With all the superhero comic books out in the world, there was bound to be one that portrayed the "supes" as egomaniacs, drug abusers, and sex-craved demons, whose celebrity status made them unbearable. In 2006, Windstorm imprint (housed under the DC Comics umbrella) published Garth Ennis' and Darick Roberston's The Boys. The premise, as described above, centered around a group of superheroes behaving badly, the corporation that monetized them and who does damage control whenever the superheroes mess up, and the vigilantes who are determined to expose the Vought Corporation and their corrupt superheroes.
Season one of The Boys premiered on Amazon Prime Video on July 26, 2019, and was well-received by viewers and critics alike. Rotten Tomatoes reviewers gave season one an average score of 84% and season two garnered even higher praise and 97%. Nielsen tracked season one stating The Boys had eight million viewers in the first ten days of release. The first three episodes of season two earned a 7.2% share of streaming viewers placing The Boys above season three of Stranger Things and Disney+'s The Mandalorian. The Boys was the first non-Netflix show to rank in Nielsen's top 10 streaming shows list.
After a Covid-interruptus hiatus, The Boys season three will premiere on the streaming service beginning on June 3, 2022, and concluding on July 8, 2022. From the end of season two, we know that there was a Nazi superhero (Aya Cash; Fosse/Verdon), A-Train (Jesse T. Usher; Shaft) and the Deep (Chase Crawford; Gossip Girls) are on the outs with the Seven, Butcher (Karl Urban; Dredd) is protecting Homelander's (Antony Starr; Wish You Were Here ) son from him because Homelander is becoming unhinged. If that wasn't enough for you, then hold onto your hat because season three promises to be just as bloody and violent (if not more so) than the previous two seasons and equally as sexually deviant as possible.
Let's face it, from the first episode of season one, viewers knew (even if they weren't familiar with the comic book) that this was going to be no ordinary superhero story. What followed in the next fifteen episodes (8 episodes per season) was a mixture of "What the hell?... Holy c%&p! and You've got to be kidding me!?! storylines, dialogue, and visuals. While I can't give too much away, season three will take seasons one and two and amp up the crazy as if it is on steroids and having "roid rage". From exploding heads to soldier boy (Jensen Ackles; Supernatural) to the kinkiest and the most bizarre homosexual sex act one has probably ever seen season three does not disappoint.
As in past seasons, the cast was well chosen and seem to have chemistry on-screen that makes their characters and storylines believable. Whether it is the weird bromance between Quaid and Urban or the way everyone tiptoes around Starr's character, this ensemble clicks.
The visual effects for a show such as The Boys, need to be intricate and detailed and Amazon Studios has obviously given the production a budget worthy of creating gory/bloody masterpieces. If there is one visual theme this season I would say it is exploding or decapitated heads. As you can imagine, the creative team makes these scenes gross and as over the top as possible which manages to achieve the desired effect they were going for.
While The Boys season three isn't as interesting plot-wise as the first two seasons it serves as a nice bridge between what is past and what is surely yet to come.
Grade: B
