Warning! Spoilers for The Boys and Wanted ahead!WithThe Boys’adaptation nearing its end, now is the perfect time to revisit the seriesWantedand give it the adaptation it should have had a long time ago. For the last couple of years, the Amazon series based on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s has entertained audiences worldwide with its brutal and subversive take on the superhero genre.
It’s hard to believe a series as violent andfantastical asThe Boysbecame as big of a hit as it did. But the series is gearing up for its fifth and final season, and fans everywhere are wondering what’s next. It’ll be hard to fill the void leftbehind byThe Boys, but if any comic-based series could do it, a newWantedshow certainly can. Yes,Wantedalready had a film adaptation that was pretty well-received, but a show adaptation that sticks a little bit closer to the source material could be even better thanThe Boys.
WantedHas the Same Violent Energy That MadeThe BoysSo Successful
The 2008 Film Only Got Half the Story Right
From 2003 to 2004, Top Cow Productions publishedWantedby Mark Millarand J.G. Jones under Millar’s creator-owned imprint, Millarworld. The series follows a young man named Wesley Gibson, whose life is going nowhere, and he has nothing much going for him. That all changes when he meets a woman named Fox who reveals herself to be a member of the Fraternity, a secret order of supervillains that controls the world.The Fraternity wants Wesley to join the Fraternity to replace his father, who was a skilled villain known as the Killer.
Wesley joins the Fraternity and discovers one of the biggest secrets in the world. Not only are supervillains real, but superheroes were, too. But the villains of the world managed to work together and launch a war that ended in the heroes’ defeat. To cement their control over the world, the Fraternity also used magic and tech to erase knowledge of superheroes from the world. WhileWesley and Fox have to contend with a rebellious faction within the Fraternity, they retain controland continue their evil acts.
The Fraternity was still included as a major part of the story, but it was reworked into a secret society of assassins…
Not too long after the comic ended,Wantedwas adapted into a film starring James McAvoy as Wesley and Angelina Jolie as Fox. While the movie was a box office success and generally received well among audiences,it largely removed the supervillain elements ofWanted. The Fraternity was still included as a major part of the story, but it was reworked into a secret society of assassins (there’s also no mention of them defeating and erasing heroes from the public consciousness). While there were discussions about a sequel, none ever materialized.
Millar did eventually follow up on Wesley’s story inNemesis: ReloadedandBig Game!
The Boys’Adaptation Proved Audiences Were Ready for Brutal Takes on Superheroes
It’s Not the Most Faithful Adaptation, But it Went Way BeyondWanted
Just a few years after Millar and Jones created Wanted, Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson createdThe Boys, initially published by Wildstorm before later moving over to Dynamite Entertainment. The series is set in a world populated by superheroes (colloquially known as Supes). But while they’re presented to the public as upstanding, noble figures, the truth is that most of them are self-centered jackasses at best and at worst, dangerous public menaces. To keep an eye on them and take care of any that step out of line,the CIA created a clandestine group known as the Boys.
The series became an instant hit with fans, who were astounded to see such a visceral and brutal subversion of the superhero genre.
The Boysran for 72 issues (not including its limited series spin-offs) and in 2019, Amazon Prime released an adaptation of the series developed by Eric Kripke ofSupernatural. The series became an instant hit with fans, who were astounded to see such a visceral and brutal subversion of the superhero genre. While it wasn’t a direct adaptation and a few changes were made (including making Homelander’s son a primary character in the show),The Boyswas far more faithful to its source material compared toWanted.
The Boyswas so popular, it even got two spinoffs,The Boys Presents: DiabolicalandGen V.
Admittedly,The Boyswas created to be as shocking as possible and the series did tone down a lot of the explicit material (namely the “Herogasm” arc which was far more tame in the show compared to the comics). That being said, the series didn’t change the core of the show. It’s still about the Boys taking down Supes in over-the-top ways and, while nowhere near as crass as the comic, it’s still quite shocking for casual audiences. No doubt thatsticking as close to the source material as possible helpedThe Boysstand out from comic adaptations likeWanted.
Audiences are Ready for a TrueWantedAdaptation
Don’t Be Afraid to Give Fans the Full Story
Part of the problem is that the Wanted movie came out a good ten years beforeThe Boys’adaptation. Supehero movies, though they existed, hadn’t become the cultural juggernaut they are today. Heck,this was around the same time when the X-Men couldn’t even wear comic-accurate costumes. A movie about a secret society of assassins was simply a much easier sell in the late 2000s compared to a story about how supervillains secretly conquered the world and erased them from the public eye.
But as the success ofThe Boysshows, audiences are ready for stories like this now. They’ve seen plenty of superhero stories and can take films and television shows that subvert what they expect from the genre (especially if it’s incredibly violent and meant for mature audiences). WithThe Boys’show drawing close to an end,now’s the best time to consider a new adaptation ofWanted, perhaps a show that dives into all the mythology and lore that the film felt audiences couldn’t handle.
…as the success ofThe Boysshows, audiences are ready for stories like this now.
There have been a lot of Millarworld properties that have gotten show adaptations in the last couple of years, likeSuper CrooksandJupiter’s Legacy. Wanted was one of the first big Millarworld titles and chances are a show adaptation could be just as successful as the movie. But in order to really do the series justice and to give fans a much better story, a newWantedadaptation should follow the same path asThe Boys’series and adapt the more fantastical elements.
The Boys
The Boysfranchise is a satirical and dark superhero series based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It explores a world where superheroes, or “Supes,” are corrupt, violent, and morally bankrupt, all controlled by the powerful corporation Vought International. The story centers around two opposing groups:The Boys, a vigilante team aiming to expose and defeat the corrupt heroes, andThe Seven, Vought’s elite team of Supes led by the ruthless Homelander.
