Sneaky Breaking Bad Reference in The Boys You Might Have Missed
It’s funny that Giancarlo Esposito is the one who says the reference itself.
Breaking Bad and The Boys might seem worlds apart, but eagle-eyed fans have spotted a subtle nod that connects the two, — at least as a little reference.
Both Breaking Bad and The Boys have one undeniable connection: Giancarlo Esposito. In Breaking Bad, Esposito gave a stellar performance as the cold and calculating Gus Fring, a drug kingpin with a knack for hiding in plain sight.
On the other hand, in The Boys, he stepped into the shoes of Stan Edgar, the CEO of Vought International, the company behind the world's superheroes. While the two characters are distinct, it's hard not to see Esposito on screen and instantly think of Gus.
In the season 1 finale of The Boys, Stan Edgar, while discussing his future plans, casually says, "Hey, don't go planning my retirement yet. Just saying, someone needs to run this sh*t show when I move to Belize." Now, for the uninitiated, this might just seem like a regular line.
But for Breaking Bad aficionados, Belize is not just a retirement destination. In the Breaking Bad universe, "sending someone to Belize" is a euphemism for, well, killing them. Saul Goodman introduced this phrase, and it quickly became a part of the show's rich lore.
The Belize reference in The Boys is more than just a nod to Esposito's iconic role in Breaking Bad. It was a clever way to hint at potential future events in the series.
While it might have suggested that Homelander would eventually take over Vought, it could also foreshadow a more sinister fate for the character, given Vought's ruthless nature and the many enemies Edgar has made.
In Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spinoff, there is also a mention of Belize. In season 1, Jimmy (Saul Goodman) pulls a B ball while hosting a Bingo game in a retirement home. He says: "B! B for Belize. I hear it's a lovely place, although I'll never be going there."
There is even a fan theory suggesting that maybe Saul was hinting at the finale of the series. If you watched Better Call Saul, you know that Jimmy didn’t die in the end, so he didn’t go to Belize. He went to prison instead.