How Amazon's The Boys Shut Down A New Kojima Game

Amazon's "The Boys" is a show that pulls no punches. The series, which follows a ragtag group of human civilians as they try to take down the corrupt superheroes who control the media and the public's adoration, is currently airing its third and most over-the-top season yet. At this point, fans of the show (and the comics upon which the show is based) know to expect all manner of gore, foul language, and other explicit content when they tune in. One would be forgiven for not immediately thinking of game creator Hideo Kojima and his work when they watch "The Boys," but it seems Kojima himself found a bit too much common ground with the Amazon series.

Hideo Kojima, the man behind such iconic titles as "Metal Gear Solid" and "Death Stranding," frequently takes to Twitter to update his fans on the media he's been consuming as of late. His followers eagerly look forward to his takes on things like "The Batman" (he loved Pattinson's performance!) and "Morbius" (no opinion, apparently!), and so it was exciting to see him finally weighing in on "The Boys." However, he revealed that he was only now catching up to the popular series, because the first few episodes had originally soured him on the concept. As Kojima would go on to explain, he didn't exactly object to the show's extreme subject matter. Instead, he actually had mixed feelings regarding "The Boys" for a while, because the show caused him to shelve a project he'd been working on.

Kojima explained on Twitter that he'd only watched the first three episodes of "The Boys" before jumping ship originally, but he'd finally decided to give the rest of the show a go. "Actually, I watched a few episodes that were delivered at the time when I was about to start a project that I had been warming up for a long time," wrote Kojima. He continued, "[I] put it on hold because the concept was similar (different settings and tricks). A buddy (male/female) thing with a special detective squad facing off against legendary heroes behind the scenes."

In the thread, Kojima also revealed that his proposed game would have starred Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who took on a major role in Kojima's "Death Stranding." It's easy to see Mikkelsen slipping comfortably into a badass role similar to Karl Urban's Billy Butcher on "The Boys," but alas, Kojima's superhero game simply was not meant to be.

Though the beloved game director didn't expand on what exactly he meant about his game utilizing "different settings and tricks" when compared to "The Boys," it does seem like the general concept had a good bit of overlap with Amazon's series and the original comic books from Dynamite Entertainment. Hideo Kojima isn't a creator who enjoys repeating himself, much less someone else's ideas, so it stands to reason that he'd want to simply move on to the next big project. Still, it's fun to think about what could have been.

Hideo Kojima's work tends to lean heavily into symbolism and social commentary, with games like "Metal Gear Solid 2" warning against the rise of social media misinformation and "Death Stranding" seeming to predict the isolation of COVID-19 lockdowns. "The Boys" incorporates similar themes into its running saga of superhero debauchery and excess. In fact, this season has come under fire from a subsection of viewers who had apparently missed the political commentary of previous seasons (as noted by TheGamer). And yet, according to "The Boys" showrunner Eric Kripke (per Rolling Stone), series antagonist Homelander is based on Donald Trump, so politics have always been ingrained in the show's DNA.

Likewise, Hideo Kojima has included parodies of real-life public officials in his own work, and once seemingly predicted Trump's campaign slogan when the main villain of "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance" proclaimed that they would "make America great again." Of course, that wasn't the only time Kojima seemingly predicted the future, but the point is that both the writing staff for "The Boys" and Hideo Kojima always have their fingers on the pulse of popular culture and changing societal trends. It makes a lot of sense that the two would find some overlap in story concepts.

Maybe some day, fans will get a chance to see the game Kojima shelved. For now, though, all fans are left with are questions: Would it have involved superheroes? Would heads have exploded? Would Kojima have put a baby with laser eyes in his game? Although fans may never learn quite what Kojima had in mind for this cancelled project, they can rest easy knowing he's currently hard at work on a dream game for Xbox. Who knows? Maybe Kojima's upcoming mystery project will incorporate ideas from this abandoned title.