Sunday 27 June 2021

The Boys season 3: release date, cast, plot and how it ties into the comics

Spoilers follow for The Boys season 2 and the comic books.

Marvel don’t get everything their own way when it comes to superheroes – Amazon Prime Video’s answer to the MCU is significantly more violent, much ruder and rarely shies away from controversy. It’s also brilliant, which is why The Boys season 3 is one of the most hotly anticipated upcoming releases on the streaming platform.

Although the show’s based on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s long-running comic-book series, showrunner Eric Kripke (a veteran of Supernatural) has never been afraid to take the story in new directions. That means that the tale of a corrupt, corporately bankrolled team of superheroes known as “the Seven” – and the titular gang of vigilantes fighting to take them down – is full of surprises. Particularly if you’re a dolphin or a whale…

While we don’t know for sure where The Boys season 3 will go – and even when we’ll see it – a few aspects of the production have made it past Vought International’s security guards. Notably, some new superheroes and villains will be joining Homelander, Starlight and the rest, including Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy, and The Walking Dead vet Laurie Holden as Crimson Countess.

Below we’ve pulled together everything you need to know about The Boys season 3 release date, cast, plot and more.

A word of warning before we begin: we'll be dealing with huge spoilers for The Boys seasons 1 and 2, as well as diving into the graphic novels. If you don't want any of that ruined for you, turn back now.

Cut to the chase

  • What is it? The third season of Amazon's hit R-rated adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s satirical superhero comic book series.
  • Where can I watch it? As with the previous seasons, The Boys season 3 will be available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
  • When can I watch it? A launch date is still TBC, but don't be surprised if it doesn't arrive until 2022.

The Boys season 3 release date: 2022?

Karl Urban as Billy Butcher in The Boys season 2.

Karl Urban as Billy Butcher. (Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

The show's return is not a huge surprise, given how popular The Boys season 2 was when it aired in fall 2020. According to Business Insider, The Boys became the first non-Netflix series to debut on Nielsen’s list of the top streaming shows, but it's still pleasing to see that we'll be getting more adventures involving Billy Butcher and the gang soon.

So the Boys season 3 is not only happening, but production on the next instalment began in February 2021, meaning that, at time of writing, the show is deep into principal photography. Showrunner Eric Kripke was busy on Twitter earlier this year to mark the moment the cameras got rolling:

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With plenty of filming already in the can, it shouldn't be much longer before production wraps on season 3. In fact, according to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) website, season 3 is schedule to wrap in late August.

That appears to be confirmed as much by star Karl Urban, who plays Billy Butler. Taking to Instagram on May 17, Urban uploaded an image of himself, Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell) and new boy Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy), and revealed that the cast and crew were halfway through production on season 3.

If we take Kripke's earlier comments about a February start date into account, that means that principal photography on season 3 will last six months. That suggests that The Boys season 3 is, as IATSE revealed, on track to finish in August.

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If that's the case, we shouldn't expect The Boys season 3 to arrive any time this year. There will be plenty of post-production to carry out, editing every episode so that they flow naturally, as well as dealing with potential reshoots if the Covid-19 pandemic gets in the way and other possible production issues.

If we had to guess, we'd say that the show will get a teaser trailer before the end of 2021, with an official The Boys season 3 release date coming early in 2022. There'll be no complaints from us if it lands sooner, however.

The Boys season 3 trailer: is there one?

Antony Starr as Homelander and Erin Moriarty as Starlight in The Boys season 2.

Antony Starr as Homelander and Erin Moriarty as Starlight. (Image credit: Amazon)

Nothing as yet, but once we get one, we'll update this section. We wouldn't be surprised, however, if a The Boys season 3 trailer debuts at the San Diego Comic-Con Special Edition, scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend (November 26-28 2021) – Covid-19 restrictions permitting, of course. 

The Boys season 3 cast: who's returning and who's new?

Ashley Barrett, Stormfront, Homelander and Queen Maeve in The Boys season 2.

Ashley Barrett, Stormfront, Homelander and Queen Maeve on set for Dawn of the Seven in The Boys. (Image credit: Amazon)

There will be plenty of returning fan favorites for season 3:

  • Karl Urban as William 'Billy' Butcher
  • Jack Quaid as Hugh 'Hughie' Campbell Jr.
  • Antony Starr as John/Homelander
  • Erin Moriarty as Annie January/Starlight
  • Dominique McElligott as Maggie Shaw/Queen Maeve
  • Jessie T. Usher as Reggie Franklin/A-Train
  • Chase Crawford as Kevin Moskowitz/The Deep
  • Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk
  • Tomer Capon as Frenchie
  • Karan Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro/The Female
  • Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir
  • Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
  • Claudia Doumit as Victoria 'Vic' Neuman

The Boys season 3 cast should also feature a few more returning characters, but there's no official word on whether they'll appear yet. That list could include Laila Robins as ex-CIA Deputy Director Grace Mallory, Cameron Crovetti as Homelander and Becca's son Ryan Butcher and Giancarlo Esposito as Vought CEO Stan Edgar.

