The latest episode of The Boys, "Wisdom of the Ages," featured an extended storyline where Homelander, the sociopathic superhero currently trying to take over the U.S. government, went back to the lab where he was raised as a child, visiting bloody vengeance on the people who tortured him in the name of science and share price.
The episode peeled back yet another layer of the character. "I don’t think anyone’s saying that you should be sympathetic towards Homelander," clarified showrunner Eric Kripke. "It’s more that I want the audience to understand who he is. I’m not endorsing any of that. That’s all bad behavior, let me be clear."
However you feel about Homelander, it's hard not be in awe of actor Antony Starr, who has been killing it as Homelander since the beginning. "Ant, with that laughter and glee and how much he’s enjoying it, all came from him on the day," Kripke told Collider. "When I first saw it, I’ve cut hundreds of hours of Homelander film and I’ve seen countless scenes with him, but that could be the title for the scariest I’ve ever seen him, which is saying something. Ant’s instincts in that scene are just so intense. It’s so long overdue, just give that guy an Emmy already."
Could Starr actually get an Emmy nomination? The Emmy nomination eligibility cycle actually started as of June 1 of this year, so The Boys stands alone right now as one of the shows being talked about. Right now, the only competition for the Best Actor category might be coming from House of the Dragon over on HBO, where I would humbly submit that Tom Glynn-Carney (King Aegon Targaryen) be given some attention.
That said, I would love to see Starr get recognized for his terrific work as Homelander, who is well on his way to becoming an all-time great TV villain. He's already iconic, and a little golden statue could help seal the deal. Hopefully he'll bring more surprises in the rest of the season; new episodes of The Boys drop Thursdays on Amazon Prime Video.
It's sounding more and more like Supernatural veteran Jared Padalecki will be on The Boys
After this season wraps up, there's one more on the way before The Boys ends forever. And it's sounding more and more like Kripke wants to draft his old pal Jared Padalecki — who played Sam Winchester for 15 seasons on Kripke's show Supernatural — will be a part of it. Nothing's been made official yet, but clearly Kripke is thinking about it. "I just like working with people that I know and I like, you know? And I just happen to like a lot of people from that cast, and keep in touch with all of them, and we’re all still a big family," he said. "And it just makes your life easier when someone is coming to set and you know they’re good, and you know they’ll get along with everyone else."
Jensen Ackles, who played Dean Winchester on Supernatural, already appeared in The Boys season 3, so we may get a Supernatural reunion before this is all over. “We have talked . As a matter of fact, we talked today,” Jared Padalecki recently revealed to Deadline. “I think at this point in my acting life, I only want to work on projects that I really care about or with people that I really care about, and obviously Eric and I are indelibly connected forever.”
"I mean, he created Supernatural. He created Sam Winchester. He created Ruby , who I ended up marrying and starting a family with,” Padalecki continued. “I adore him. I adore his humor. I adore him as a person, his storytelling. So I can’t wait. I don’t think films until next year, but I will be ready when he makes the phone call. I’ll just say ‘Okay, when am I flying out?'"
Firecracker is inspired by Marjorie Taylor Greene
That'll be a while off...possibly there could be another two-year wait in between seasons 4 and 5 of The Boys, although we're all hoping things move quicker. "Look, I’m writing as fast as I can," Kripke said. Meanwhile, we have four more episodes of The Boys to enjoy this season. Expect things to be gross, shocking and even more political than usual, as the show completely embraces all the parallels between the story it's telling and our current political moment.
Take the new character of Firecracker (Valorie Curry), for instance, a right-wing grifter who peddles conspiracy theories. "Firecracker came from like, 'Hey, isn’t Marjorie Taylor Greene scary?'" Kripke said, referencing the congresswoman from Georgia. "And just that type of personality. Like, you had Trump, but now you have these Trump spawn that are trying to outdo each other for how outrageous and sexualized and gun-toting and slavishly obedient they can be. And just that idea — it wouldn’t just start and end with Homelander, he would start to create these spores that would grow into these other characters, and she’s a version of that."
Kripke also confirmed that he has no plans for an all-out crossover between The Boys and its spinoff Gen V. "I like the idea that there’s strands and Easter eggs that kind of pop back and forth, but full team up — no. I live in total fear of this notion that you have to watch both of them to understand the other one."
"And so to me, it’s like, if you want to watch “The Boys,” and you don’t want to watch this other show, don’t watch it. If you want to watch “Gen V” and don’t watch “The Boys” — which I actually know a lot of people that do that — great. They’re each their own story. They each have their own reason for being. They each need to be good enough to exist without the other one existing. But I’m not giving the audience homework."
After watching the Marvel Cinematic Universe become increasingly difficult to navigate thanks to the sheer number of shows and movies you had to watch in order to understand it, I thank Kripke for avoiding giving us homework.
And finally, there's the ending of the show itself, which will deviate from the ending in Garth Ennis' comic book The Boys. "I think, look, there’s some shocking twists in the comic, but I would want them to be just a little more emotionally satisfying," Kripke said. "And so the ending I have in mind is — certainly has elements that it’s inspired by that. But it’s not the ending from the comics."
In its fourth season, The Boys is more popular than ever. If the momentum keeps up, the fifth season could turn it into a proper cultural phenomenon. And just try and keep Antony Starr from winning an Emmy then!
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