Annie January and Victoria Neuman may represent two opposite ideologies in the smash hit superhero satire show “The Boys” but they are more similar than they realise, according to actor Claudia Doumit. The Eric Kripke-created series, currently in its fourth season, falls on the opposite spectrum of the superhero genre as it is set in a world where superheroes are not the holier-than-thou cult figures, often seen in Marvel and DC movies.
According to a report in PTI, Moriarty’s Annie January, who goes by the name Starlight, is a superhero who uses her position to fight against the injustices of Vought and society, while Neuman, played by Doumit, is a Congressman who appears to be an ally in the fight against Vought but has hidden motives. “(They are) Two sides of the same coin. It’s about the coexistence of personas. But I think the show does that across the board. There is no black and white.
“If people are fighting for something, it doesn’t resonate with the other side or they feel like they’re so far apart but they’re closer than they think. We’re the same, we’re more similar than you think,” Doumit said. While Annie represents idealism and the belief that individuals can make a difference by standing up for what is right, Victoria is willing to compromise and manipulate to achieve her goals.
Annie’s journey is one of transparency as she exposes the corruption of Vought and also sheds the superhero avatar, whereas Victoria, who goes by the name Head Popper, operates in secrecy and uses her hidden abilities to manoeuvre behind the scenes. Moriarty said the show represents the polarization of society through its characters. “Kripke said this once, and I’ve never forgotten it. The more you dictate a character’s storyline, and their nuances and the more human you make them, the more relatable they are.
And you might instinctually think the more broad you make them, the more relatable they are but their specificities are so different, and yet they’re ultimately very grounded in real human issues. She believes that both Annie and Victoria are trying to survive in a very hostile world. “The coexistence of two personas that I think everyone does is because it’s a survivalist mechanism. If you’re in survival mode so much, then your objective is just to survive. So what is your real overall objective in life as a human? That can get very lost in the frame,” she added.
In “The Boys”, based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, superheroes, known as Supes in the show, are selfish and corrupt-to-the-core people who are managed by an evil multinational organisation called The Vought. “The Boys” also stars Karl Urban, Antony Starr, Chace Crawford, Jack Quaid, Jessie T Usher, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Colby Minifie, and Cameron Crovetti. Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry and Jeffrey Dean Morgan are the newcomers in the latest instalment.
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