As for new cast members, the biggest news is that Supernatural's Jensen Ackles (aka Dean Winchester) has been brought on board to portray Soldier Boy, the first ever Vought-manufactured superhero.

We dive into what Soldier Boy's arrival could mean for season 3 in the next section. For now, though, here's your first look at Ackles in his costume for The Boys, complete with an R-rated tongue-in-cheek comment concerning another US super soldier from another big superhero franchise:

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In addition to Ackles' Soldier Boy, Deadline reports that Katia Winter (Blood & Treasure) has been  been cast as Little Nina. In the graphic novels, Little Nina is a Russian mob boss who has a penchant for sex toys, so expect more in the way of R-rated content when the show returns.

The Boys season 3 cast grew further in June 2021. Entertainment Weekly revealed that Sean Patrick Flanery, Nick Wechsler and Miles Gaston Villanueva have joined the show as Gunpowder, Blue Hawk and Supersonic, respectively, while Variety announced that former Walking Dead survivor Laurie Holden will be joining the series as Crimson Countess.

Of the quartet of newbies, only Crimson Countess and Gunpowder have appeared in the source comics. Both could be described as villains – though such things are relative in The Boys universe, of course – with Crimson Countess a riff on WandaVision ’s Scarlet Witch, and Gunpowder a weapons expert. 

Interestingly, Gunpowder briefly appeared in a TV interview in The Boys season 1, though he was played by a different actor.

THE BOYS SEASON 2 RECAPS

The Boys season 2

(Image credit: Amazon)

Remind yourself of the story so far with our recaps of The Boys season 2 episode 1, The Boys season 2 episode 2, The Boys season 2 episode 3, The Boys season 2 episode 4, The Boys season 2 episode 5, The Boys season 2 episode 6, The Boys season 2 episode 7 and The Boys season 2 episode 8. 

The Boys season 3 plot: what can we expect from the story?

The Boys

(Image credit: Amazon)

Spoilers follow for The Boys season 2 and the graphic novels.

While season 2 wrapped up plenty of its plot threads, there are still some things that The Boys season 3 must address.

One of the biggest concerns Stormfront (Aya Cash), who was severely injured by Ryan Butcher's lazer eye attack in the season 2 finale. The only thing we have to go on, so far, is that Vought boss Stan Edgar said she's "in a secure location". It seems, then, that she could have a role to play in the series moving forward. Whether that's as part of The Boys season 3, however, remains to be seen.

Stormfront’s diminished state means that there‘s a vacancy to join Homelander in the 'Big Bad' department. Now that Congresswoman Victoria Neuman has been outed as the Supe who explodes heads – as seen in the final scene of season 2 – the smart money would have to be on her .

Of course, that means things could get bad for Hughie. As we saw in the season 2 finale, The Boys have temporarily disbanded, and Hughie has gone off to work for Neuman. We don't know how long it'll be before Hughie cottons onto the fact that his new boss is as bad as, say Homelander, or what Neuman's master plan is. Expect it to be the base on which The Boys season 3's plot is built though.

Speaking of Homelander, it appears that he's going to go off the rails in season 3. Last seen standing on one of the city's tallest buildings and, well, pleasuring himself, Homelander has a maniacal look in his eye. That "I can do whatever the f**k I want!" line he repeats, too, is proof that he's ready to get back at those who betrayed him in season 2. If we were Queen Maeve, Starlight and The Boys, we'd be watching our backs.

Homelander won't be the only Supe who is ready to bring the hurt in season 3, either. Soldier Boy is primed to throw the proverbial cat among the pigeons, and his graphic novel backstory hints at some really mature content that's likely to appear in the TV adaptation.

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In the comics, there are two versions of Soldier Boy, and it appears that the TV series has settled on introducing the former. The first generation Soldier Boy is a Supe who becomes a US icon during World War II – think of him as The Boys' version of Captain America – but his backstory isn't as honorable as the general public are led to believe.

As it happens, Soldier Boy ends up killing his fellow Supes, as well as US soldiers, during a mission. Lieutenant Greg Mallory, whose gender was changed for the TV series, winds up killing Soldier Boy for his behaviour in the comics. However, given that this Soldier Boy is alive and well in the TV universe, his backstory and character arc will need to be altered.

The arrival of Soldier Boy also ushers in the the introduction of another superhero group, too – Payback. Dubbed the "second most popular superhero team" behind The Seven, Payback are the team led by the second iteration of Soldier Boy. In the comics, Stormfront is also a member of this unit, so her live-action counterpart already has ties to the TV show's version of Soldier Boy.

Additionally, The Boys season 3's first episode it titled 'Payback' – as revealed by Eric Kripke on Twitter. This might be a subtle tease about how Homelander plans to exact revenge on those who turned on him by the end of season 2, but it's much more likely to hint at Payback's arrival. If it does, we could get a flashback episode introduces Soldier Boy, his World War II actions and what he's up to in the present day. That would lead nicely into season 3's main plot, and also act as a novel way to open The Boys' next instalment.

