While never shy and always in-your-face, the hit Amazon series The Boys might’ve shot their biggest cannon yet. Pop culture references and real-life memes have appeared on the show, but in the latest episode, The Boys came for Joss Whedon and Justice League.
In episode five of the second season, there’s a clear reference to the drama surrounding the infamous departure of Zack Snyder and hiring of Joss Whedon during the making of 2017’s Justice League. The always self-aware show is preparing for an epic superhero team-up movie called Dawn of the Seven and sees Queen Maeve reciting some cringe dialogue about her sexuality, which clearly makes her uncomfortable. When the leading lady of The Seven confronts the group’s leader about the scene and script, Homelander replies, “This new Joss rewrite really sings, huh?”
Gal Gadot reportedly refused to shoot a Joss Whedon scene that made her feel uncomfortable, which led her to have her stand-in fill in for that scene; this is clearly a jab at those moments. While seemingly a light-hearted jab, it feels all too reverent in the wake of all the drama around Ray Fisher and the film’s reshoots and various other stories from Whedon coming on-board after Zack Snyder left the film.
Dawn of the Seven will play a bigger part in the rest of the season, just as Zack Snyder’s Justice League makes its comeback in real life. The creators behind The Boys may not know it, but they might be mocking history just as its being made…
The Boys features a cast that includes Karl Urban (Thor: Ragnarok), Jack Quaid (The Hunger Games), Karen Fukuhara (Suicide Squad), Laz Alonso (Traffik), Antony Starr (American Gothic), Dominique McElligott (The Last Tycoon), Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl), Erin Moriarty (True Detective), Jessie T. Usher (Independence Day: Resurgence), Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas), Nathan Mitchell (iZombie), Aya Cash (You’re the Worst), Patton Oswalt (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Timeless stars Goran Visnjic and Claudia Doumit.
