Two big ones that I've enjoyed lately:
The Boys (Amazon)
By the guy that made the Supernatural series. The Boys is more zany, more gory, more foul-mouthed, more colourful. It's about a society where superheroes are fairly commonplace (only in the states of course), but it's a cynical, real-world take on things. The supes vie for media attention and rep, and the focus is on the elite few who are taken on by a major corp, Vought. The supes bring the fame and money, Vought brings the structure and access, while also covering up the supes' many mistakes. Anything actually noble and heroic is always a really low priority.
The story revolves around a young bloke Hughie, and a jaded vet 'The Butcher', who end up working together against the supes.
Highlights are Karl Urban (The Butcher) and Antony Starr (Homelander). Urban is hugely entertaining in a rough and smarmy "f*** everything" kind of way, and he absolutely lifts the show. Meanwhile Starr is just excellent at playing this superpowered false hero that the country believes in, yet who is really a psychopath underneath. It's like chemical charm; he's got that fake smile hiding a psycho totally nailed.
C-bombs a plenty, fair bit of gore, tits, the occasional 3 foot wang wriggling its way around and all sorts of other hilariously grotesque stuff. The dolphin scene in season 1 has to be one of the funniest, but there are a lot. Look out for the Pepsi commercial pay out.
This image sums it up really well actually:
And if you haven't caught any of it yet, you're in luck since it's already 3 seasons in. Next season is confirmed but honestly it's looking
really solid; this show's got legs I reckon. This should be bigger than Game of Thrones was; The Boys is actually fun to watch. We re-watched seasons 1 & 2 in prep for season 3, and were surprise to realise/remember just how fun it was all over again.
Recommended if you want some jaded, sell-out superheroes that get a bit filthy, a bit real, with jokes about society and Bill Cosby and Billy Zane appearing as Billy Zane. And Karl Urban looking hot and being a right proper smartass c***. Honestly I think it's something that many here would enjoy.
The Lazarus Project (Stan)
This one sells itself as a Groundhog Day. Yes, another Groundhog Day, but honestly who doesn't love that whole mechanic? I'm pretty sure I've settled down to watch every show I've encountered that uses it.
Except The Lazarus Project is really not Groundhog Day, despite what the advertising suggest. It's a somewhat-reworked version of it that I won't explain; the show will.
Really enjoyed the story; the twists and turns of its own time bending trick. There's a decent amount of action and I found myself liking pretty much all the characters, but indeed it's the plot that kept the compulsion going, and the way things all weave together. I actually ended up watching the whole thing twice quite comfortably, just to get a friend into it. The first half of the season is excellent for unfolding multiple related threads into these big, heavy ramifications, that then work as the foundation for the rest of the show, both fleshing out the characters extremely well while making it clear why everything matters so much. Good stuff.
To write much more will spoil things (and I'm resisting the urge to because it's cool) so I'll just say that this was good to just have some solid sci-fi that doesn't feel like sci-fi, but delivers on a feeling I've always sought but is rarely paid: A story that mucks around with time but also actually bothers to explain the rules to you and spend time making sense of things.
Unfortunately it only has 1 season so far, and that season is super fresh so it's a solid year before there'll be more than 8 episodes to binge. Season 2 isn't confirmed yet but I'd say it's a fairly safe bet,
Recommended if you want a solid story with some time bending shenannigans. If you're interested, avoid its trailers. They'll just spoil most of the fun of the first episode.
