The third season of the American satirical superhero television series The Boys, the first series in the franchise based on the comic book series of the same name written by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was developed for television by American writer and television producer Eric Kripke. The season is produced by Sony Pictures Television Studios and Amazon Studios in association with Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kripke Enterprises, Kickstart Entertainment and KFL Nightsky Productions.
The show's third season stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, and Claudia Doumit returning from prior seasons, with Jensen Ackles joining the cast. Taking place a year after the events of the previous season, the season follows the titular Boys now working for Victoria Neuman's Bureau of Superhero Affairs to apprehend problematic Supes, having been at peace with the Seven. However, the conflict is resurrected once Butcher, Hughie & the rest of the Boys reunite to investigate the truth about the apparent death of Soldier Boy, one of Vought's first American superheroes, with the hopes of killing Homelander for good. Concurrently, Homelander's mental stability begins to deteriorate as Vought attempts to restrict his power while other Seven members, such as Annie January/Starlight and Queen Maeve, assist the Boys in their plots against him.
The season premiered on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on June 3, 2022, with its first three episodes. The remaining five episodes were released weekly until July 8, 2022. The season received critical acclaim with praise towards its action sequences, social commentary, visual effects, character development, story, and performances (particularly Urban, Quaid, Starr, McElligott, Alonso, and Ackles). This season is widely regarded as the best season of the show. It received multiple nominations including two Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, earning one for stunt coordination. On June 10, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main
Karl Urban as William "Billy" Butcher Luca Villacis as teen Butcher Joshua Zaharia as young Butcher Jack Quaid as Hugh "Hughie" Campbell Jr. Antony Starr as John Gillman / Homelander Erin Moriarty as Annie January / Starlight Maya Misaljevic as young Annie Dominique McElligott as Maggie Shaw / Queen Maeve Jessie T. Usher as Reggie Franklin / A-Train Laz Alonso as Marvin T. "Mother's" Milk / M.M. Elias Leon Leacock as young M.M. Chace Crawford as Kevin Kohler / The Deep Tomer Capone as Serge / Frenchie Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro / The Female Nathan Mitchell as Earving / Black Noir Fritzy-Klevans Destine as young Earving / Black Noir; voice of Black Sheep Black Noir Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett Claudia Doumit as Nadia Khayat / Victoria Neuman Elisa Paszt as young Nadia Jensen Ackles as Ben / Soldier Boy; voice of Eagle Soldier Boy
Recurring Giancarlo Esposito as Stan Edgar; voice of Meerkat Stan Edgar Justiin Davis as young Stan Edgar Laila Robins as Grace Mallory Sarah Swire as young Grace Mallory Jordana Lajoie as Cherie Cameron Crovetti as Ryan Katy Breier as Cassandra Schwartz Miles Gaston Villanueva as Alex / Supersonic Luca Oriel as young Alex / Drummer Boy Matthew Edison as Cameron Coleman Matthew Gorman as Todd Liyou Abere as Janine Laurie Holden as Crimson Countess; voice of Fox Crimson Countess Sabrina Saudin as Also Ashley Katia Winter as Nina "Little Nina" Namenko Nick Wechsler as Blue Hawk Tyler Williams as Yevgenny Frances Turner as Monique Jack Doolan as Tommy TNT; voice of Horse Tommy TNT Kristin Booth as Tessa TNT; voice of Horse Tessa TNT Jack Fulton as Lenny Butcher Christian Keyes as Nathan Franklin Sean Patrick Flanery as Gunpowder Gattlin Griffith as young Gunpowder; voice of Pig Gunpowder Jim Beaver as Robert "Dakota Bob" Singer Ryan Blakely as Mindstorm; voice of Sheep Mindstorm Aya Cash as Klara Risinger / Liberty / Stormfront
Guest Simon Pegg as Hugh Campbell Sr. Malcolm Barrett as Seth Reed P. J. Byrne as Adam Bourke Shantel VanSanten as Becca Butcher (voice) Brett Geddes as Termite Kyle Mac as Tony Jasmin Husain as Silver Kincaid Abigail Whitney as Moonshadow Ann Cusack as Donna January Jordana Lajoie as Cherie Sinclair Joel Labelle as Swatto Jasmin Geljo as Oligarch Paul Reiser as The Legend Graham Gauthier as Lamar Bishop Eric Bauza as Buster Beaver (voice) Grey DeLisle as Two Birds (voice) Nicola Correia-Damude as Elena
Cameos Charlize Theron made a cameo appearance as Stormfront in the fictional film within the series Dawn of the Seven in the episode "Payback". Billy Zane portrayed Alastair Adana in another fictional film within the series Not Without My Dolphin. Jaz Sinclair appeared ahead of starring in the spinoff series Gen V in a photograph as Marie Moreau for the episode "The Only Man in the Sky". Seth Rogen portrayed himself as the SupePorn.com patron "SirCumsALot779" in the episode "The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies". Uncredited Patton Oswalt, Josh Gad, Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Elizabeth Banks, Kumail Nanjiani, Aisha Tyler, and Rose Byrne appeared as fictionalized versions of themselves parodying Gal Gadot's universally panned COVID-19 lockdown celebrity supergroup cover of "Imagine", in the order of their appearance respectively singing on YouTube for the opening scene of the episode "Herogasm".
