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Exclusive: The Boys star Erin Moriarty says the show breaks the mould for female superheroes

Photo credit: Prime Video
Photo credit: Prime Video

From Digital Spy

Amazon's runaway hit The Boys may be called, well, The Boys, but it's now just as much a show about women as it is men – and we're not talking about a shiny, girl-power veneer, but one that's authentic and multi-faceted.

And Erin Moriarty, who plays Annie January / Starlight in the comic book series, reckons that The Boys' "very different" approach to female superheroes is what makes it so strong.

Speaking to Digital Spy about the portrayal of women in the comic book world, Erin admitted that The Boys' decision to "stray away from the standard... portrayal of superheroes" was "intentional".

Photo credit: Prime Video
Photo credit: Prime Video

Related: The Boys is getting a spin-off series featuring young superheroes

"We intentionally don't fit in because [outside of The Boys] you have these female superheroes [who are] super empowered, and that's amazing, but there's no chink to their armour, there's no thing that they do that's in the grey area, no mistakes ever," she explained.

Although Erin thinks that the "typical" infallible female superhero is "great", she's glad to be working on a show that "breaks that mould", where women can be "equally empowered, as equally strong, equally badass" but still make mistakes. Because, who doesn't?

Reflecting on Starlight and the likes of Queen Maeve and The Female, Erin continued: "They do things that lie in the grey area. They do do things that would be quote unquote 'immoral' but they're also, you know, these are the most human superheroes I think that have ever been depicted in TV shows or in movies and that's intentional."

Photo credit: Prime Video
Photo credit: Prime Video

Related: The Boys season 3: Release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know

"So I think we don't fit into the superhero world, I think we intentionally break that box, and I think we just try to make the statement that empowerment doesn't equal flawless."

Revealing what empowerment means to her, Erin added: "Empowerment equals flaws, mistakes made, all of which are used to strengthen ourselves as women, as opposed to defeating us."

Never have we wanted to become a member of the Seven more.

The Boys season two dropped on Amazon Prime Video on September 4 with episodes 1-3, and now continues weekly, dropping new episodes each Friday.


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