The Boys Season 3. Photo: Youtube
The Boys Season 3. Photo: Youtube

There's some good news for those of us waiting to see what the hell is going to happen next in Amazon Prime Video's superhero satire/thriller The Boys (an adaptation of the comic of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson): Season 3 is in production, and on the way. The Boys' first season was fantastic, and Season 2 managed to live up to the first season's hype and possibly even exceeded it. And while we're all still thinking about everything that happened with Homelander, Butcher, Hughie, Starlight, Stormfront, and even The Deep, there's solace to be taken in knowing that Season 3 is on schedule to release later this year.

Showrunner Eric Kripke released the following statement after the show's Season 3 renewal was announced during last summer's Comic Con: At Home, saying that he and his team of writers were already in the midst of the process, planning diligently for the future: "Amazon, in a bold and historic push to expand their ‘weirdo’ demographic, has greenlit Season 3 of The Boys. The writers and I are hard at work in the (virtual) writer’s room and we’re sad to say, the world has given us way too much material."

"Hard at work"—sounds good to us. With Kripke already planning, alongside his excellent cast, and the expertise of The Boys comic writer Garth Ennis and the super-producer team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, signs are pointing upwards for The Boys to have yet another awesome go-around in Season 3.

Here's everything we know so far.

The Boys season 3 latest news

  • Cast member Laz Alonso said in an interview that filming is one-fourth to halfway complete.
  • Jensen Ackles has reportedly started filming his scenes as Soldier Boy
  • New set photos suggest an Supes-based reality show is happening in the new episodes
  • You won't recognize Supernatural's Jensen Ackles in his new look

The Boys season 3 release date

The Boys season 3 does not have a release date yet.

Filming has begun on the season, as evidence by several of the cast members posting photos on social media. In his post, Karl Urban mentioned the health precautions that are in place on set, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Season 1 took four months to film, while season 2 needed five months. Season 3 could very well require six or more months, since the pandemic makes productions a lot more complicated.

Cast member Laz Alonso told Collider in late April that filming is "between one-fourth of the way through and halfway through." That indicates filming on season 3 could last until the fall.

Once wrapped, post-production could last for months as The Boys is heavy on visual effects. The first two seasons premiered 10 months after filming concluded.

So, if The Boys season 3 filming finishes in September or October 2021, it's possible fans won't see the episodes until June 2022 or later, according to Toms Guide.

The Boys season 3 cast: who’s new, who’s staying, and who could be leaving

Photo: screenrant
Photo: screenrant

The Boys season 2 ending means The Boys season 3 cast has been shaken up. No official news yet on who’s returning, though we can certainly make an educated guess after what’s transpired.

Butcher (Karl Urban), Hughie (Jack Quaid), Frenchie (Tomer Capon), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) should all be back.

On the Supe side of things, there’s Homelander (Antony Starr), Maeve (Dominique McElligott), Starlight (Erin Moriarty), A-Train (Jessie Usher), and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) forming the Seven. The Deep (Chace Crawford) is likely to be sticking around, too. Expect Vought CEO Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) to make a handful of appearances if the actor’s schedule allows.

Outside of that, the biggest name is Claudia Doumit’s Congresswoman Victoria Neuman. After being revealed to be behind the head-exploding attacks, it’s clear that she’s going to be a major focus of season three. According to Deadline, she and Colby Minifie (Vought PR Ashley) have been promoted to series regulars.

Talking of head explosions, escape Sage Grove patient Cindy is now on the loose and "as dangerous as ever." Chances are she'll have a presence in The Boys season 3.

One confirmed new addition to the cast is Soldier Boy, a Supe who is essentially a twisted take on Captain America. He will be played by Supernatural star Jensen Ackles. Eric Kripke describes the character as “the very first Superhero, he'll bring so much humour, pathos, and danger to the role.” Kripke also told TV Guide that Soldier Boy has a surprise connection to Stormfront. Comic Book also report that Ackles has shared a picture of his new hairstyle, seemingly during quarantine for filming on The Boys – if this is for the show, it's a style shake-up for Soldier Boy, who in the comics has shorter hair and is clean-shaven.

