If you think you've seen some crazy shit in The Boys so far, prepare yourself for season 3. Within the first fifteen minutes of the opening episode, it’s clear the show is back – and more blood-speckled than ever.
"There are certainly some things that are completely bonkers," creator Eric Kripke tells Total Film of season 3. "It's funny because we do seem to keep topping ourselves but we really try not to. We always say in the writers' room, we try not to go bigger, we try to go deeper and learn more about the characters, but for some reason, it always leads to just really batshit insane things."
And season 3 is full of them, according to Frenchie star Tomer Capone. "It is the craziest season we ever did by far I think," he explains. "But, you know what, after two seasons, as an actor, being in this show, I'm hungry to read the written word. I’m really waiting for the scripts to come because I know there are going to be out-of-this-world scenes. Then I love what they're doing character-wise, and then you just want to know where it goes. And as soon as you get those pages, it's like, you know, it's a feast. You sit down and you eat it and you read it and you don't know how to digest it. And then you think, 'How the hell are we gonna pull this off?'"
"'Holy fucking shit,' that’s the internal monologue," Black Noir star Nathan Mitchell says of his reaction to reading the scripts. "Over and over again, every page and it's always really fun to see where it goes because we don't know what's coming. And they do such a great job of telling an amazing story that I've had the most fun reading the scripts than I have reading anything else."
While Karen Fukuhara admits she’s often left wondering, "Are we really doing this?" when she reads the episodes. The Kimiko star says: "No, but honestly, I think working on the show for two seasons, especially after the whale and after all that's happened, I don't doubt anything anymore. We work with the best crew with the best production and everyone is so good at what they do. I have full trust in that they'll be able to accomplish it no matter what's on the page. And what's on the page can be quite surprising…"
"It's endlessly fascinating and you never know what direction they're going to take it or what they're going to do next," Victoria Neuman actor Claudia Doumit agrees. "But they do it so brilliantly. They tell the story so well, as Nathan said, that it just makes it such an enjoyable, chaotic ride to be on."
And Doumit is not immune to some of the crazier – and bloodier elements – of the show. At the end of season 2, we learned that her character was actually the head popper behind the congressional hearing massacre. "Look, I love the superpower," she admits. "I love it in theory. I've become oddly used to having a gun filled with fake blood pointing at me. It's just a hazard of the job. I'll even like parts of my home a walk through and I'd be like, 'Oh, there's a fake blood stain.'"
Doumit will not be the only one dealing with an out-there storyline this season either. Kripke has confirmed season 3 will also see them tackling one of the most ambitious storylines in the comics – Herogasm. Part of the ability to keep testing the limits of The Boys comes from its huge success so far, according to Kripke. This means Amazon gives him a bit more leverage each time – and in this season that also means adapting the infamous storyline.
In the comic book series from Garth Ennis, John McCrea and Keith Burns, the basic premise of Herogasm is that Vought’s best heroes tell the public they’re uniting on a special mission to fight an alien foe. But in reality, they actually head off to a private island for a huge superhero orgy. Kripke admits that he’s been dared by fans to tackle this in the show ever since he first signed up to adapt the story. Now, finally, in season 3, he felt he had the leverage to be able to pull it off.
He explains: "It took me two years of working closely with Amazon before the third year, much like a patient parent, they were like, 'Okay, you've got it, you've earned it, you can have Herogasm." Taking place in episode six, Kripke promises it will be full of "insanity".
With all this wildness to look forward to, it seems like season 3 is going to be bigger than ever before. And don’t just take our word for it – Kripke predicts: "I mean the audience will tell me, but I do think it’s our best season yet."
The Boys season 3 will premiere with the first 3 episodes on Friday, June 3 on Prime Video. New episodes will be available each Friday, leading up to the season finale on July 8. Looking for more to stream? Check out our guide to the best shows on Amazon Prime Video to watch right now.
