Based on the graphic novel The Boys, which ran from 2008 to 2012, the show is set in a world where superheroes have run amok and get involved in reckless behavior, potentially jeopardizing the safety of the world. The titular "The Boys" is a division of the CIA that watches over the superheroes to make sure they stay in line, and when necessary, kill them.

The show explores the complexity, comedy and drama of an experience that everyone reads about, but few understand - what truly happens when you make it out. Through a combination of God-given talent and north Philly grit, Cam Calloway and Reggie Vaughn have achieved fame and fortune that neither could have imagined growing up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Philadelphia. But success comes with its own challenges, and the cousins and confidantes wrestle with the rewards of money, stardom, love, and occasionally, the guilt of having "made it".

At night, Wyatt, Lyle and Dante battle together as heroic avatars, in a massively multiplayer online video game, Conqueror of All Worlds. Yet, by day these high school teenagers barely know each other's names, let alone their real identities. That all changes after they mistakenly open a portal from the game world to the real world unleashing the game's evil villain Maldark, a bunch of his trolls and the entire content of the internet, into their once peaceful neighborhood.