Deadline also report that Katia Winter has joined season 3, and though her role hasn't been officially confirmed, they indicate she could be playing Russian gangster Little Nina, who in the comics works with Vought.

Another who Kripke wants to line up but hasn’t sealed the deal with yet is fellow Supernatural alum (and The Walking Dead mainstay) Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

During a roundtable at which GamesRadar+ was present, Kripke said: “Of the many things COVID is screwing up in this world, a Jeffrey Dean Morgan cameo or a Jeffrey Dean Morgan role may be one of them. But if the quarantine is removed and a couple of things break our way? Then yeah, we’ll try to figure it out.”

Among those who might not be returning are Stormfront (Aya Cash) and Becca (Shantel VanSanten), who both perished in the season 2 finale. Of course, the show hasn’t been shy about bringing back dead characters via other means – such as Doppelganger turning into Elizabeth Shue’s Madelyn Stilwell. So don’t rule out some form of flashback or cloning shenanigans just yet. Kripke has seemingly confirmed Stormfront isn't dead, so watch this space – although, Cash herself has said she doesn't know if she'll be back, isn't currently filming, and that her contract was just for one year, Gamesradar noted.

What do we know about the plot?

Well, Butcher (Karl Urban) is going to be grieving the death of Becca (Shantel VanSanten) — which happened by accident, as the result of Ryan actually trying to save his mother from Stormfront — that’s for sure.

“Without talking too much about Season 3, emotionally, the Butcher that we see at the end of this season continues but with a vengeance,” Kripke told TheWrap in October. “He’s at war with himself. There’s a part of him that’s represented by Becca and Hughie (Jack Quaid) and Ryan, there’s like a part of them that just has a humanity. It’s a small part, but it’s a part. And the other part of him is his father, and violence and rage and unprocessed anger. And those two sides of him are really at war in Season 3, because he’s furious. And yet he can’t really be furious at the kid. And so he’s furious at Homelander. So he’s a mess. And those two sides really struggle in season three.”

Meanwhile, Hughie is off trying to fight Vought in a safer way by working for the task force headed up by congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) — who just so happens to be a supe herself and the one responsible for killing all of those people at the Vought congressional hearings.

“Hughie sort of inadvertently is heading into the lion’s den,” Kripke said. “You know, he has this kind of sword hanging over his head as he goes to work at the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, the FBSA. And, you know, the whole time there’s this tension of who she really is. And sooner or later, he’s gonna discover it, obviously, and we’ll really unpack who she is and why she’s doing what she’s doing. And I think there’s surprises ahead on that.”

More recently, Kripke revealed that the season will also include an episode titled “Herogasm,” which covers an infamous plot from the comics.

Will it release all at once, like Season 1, or roll out weekly, like Season 2?

No word on this either, but the switch from Season 1’s all-at-once release to the blended binge/weekly model paid off hugely with an 89% rise in worldwide viewership in Season 2. Not only that, but fellow Amazon Prime series “The Expanse” will be copying that model for its upcoming 5th season, Thewrap cited.

Our guess: Expect a weekly rollout for Season 3.

What’s going on with the spinoff?

Photo: tomsguide
Photo: tomsguide

Ahead of “The Boys” Season 2 finale, Amazon fast-tracked development an untitled spinoff series set at a superhero college run by Vought. Kripke told TheWrap the show, which has not been ordered by the streaming service yet, is “loosely inspired” by the comics’ G-Men, a blatant parody of Marvel’s “X-Men” characters.

The spinoff series will be executive produced by Kripke, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who developed “The Boys” for Amazon, as well as Craig Rosenberg, who is writing the pilot.

The Boys season 3 trailer

No, not yet. A trailer will drop closer to the season’s release date. Then again, maybe we'll get a teaser even sooner. After all, if Evil can give us a Season 2 trailer before filming even begins, why can't The Boys do the same?

The Boys Season 2 is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, according to Inverse.

The Boys season 3 spoilers

Some clues from the season two finale could give us a hint about where The Boys’ story will go next, with Hughie joining the campaign of mysterious congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) after her true colours were revealed in the most recent episode.

“Similarly, there is a corrupt politician in the books named Vic Neuman. And through him, they kind of dig into some of the seedier sides of politics,” Kripke told Collider.

