The Boys showrunner reacts to shocking Best Drama nomination

The other day, we learned what shows are up for the 2021 Emmy Awards, and as usual, there were some surprises. Why is Don Cheadle nominated for his one-scene appearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier? (Even he seems confused, for the record.) What’s with all the Hamilton nominations? But there were pleasant surprises, too: for instance, was anyone else shocked to see The Boys make it on the list of nominees for Best Drama Series?

• The Boys (Amazon Prime Video)
• Bridgerton (Netflix)
• The Crown (Netflix)
• The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
• Lovecraft Country (HBO)
• The Mandalorian (Disney+)
• Pose (FX)
• This Is Us (NBC)

Don’t get me wrong: I think The Boys is great, but I didn’t think it was the kind of show the Emmy voters would go for. It’s critical of the Hollywood-superhero complex, and features at least one scene where a man is strangled by a giant mutant penis. It seemed a little too wild to get on this list, but here we are!

Showrunner Erik Kripke was surprised, too. “Amazon definitely put forward a really badass campaign,” he told TheWrap. “And in our internal conversations, we would say, ‘You know, if you scratch beneath the surface of the superhero thing, there’s a lot going on here that feels worthy of some recognition.’ But no, I never expected this at all. I mean, at the end of the day, I was really hoping we’d get some technical Emmys, because my team is just doing incredible work. And that’s what I wanted. This would have been a great day if we’d gotten two or three technical Emmys. So then, when this all happened, I just realized that I’m the biggest Emmy nominee cliché.”

"Every beat is a beat you’ve heard in these articles a million times. Like, ‘Oh my God! I wasn’t expecting it. And I was just doing work. And then my phone blew up. And I’m just so grateful and stunned! And it still hasn’t sunk in.’ Like, literally every f–king thing out of my mouth is the worst possible cliché about what this experience is, which I’m a little embarrassed about. But that’s just the truth of what I’m going through."

Naturally, the rest of the cast is psyched by the nomination, as well. “We’re exactly at that point in the season where everyone is just exhausted. We have two more episodes to film, that we just started last week,” Kripke said. And they are always long hours and COVID has made it the hardest production year for any of us, certainly for me. So I just saw, Jack  [Quaid] just sent me video of Karl [Urban] announcing to the crew that we had won [we think he meant to say “been nominated” and not “won”]. And everyone was just so excited. I think it’s a real shot in the arm and can really give everyone some validation as they’re limping into the final stretch.”

The Boys season 3 will have “subtle” Supernatural references

One of those excited cast members was Jensen Ackles, who joins the show in the upcoming third season as the superhero Soldier Boy:

In addition to The Boys, Kripke also created Supernatural, where Ackles played Dean Winchester for 15 seasons, so it’s been like getting the band back together. “It’s been awesome,” Kripke said. “I mean, I love the guy so much. And just to have him read my words again is such a treat. I mean, on the first day of dailies, I reached out to him. Funny enough, his very first scene as Soldier Boy was taking place in a s—-y motel room. And so he’s in this s—-y motel room reading my words. And I just was like, ‘This is great. This feels like coming home.’”

Dean and his brother Sam spent a lot of time on Supernatural staying in s—-y motel rooms as they crossed the country fighting monsters, if you’re wondering why that in particular triggers warm feelings for Kripke. “The cast loved him,” the showrunner continued. “They saw immediately what a good dude and what a really fine actor he is. And really all of our conversations have been about how to make sure that this is not Dean Winchester. How do we give him a look that feels a little different and register of voice and mannerisms? I think he and I are both really interested in creating a different character. So it’s been a blast. I mean, he’s such a good actor. The metaphor I use is he just has a lot of Crayons in his Crayon box and you can really use all of them to do something, I think, really nuanced.”

All that said, with all these Supernatural veterans working on the show, there will be some references if you’re looking for them. “Remember that Phil Sgriccia, a producing director, is a ‘Supernatural’ veteran as well,” Kripke said. “So, you know, I would put it as like, there’s certain shots that he and I are doing as kind of winks that we know what’s going on. There may or may not be a trunk shot or two. That kind of thing where it’s like, I don’t think, anything super-overt. Jim Beaver and Jensen don’t have any scenes together. So we are trying to figure out a way to make sure that we can have a little bit of connection between them. So it’s like that kind of thing. It’s all very subtle.”

We don’t have a premiere date for The Boys season 3 yet, but until we’re told differently we’ll hold out hope for late this year.

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