Kripke has elaborated on how Soldier Boy may fit into The Boys season 3, too. Speaking to Deadline in June 2021, Kripke said: "A big element of the comics actually are flashbacks to World War II and Vietnam. I always really loved it because you got to see how the superhero phenomenon didn’t just affect the present, but how it affected parts of the past as well."

The showrunner also revealed that season 3 will get more political as well.

"I’d say in previous seasons the boogeyman for you to be scared of used to be, 'The terrorists are coming to get you,'" he said. "And now it’s sort of metastasized into, I think, a much more ominous, 'Your neighbor is coming to get you'. And that’s scary to me, how politics are turning us on each other. So, we want to explore what it means to be in America, really."

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Regardless of how Soldier Boy is introduced, we know that his appearance will lead to the inclusion of one of the graphic novels' most shocking plot threads – Herogasm. Without delving too deep into spoiler territory for the comics, Herogasm is a storyline that sees all of Vought's superheroes travel to a remote tropical island to engage in a massive, secret company-organized orgy.

At the time of the graphic novels' publication, Herogasm was considered to be the most controversial moment in the entire series. It contains one particular scene involving Homelander and Soldier Boy having sex, but The Boys season 3 won't include this particular sequence, as Kripke confirmed during a Q&A last October:

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Kripke has since teased Herogasm's sequence in season 3, saying that filming this part of the show was the "craziest dailies" that he'd ever seen:

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While there will be plenty of risqué moments in The Boys season 3, there will also be plenty of blood, gore and violence. Speaking to Collider about the show's production, Laz Alonso (Mother's Milk) revealed that the upcoming season would be the bloodiest yet.

"I'll put it to you this way," he said. "I was talking to the head make-up artist and she's in charge of ordering the blood – that's one of her many jobs. She told me that all of Season 2... When you talk about bulk, I don't think they used over a gallon of blood in Season 2, believe it or not. Season 3, we're already at three and a half gallons of blood. So that should give you a little indication of where it's going."

Alonso's comments were partly backed up by Jack Quaid (Hughie), too. Speaking to Inverse, Quaid teased the prospect that "no one is okay" when season 3's story kicks into gear, so we better start preparing ourselves for the worst now.

There are other less important story threads that need some form of resolution in The Boys season 3. For one, Compound V – the substance used to give people their superpowers – isn't being released to the general public anymore. It'll be interesting to see if this is the first and last time that it'll be offered out to the wider population, or if it'll still fall into the wrong hands and lead to the emergence of new supervillains.

Additionally, there's bound to be more infighting among The Seven's members. As the season 2 finale revealed, A-Train and Starlight have been readmitted to the team, but The Deep hasn't. The last time we saw The Deep, he stormed out of the Church of the Collective's headquarters after A-Train was selected for reinstatement over him, so he'll have an axe to grind over that. 

Furthermore, Homelander is still on that team, so no doubt he'll be gunning for Starlight, too. Add in the fact that Black Noir is in a vegetative state after he suffered a peanut allergy in season 2, and Queen Maeve's presence in The Seven, and things could get ugly very fast.

We should find out more about a couple of other superpowered beings. First, there's Cindy. She's the telekinetic individual who broke out of the Sage Grove testing facility, and was last seen hitchhiking towards an unknown destination. She seems to be traveling down the 'supervillain' path, so she might end up having a more prominent role in The Boys season 3.

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Next, we have the aptly named Love Sausage – yes, the guy with the abnormally long penis (played by Andrew Jackson) who attempts to strangle Mother's Milk at the testing facility. Kripke has teased that Love Sausage may appear in The Boys season 3, but we'll have to wait and see how he fits into the story.

“Without spoiling anything, someone just successfully pitched, not an extended return but a return of Love Sausage in season 3,” the showrunner told Entertainment Weekly in October 2020, “so, there's more Love Sausage on the horizon.”

The new season may also be taking a note out of Avengers: Endgame's book and jumping forward in time. Per recent photographs taken on set, The Boys season 3 may occur in 2024, judging by a poster where real-life Senator Ted Cruz is making a run for the presidency:

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The Boys season 3: how many seasons will there be?

The Boys

(Image credit: Amazon)

Kripke has revealed that he has planned for five seasons of The Boys. However, the series' showrunner also went to tease the prospect of more instalments than that late last year:

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It's an unsurprising stance, seeing as Supernatural – the show that made Kripke's name – was originally supposed to run for five seasons, too, but ended up making it to 15. 

The showrunner may decide, then, that The Boys needs another season or two after its fifth instalment in order to wrap up its story. There are 72 issues of Ennis and Robertson's comics and, while the TV show has gone in its own direction with how the source material's story plays out, there's enough plot left to tell for at least three or four seasons.

Besides, assuming audiences continue to watch The Boys, Amazon is likely to keep renewing what's arguably its biggest TV show for as long as possible. In other words, you can bet on The Boys running for a number of seasons yet.

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