But somehow, this “prequel” does it, delivering epic storytelling and breathtaking visuals but pairing them with the kind of world-building and character-driven storytelling LOTR fans love so much.

Adapting an unfinished Tolkien work on the heels of Peter Jackson’s uber-successful film series is a near-impossible task. Of course, they’ll have to sacrifice some marine mammals in the process.Ĭast: Morfydd Clark, Charlie Vickers, Ismael Cruz CordovaĪdapting Tolkien is a tall order. Karl Urban’s wise-cracking Billy Butcher has a personal axe to grind with Antony Starr’s deliciously evil, over-the-top Homelander (basically Superman if he had even bigger daddy issues), so he teams up with Jack Quaid’s Hughie to form a group of outcasts who just might be able to bring these corrupt Supes down a peg. The premise follows a group of unexceptional vigilantes who recognize the superpowered gods among them have amassed too much, well, power. Created and co-executive produced by Eric Kripke based on a Garth Ennis series, this show pulls absolutely no punches, delivering stomach-churning, awe-inspiring action sequences that are so gory, so nasty, you can’t possibly turn away. This eventually becomes a love story, one more fixated on the kind of self-love Fleabag so desperately needs, but Andrew Scott’s foul-mouthed Father does inspire more than a bit of swooning in season two.Ĭast: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin MoriartyĪ wild, vulgar, berserker of a comic book adaptation, The Boys takes swing after swing at the very superhero verse its characters belong to. Bridge plays a 30-something Brit only identified as the titular Fleabag, a woman with emotional baggage that takes increasingly bizarre, problematic, and frankly, hilarious forms - a Guinea Pig Cafe, sexual trysts with Bus Rodents, familial squabbles, blasphemous confessional hook-ups with the Hot Priest, and a suicide attempt. Many have tried to replicate, but none have captured the dry-witted humor and brutally insightful poignancy of the mold they’re homaging.

When Phoebe Waller-Bridge turned her one-woman stage production into a fourth-wall-breaking comedic masterpiece on Amazon Prime a few years ago, TV shows everywhere took notice.

Cast: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sian Clifford, Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott

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