“And although we have a very different character, I think we’re signalling that we also have a corrupt politician who is going to lead us into some of the seedier sides of politics as the show proceeds.”

The series is also set to explore the past of evil corporation Vought through the lens of Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy and his superhero team Payback, a riff on the Avengers (hence the name).

“One of the things I love most about the world in [The Boys] comic books isn’t just how fleshed out it is, but the history of it. It goes back 60, 70 years and it’s just as fleshed out as it is today,” Kripke told EW.

“One of the reasons that we’re getting into Soldier Boy [in season 3] and that team, Payback, is we’re interested in exploring a little bit of how we got here. Through the history of the supes, we can tell a little bit about the history of America and how we ended up in the current fraught position that we’re in. Soldier Boy gives us an opportunity to do that.

“Certain politicians like to pitch this somehow idyllic ‘good old days’ where everything was perfect and calm. That is complete and utter bulls—. It was never that way. So, by exploring the history of Vought in the history of America, we get to make some of those points. There was never an America when they say ‘Make America Great Again.’ It was always a struggle. That’s the point. It’s a struggle to make things better.”

Elsewhere, Antony Starr’s Homelander is less stable than ever while Butcher has been recruited to join an official hero-monitoring team backed by the CIA, adding new legitimacy to his violent crusade.

“There are two words that Eric has said to me about Season 3,” Starr told Collider. “His description for Homelander Season three was, ‘Two words, homicidal maniac.’ That’s all I know.”

The first photo released of season three was a statue of the iconic supervillain, which Homelander would be glad to know focuses on a, um, certain area.

Starr continued to tell Collider: “I just feel like his identity is so bizarrely and dysfunctionally twisted up in the corporate identity of Homelander. He wouldn’t know who he is without that costume, without that flag, and without that public persona and identity.

“It’s a form of skin to him. I don’t know what he would wear. I’ve been asked, ‘Will he ever take the suit off?,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, you tell me what he would wear because I can’t imagine Homelander in civilian clothes. I really can’t.'”

And Kripke has also suggested that season three may be inspired by the coronavirus pandemic, albeit indirectly.

“I can tell you that season three, without being specifically about COVID, we’re having a lot of conversation about government response to COVID here in the States,” he told us.

“And my guess is you’ll see that metaphorically show up one way or another in season three.

“It’s a fortunate opportunity for me to have a show where I can talk about the world and I have a place to put all my frustration.”

And generally speaking, Kripke says fans should expect the show to go even bigger and more outrageous for season three – and after seeing the “Love Sausage” in season two, that’s already hard to picture.

“Is there anything we won’t touch? No, no,” he said.

“Amazon, to their credit, has given us a lot of rope to hang ourselves with and we have every intention of taking it as far as we can.”

We can hardly wait to see how far they’ll go – though we already know that the third season will tackle the Herogasm storyline, which involves an alien invasion being used as a front for a wild orgy, Radio Times reported.

The Boys season 3: Jensen Ackles' role

Supernatural star Jensen Ackles is arguably the biggest addition to The Boys season 3 cast, and he started filming for the season on the week of April 19. The above photo he shared (which we assume is tied to his character) teases that Soldier Boy may need a haircut.

The Soldier Boy character, as we learned from Mr. Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) in season 2, was one of the soldiers who was (apparently) a recipient of Compound V during World War II. But unlike Stormfront, Soldier Boy was fighting on the Allied side, as Frederick Vought had already switched sides.

Soldier Boy, it seems, would be a big riff on Captain America. Or at least that's how he was portrayed in the comic books. There, he led a group named Payback, the team that pre-dates The Seven. His group included Crimson Countess, Eagle the Archer, Tek Knight, Swatto and ... Stormfront.

In an interview with Collider, The Boys' Laz Alonso (who plays Mother's Milk) noted that the addition of Soldier Boy enables The Boys to make "all of the other ensemble Supes darker as well."

Ackles, fresh off of a 15-year stint leading Supernatural, jumped at the role, according to The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke. Specifically, "He texted me back in three minutes and said, 'I definitely want to do this!'" And Ackles was signed on in the next week.

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