The Boys showrunner blasts TV shows claiming to be “10-hour movies”

As the Streaming Wars rage on, TV shows fight to find new ways to distinguish themselves. One thing we’ve heard a lot recently is that showrunners aren’t making TV shows at all, but rather extra-long movies split into smaller chunks. Most recently, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power director J.A. Bayona proclaimed that the new Amazon show is “not television,” but something new that bridges the gap between TV and movies. Before that, producers behind Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier talked about their series being “6-hour” movies, per Variety. And let’s not get started on Stranger Things‘ monstrously long fourth season, which included a two-and-a-half hour finale that is literally feature length.

But there’s one Hollywood power player who’s having none of it: The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke. In a recent interview with Vulture, Kripke reflected on how streaming has given filmmakers more freedom to tell their stories, without necessarily forcing them to consider the strength of each episode the way you’d have to on network television.

Erik Kripke has opinions about showrunners who say they’re making 10-hour movies: “F*** you! No, you’re not!”

“The downside of streaming is that a lot of filmmakers who work in streaming didn’t necessarily come out of that network grind,” Kripke told Vulture. “They’re more comfortable with the idea that they could give you 10 hours, where nothing happens until the eighth hour. That drives me fucking nuts, personally.”

"As a network guy who had to get you people interested for 22 fucking hours a year, I didn’t get the benefit of, ‘Oh, just hang in there and don’t worry. The critics will tell you that by episode eight, shit really hits the fan.’ Or anyone who says, ‘Well, what I’m really making is a 10-hour movie.’ Fuck you! No, you’re not! Make a TV show. You’re in the entertainment business."

There can also be no doubt that Kripke knows what he’s talking about here. Before making the critically-acclaimed series The Boys for Prime Video, Kripke was the creator of Supernatural over on The CW. That series ran for 15 seasons and has legions of faithful fans, so clearly Kripke knows what’s what when it comes to TV.

At the same time, Kripke seems to have really embraced the advancements that streaming services have brought to the table. “I can’t see ever going back to network. It’s the ability to do two things: have most of your scripts written before you shoot a day of film, and then have all the episodes finished before you turn them over to air,” he explained. “There are logistical benefits that would be impossible to give up because you can tell a coherent piece in a way you simply cannot with network TV. It’s already aired; you threw it out the door. You’re locked in. It happens all the time: We’re in the middle of filming episode seven, and we realize there’s a different storyline we need. We still have time to go back and shoot it for episode one and drop it back in.”

Whether you like 10-hour movies or 10-episode seasons of television, it’s a pretty great time to be a TV fan. Season 3 of The Boys is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

The Boys college spinoff title revealed: Gen V

In other The Boys-related news, the show’s upcoming spinoff about a Vought-run college for supes now has a title. Gen V will feature all the same outrageous gore, sex, and raunchiness as the mothership series, set against the backdrop of the world’s first college exclusively for superheroes. As series star London Thor says in the announcement video, “what could go wrong?”

In addition to Thor, Gen V’s cast also includes Jaz Sinclair, Patrick Schwarzenegger (yes, Arnold’s kid), Lizzie Broadway, Chance Perdomo, Asa Germann, Derek Luh, Maddie Phillips, Shelley Conn, Sean Patrick Thomas and Marco Pigossi. Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters are set to serve as showrunners for the series, with Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, and The Boys comic creators Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson among the spinoff’s executive producers.

No release date has been announced for Gen V, but an announcement like this likely indicates things are moving along well. We’ll be on the lookout for future updates.

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h/t Variety