After several failed attempts to adapt Garth Ennis’ subversive superhero comic The Boys for the silver screen, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg teamed up with Supernatural creator Eric Kripke to turn the series into one of Amazon Prime’s biggest streaming hits. The Boys’ dark take on superhero lore arrived at the perfect time to offer a refreshing change of pace for audiences inundated with lighthearted, conventional Marvel fare.
Amazon has so much confidence in its Supe-infested flagship series that it renewed The Boys for season 3 before season 2 even premiered. Like all the movie and TV productions that were unfortunate enough to be operating in 2020, the third season of The Boys was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. But shooting is underway and fans will get to binge-watch it soon enough. Here’s what we know about season 3 so far.
According to Kripke, who acts as a showrunner on The Boys, the show’s third season will adapt the notorious Herogasm miniseries from the comics. This ambitious run, which chronicles a big superhero orgy festival, will form the basis of the sixth episode of the season. Kripke said that the footage from the Herogasm episode resulted in “the craziest dailies [he has] ever seen,” containing hard-R imagery “that people are not ready to watch.” The real challenge will be sitting through the first five episodes and not skipping to the superhuman sex romp full of boundary-pushing visuals in episode 6.
The third season of The Boys is set to introduce Soldier Boy from the comics, but the TV adaptation will significantly change his characterization. In the comics, Soldier Boy is a Supe who has sex with Homelander once a year in a bid to get into the Seven. However, in the TV version, he’ll be more like Captain America: a superhero from World War II brought out of retirement in the present day. The TV Soldier Boy has been described as “Homelander before Homelander.” While Soldier Boy is sweet and innocent in the comics, Kripke claims the TV series will make him even worse than Homelander. Jensen Ackles, best known for starring as Dean Winchester in Kripke’s previous series Supernatural, has been cast to play Soldier Boy. Interestingly, Ackles auditioned to play the MCU’s Cap before Chris Evans got the part, so this is like a second chance.
Colby Minifie and Claudia Doumit have been promoted to series regulars starting with season 3. Minifie first appeared in season 1 as Ashley Barrett, a publicist working for Vought International who has the unenviable task of getting Supes’ public scandals under control. After becoming Stillwell’s successor, Ashley was given a bigger role in season 2, and it looks like she’ll be given an even bigger role in season 3. Doumit first appeared in season 2, playing Vic Neuman, a complicated congresswoman who publicly opposes Vought while leading a secret double life as a Supe who uses her superpowers to kill anyone who publicly opposes Vought. At the end of season 2, Hughie took a job working for Neuman without realizing she’s the assassin, which season 3 will follow up on by giving Neuman a larger role.
Sean Patrick Flanery, Miles Gaston Villanueva, and Nick Wechsler have been cast as Gunpowder, Supersonic, and Blue Hawk, respectively. While Gunpowder is a familiar face from the comics (he’s a fire-breathing member of Teenage Kix), Supersonic and Blue Hawk appear to be original creations for the show. Katia Winter will play the recurring role of Russian mob boss Little Nina. Laurie Holden, best known as Andrea from The Walking Dead, has been cast to play Crimson Countess in the third season of The Boys. Crimson Countess has a similar aesthetic to the Scarlet Witch, but she has heat-based powers.
Filming for The Boys’ third season began on February 24, 2021, and is scheduled to wrap up in September 2021. Cast members like Karl Urban and Antony Starr celebrated their long-awaited return to work with social media posts. In March, the cast and crew were spotted shooting in Toronto. Specifically, Ackles was seen filming scenes in character as Soldier Boy at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Amazon has yet to confirm a release date for the third season of The Boys. Based on the series’ current trajectory (season 1 dropped in July 2019 and season 2 dropped in September 2020), season 3 should appear around November 2021, but it seems unlikely that the crew can finish the editing and VFX of an entire season in just two months. A more realistic expectation would be sometime in early 2022, but we really won’t know until Amazon announces a date.
In addition to a third season of the mainline series, Amazon is also developing a spin-off series set in The Boys universe. Developed by The Boys executive producer Craig Rosenberg, the spin-off will take place at America’s only college for young superheroes, run by Vought.