‘The Boys’ Antony Starr’s ‘Banshee’ Is a Streaming Success on Max

Co-created by Jonathan Tropper – who also created Warrior and the upcoming Apple TV+ series Your Friends and Neighbors – Banshee is the story of an ex-con who assumes the identity of a deceased incoming sheriff to Banshee Pennsylvania. Under this new identity of Lucas Hood, the fake sheriff attempts to reconnect with his former lover, dodge the attacks from a powerful crime lord, all while dispensing his own brand of small-town justice. It’s a wild ride with splashy action that doesn’t ground itself too deeply in reality. Starr spoke with Collider back in 2014 about the over-the-top spectacle of the show:

Any show that has a character stealing the identity of a town sheriff is not real, so we’re already in the land of make-believe. So, let’s go with the head trauma, on that count, as well. If you technically look at how quick Lucas heals, he must have a special elixir of health where he goes and plugs himself into a wall socket and recharges. His restorative abilities are phenomenal. He takes a head beating, an ass beating, and every kind of beating that you can imagine. There is a pulp element to the show. Sex and violence is a part of it. Also, there is a comic book element, as well. It’s definitely not real. It’s pure entertainment. You’ve gotta just leave it at that.

The Draw of the Complicated Anti-Hero

Banshee has the sharp writing, complex characters and fist-pumping action one would expect from prestige TV coupled with the titillating sex and violence Cinemax is known for. The amount of “holy-sh-” moments in the show’s four seasons sometimes make one question how this could possibly be on TV. But beyond the sensationalism of the show, Starr’s performance and multi-layered character are the beating heart of the series.

As with Homelander in The Boys, Starr expertly portrays a deeply flawed person with human nuance that keeps his characters from ever feeling one-note. It’s more than the audacious exploits of Hood and the criminals of Banshee that make the series watchable and likely explain why it’s found rising success on streaming.

Banshee was part of Cinemax’s lineup of original programming from 2013 to 2016 and ran for 4 seasons and is now streaming on Max.

Banshee is an action television series that aired in 2013 and centers around Anthony Starr as an ex-con who takes on the identity of a murdered sheriff Lucas Hood to hide away from pursuers. Set in Banshee, Lucas assumes the stolen identity while falling back into his old criminal ways, struggling to balance the two properly.

Cast

Antony Starr
, Lili Simmons
, Frankie Faison
, Ryann Shane
, Ulrich Thomsen
, Matt Servitto
, Ivana Miličević
, Hoon Lee