group of young Supes attending Godolkin University (aka God U), a college that teaches Supes how to be superheroes. The series follows a small group of students who, at first, only care about being the best and most lovable Supes they can be. Golden Boy, the best and brightest student, uses his superpowers to kill his mentor, goes on a rampage through the campus, and ultimately kills himself.

After Golden Boy's murder/suicide, his girlfriend and the rest of the group are left behind to solve the mystery of why he suddenly snapped. While dealing with the aftermath of Golden Boy's meltdown, the group uncovers a much more sinister scheme beneath the school's pristine reputation.

The Boys Presents: Diabolical (2022-)

The Boys Presents: Diabolical

TV-MA

Animation

Action

Superhero

Release Date

March 4, 2022

Cast

Grey Griffin , Chris Diamantopoulos , Ben Schwartz , Antony Starr

Main Genre

Animation

Seasons

1

The Boys Presents: Diabolical is a bit of a strange outlier to the other two series. While it still exists in the same universe, it is the only series in the franchise that's animated. Currently, there is only one Diabolical season, but there might be a second season on the horizon. Overall, Diabolical is an anthology series that spans eight episodes. Each episode tells a different story and features a different art style. This series seeks to develop the world of The Boys a bit more by highlighting stand-alone stories.

How To Watch Each Series In Chronological Order

Fans and new watchers may be tempted to start with The Boys Season 1. Technically speaking, though, this is not the beginning. One episode of The Boys: Diabolical canonically takes place before the beginning of The Boys. For a true chronological order viewing session, watchers should start with The Boys: Diabolical Season 1, Episode 8 - "One Plus One Equals Two."

"One Plus One Equals Two" is a story that takes place shortly after Homelander joins The Seven. For Homelander's first official mission, Homelander and Black Noir are sent to a chemical plant to deal with a group of terrorists who have taken the workers hostage. Believing he can handle the terrorists himself, Homelander goes in alone, but his brash actions end up costing him the lives of a couple of hostages. The rest of the hostages quickly turn on Homelander and, in a fit of rage, Homelander ends up killing the terrorists and most of the hostages. Black Noir witnessed the entire thing, but before Homelander can execute him too, Black Noir joins him and helps him cover it up.

Some fans recommend watching the first three or four episodes of The Boys before "One Plus One Equals Two." This gives watchers a few episodes to truly get the feeling that Homelander is not a good person. If they start with "One Plus One Equals Two," they'll go in with little ability to believe Homelander's charm is real.

The Boys' Franchise In Chronological Order

• The Boys Presents: Diabolical Season 1, Episode 8 - "One Plus One Equals Two"
• The Boys Season 1
• The Boys Season 2
• The rest of The Boys Presents: Diabolical - It's worth noting that Diabolical is an anthology series where most of the events are either considered non-canon to the main timeline or do not disclose exactly when they happen. Many fans suggest watching Diabolical Season 1 (except for Episode 8) after Season 2 because Diabolical was released shortly after The Boys Season 2. Aside from the Homelander and Black Noir episodes, there is no specific place where the events of these episodes happen, so watchers can watch them whenever they want.
• The Boys Season 3
• Gen V Season 1
• The Boys Season 4

In addition to these series, The Boys franchise has released several shorts and other online content worth watching and listening to. The extra content includes:

• BUTCHER: A Short Film - Originally released on The Boys' Twitter (X) account
• Seven on 7 - A short series uploaded to the Vought International YouTube channel
• Deeper and Deeper - An Audible podcast hosted by the Deep and his wife, Cassandra, that correlates to events in the show leading up to and about their marriage
• Mr. Butcher: A Proper Education - Another short uploaded to The Boys' Twitter (X) account
• More bonus content like "VNN Updates," "The Deep," and "Singer Neuman 2024" are also available on the Vought International YouTube channel

How Each Series Correlates

For the most part, it seems that The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke wants to build the franchise to be a television universe that mirrors other superhero franchises. For example, the Marvel Cinematic Universe spans dozens of movies and television shows, creating one massive, intertwined entity that all exists within the same cinematic universe. While The Boys seems more determined to thrive on television and online content, the flagship series is making room for plenty of spin-offs.

The events of Gen V feed directly into The Boys. God U is a university created and operated by Vought, a major company and a constant presence in the flagship series. What the main cast of Gen V uncovered relates directly back to things that are happening behind the scenes in The Boys. Several major characters from The Boys are also significant in Gen V, like Ashley Barrett. The series finale of Gen V even featured Homelander showing up to "put an end" to the rampage breaking out at God U. Homelander has taken most of the main cast of Gen V into custody, either as allies or as prisoners. Characters like Marie Moreau may very likely show up in The Boys.

The only outlier in The Boys' universe is The Boys Presents: Diabolical. Many episodes in this series aren't considered canon, so while they do offer some world-building, viewers don't need to take the animated series too seriously. The most important episode to come out of Diabolical is Episode 8 - "One Plus One Equals Two." Since Episode 8 depicts a major canon event in Homelander's life, it's the one episode that has an impact on the flagship series. Most of the other episodes are either non-canon or don't directly relate to the main timeline.