The Boys showrunner reveals how COVID-19 could affect season 3, from plot to guest stars

The Boys tends not to shy away from real-world issues. The first season not only put up a dark mirror to the superhero genre but also tackled how those in the spotlight are made into a commodity.

The Boys season 2 aims to do similar and, talking to Total Film and GamesRadar at a recent roundtable, showrunner Eric Kripke is looking beyond even that. He’s currently focusing on how the third season could be affected by COVID-19, from filming schedules, to guest stars, and even how it might work its way into the show’s story.

“In terms of what subjects we choose, it really is what’s happening in the news at the time that we’re writing it,” Kripke says of how real-world stories bleed into the world of The Boys.

“We’re all news junkies, and, you know, in season two, in the United States, the travel ban was happening, and getting people really scared about this fictitious caravan that was coming to our southern border with Mexico. So we ended up with a season that’s a lot about xenophobia, and how authority figures rile up people and make them afraid in order to control them.”

But what of the pandemic that’s shut down industries and changed the world irreversibly? Many have tiptoed around facing it head on in entertainment, not so for Kripke.

“I can tell that season three, without being specifically about COVID— we’re having a lot of conversations about the government response to COVID here in the States. And my guess is, you’ll see that metaphorically show up in one way or another in season three. It’s a fortunate opportunity for me to have a show that I can, you know, talk about the world. I have a place to put all my frustration.”

The Boys, which has already been greenlit for season 3, has also been openly courting Jeffrey Dean Morgan – but that’ll only become a reality if restrictions are lifted.

“I will caution everybody that COVID could really screw that up, because he’s a regular on another show. He is on The Walking Dead, so he can only come up for a couple of days. If there’s still a two-week quarantine between Canada and the United States, that renders that impossible.”

“Of the many things COVID is screwing up in this world, a Jeffrey Dean Morgan cameo or a Jeffrey Dean Morgan role may be one of them,” Kripke continues. “But if the quarantine is removed and a couple of things break our way? Then yeah, we’ll try to figure it out.”

The first three episodes of The Boys season 2 land on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, September 4. Read more from Kripke here.