The Boys is set in a fictional universe where superheroes are real but corrupted by corporate interests and a toxic celebrity-obsessed culture. Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is a self-appointed vigilante intent on checking the bad behavior of the so-called "supes"—especially The Seven, the most elite superhero squad and, hence, the most corrupt.

Butcher especially hates Seven leader Homelander (Antony Starr), a psychopath who raped his now-dead wife.

Butcher recruits an equally traumatized young man named Hugh "Hughie" Campbell (Jack Quaid, son of Dennis) to help in his revenge, after another Seven member, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) used his super-speed to literally run through Hughie's girlfriend, killing her instantly.

In the first season, Butcher and Hughie join forces with Marvin, aka Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon), and Kimiko, aka The Female (Karen Fukuhara).

The Boys track the source of the compound back to Vought International, the parent corporation behind the Seven, which has been using it to create more superheroes.

But someone else has gotten their hands on Compound-V and is using it to create superpowered terrorists.

The S1 finale ended with a major cliffhanger: Butcher, intent on blowing himself up and taking Homelander with him, changes his mind when the psychotic superhero tells him he has discovered that Butcher's ex-wife, Becca, is still alive—and raising her son, the result of her rape by Homelander.

The Seven are still making public appearances because "the world still needs superheroes"—and the public mostly doesn't know what jerks these particular "heroes" really are.

Homelander is still bullying the rest of The Seven behind the scenes, and his psychopathic tendencies are starting to bleed into the public sphere.