This summer is going to be filled with great genre shows, from House of the Dragon to Stranger Things to Obi-Wan Kenobi to The Umbrella Academy and more. But perhaps the grittiest, gnarliest, and most shocking will be the third season of The Boys on Amazon Prime Video. The superhero series that pokes fun at our current superhero media craze has consistently pushed boundaries since it premiered in 2019, and with season 3 it looks primed to take things to an even more messed up place.
But don’t take my word for it. The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke is always pushing the show to new places, which for this season includes thinking about what a superhero orgy would be like.
“It all comes from this very logical place of ‘if there really was a superhero orgy, what would it look like? How would you depict it in the most honest way possible?’” Kripke told Den of Geek. “Because we’re all about integrity here. We’re just telling the truth, man.”
The Boys season 3 will adapt the Herogasm arc from the comics
This all sounds pretty tongue-in-cheek, but Kripke’s not joking. The Boys comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson feature a storyline called “Herogasm” which does indeed include a superhero orgy. According to Kripke, that plotline will make it into the show during the back half of season 3.
“We definitely did it as a dare,” Kripke explained. “From the moment people heard we were making The Boys, people would say over and over again, ‘but you’re not gonna do Herogasm. I dare you to do Herogasm.’ Part of it was that we were in season 3, we were a hit, Amazon could say ‘no’ to us less and less. So finally, we were like, ‘All right, let’s do it. Let’s fucking do it.’”
Lest anyone worry, Kripke assures us that the show isn’t just trying to outdo previous seasons for shock value. “We genuinely don’t have conversations about trying to top ourselves. I think it’s dangerous because if you’re working to go bigger and bigger it’s an unsustainable pattern. Eighty percent of the conversation in the room is ‘how do we go deeper with the characters and how do we put them through existential crises?’”
The Boys season 3 is the bloodiest season yet
While The Boys may not be actively trying to top itself every season, it sounds like that’s what will happen. “The very first 15 minutes of episode one is by far the craziest thing we’ve ever done… like, by a mile,” Kripke said. “It’s a weird almost James Bond kind of opening. It’s its own adventure before you start the season. The hard stuff is figuring out the arcs. The fun stuff is figuring out the exploding bodies.”
Just how many bodies are we talking? Laz Alonso, who plays Mother’s Milk, drives it home:
"I do remember during episode three hearing the head of the makeup department talking to someone about ordering more blood. [She said] that they had already gone through more blood by episode three than they had through the entire season two."
Perhaps some of the bodies are made by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), who will be taking concentrated doses of Compound V this season in order to “level the playing field” and go after the supes. “We decided to go full Bill Bixby. Great Incredible Hulk moment,” Urban teased. “To me, the interesting character element about that is ‘how far are you willing to go to achieve your goal?’ To destroy the thing you hate the most, are you willing to become that thing? To me, that’s a very interesting existential question. All of the characters have choices to make.”
Knowing The Boys, the answer is “very far.”
Soldier Boy
One of the biggest new additions to The Boys cast is Jensen Ackles (Supernatural), who will play the show’s version of Captain America, Soldier Boy. “He’s kind of the original superhero in this world,” Ackles said. “We did get to see a little glimpse into that past. Bringing in someone who has experienced that world into the modern age—you can only imagine. It’s very similar to Grandpa still being around, and what would he think of someone like Homelander or someone like Butcher? It was really fun to play an old man. The beard was tough, though.”
This isn’t the first time that Ackles has worked with Eric Kripke, who was the creator and showrunner of the first five seasons of Supernatural over on The CW. The personal connection between Ackles and Kripke was what led to the actor being invited to audition for the part.
“That came about during the break before we finished the last two episodes of Supernatural,” Ackles told TV Insider. “I was talking to about something completely unrelated and said, ‘Hey, I’m about to be unemployed. Got anything for me on The Boys?’ And he was like, ‘Let me think about it, because I don’t know if I want you for a solo guest spot. Maybe I’ve got something a little bit juicier for you.’ And I was like, ‘Scary, but OK.’ The next day, he sent me the material for Soldier Boy.”
But Ackles wasn’t just handed the role. “ said, ‘Look, this role is on the radar for a heavy Season 3 appearance, and they’re looking at a short list of names,'” the actor continued. “And I’m like, ‘Well, where am I on that short list?’ And he said, ‘You’re not on it.’ Then he read me a few of the names and I was like, ‘No, I wouldn’t be on that list!’ So, this wasn’t something where Kripke just called and said, ‘Hey, come on over.’ This was something I had to fight for, and luckily it worked out.”
Ackles is a great addition to an already solid cast, so we’re excited to see what he brings to the show. Already from the trailer we see Ackles bashing in some faces and getting right in on the type of bloody action The Boys is known for. I guess there’s a reason the actor doesn’t want his mom to watch his performance on The Boys.
The Boys season 3 premieres June 3 on Prime Video.
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