Production Development On July 23, 2020, the series was renewed for a third season at the aftershow hosted by Aisha Tyler for the 2020 San Diego Comic-Con@Home, less than two months before the second-season premiere. Showrunner Eric Kripke revealed that he was already working with the scripts for the season in October, hoping to have them finished and start production in early 2021 as long as the condition of the COVID-19 pandemic improved. Due to the restrictions of live-action productions during the pandemic, Kripke and the producers have the idea of keeping the fans of the series engaged while they waited for the release of the third season, leading to the anthology animated spin-off miniseries The Boys Presents: Diabolical. In January 2022, it was confirmed that the season would be getting eight episodes and that would be also following the same weekly release similarly to the previous season, with three episodes released on the premiere date and the rest being released on a weekly basis.
Writing During an interview at the Deadline Hollywood, Kripke teased that the season would be exploring Vought's past to explore the myths surrounding the company and the United States in general, as the comics also explored flashbacks focused during World War II and the Vietnam War and wanted to explore over how the superhero phenomenon did not only altered the present but also parts from the past as well, while also exploring over how the politics can turn neighbors against each other and what actually means to be in America. He revealed that this was one of the reasons of introducing Soldier Boy in the season, since the history of Vought and the US was explored through the character given that he was the first superhero ever and has been around since the Second World War.
Kripke revealed that the toxic masculinity would be the real-life issue of the season and would also show how it would be affecting the main characters after many of them are pushed to the limit. He detailed over how the toxic masculinity was an ongoing issue that as by today continues affecting the lives of a lot of men, with many of them being targeted for not being considered ‘manly’ enough and over how this becomes very destructive to the society and organizations. This was the main reason of Soldier Boy being introduced as he represents the embodiment of the toxic masculinity which is an issue that the world still faces thanks to the older generations. Actor Jensen Ackles explained that the character is someone who seeks power by following a "macho illusion" that actually doesn't exist and how in the States that myth ended up growing through generations that affected men that could not live up to it. The season also details drug addiction as another real-life issue, with Kripke coming up with the idea of another version of Compound-V with temporary effects named V24, for which two of the main characters being Billy Butcher and Hughie Campbell become addicted. However, he explained that the idea was to not only to address drug addiction but also toxic masculinity as both characters also start sensing a sense of invincibility that comes with taking it, stating, "And two, we could tell a story about drug addiction, except they're literally getting addicted to toxic masculinity. It could come at great cost, and you could watch a degeneration of the characters".
For the television adaptation of Soldier Boy, Kripke did not adapt the comic counterpart of the character that it is depicted as a coward who has sex with Homelander to try to earn a place in the Seven, but instead the version introduced in the "Barbary Coast" arc of the comics that fought in World War II. Actors John Wayne and Steve McQueen also served as inspiration for the adaptation of Soldier Boy, since both actors were very popular for various decades during the Hollywood's Golden Age and were better known for their masculine and tough characterization in most of their films, which led them to be recognized as American icons. Kripke explained that Soldier Boy was Vought's version of Wayne since he worked for them for several decades and is someone who comes from a different era, but still has the ego and ambition for which he described him as the "Homelander before Homelander." Many of the changes were applied to give Homelander a threat just as he is finally starting to take control of Vought, but Kripke wanted to ensure that it was someone that the character has never faced before with someone that has the same strength as him and could actually fight him, for which he considered Soldier Boy to be the best match.
Besides introducing Soldier Boy, the season also introduces the superhero team Payback for which the character was leader. Unlike in the comics where the team served as a rival of the Seven, Payback has already disbanded by the time where the series take place; it used to be the world's premiere team of supes before the Seven was formed and is described as "the Seven before the Seven." Kripke explained that the changes were mostly done to get a deeper exploration of Vought's history by exploring the past of each member of the teams, so the writers are allowed to shed light on the show's present.