Gore, profanity, and whatever fucked up novelty that tickled your twisted fancy aside, a key highlight of Amazon Prime Videoโs The Boys season 2 was the opportunity to get acquainted with its universeโs lore. Thankfully, based on what showrunner Eric Kripke has teased about The Boys season 3 thus far, the series will double down on this aspect โ beyond the mere inclusion of โHomelander before Homelanderโ, Soldier Boy (portrayed by Jensen Ackles), diving deep into the nitty-gritty of Vought and its less-than-honourable origins.
โSeason 3โs fun because itโs not just about Soldier Boyโฆ itโs about the team he was a part of which is called Payback,โ says Eric Kripke.
โAnd Laurie Holden plays Crimson Countess and thereโs a bunch of other heroes who are amazing. So sort of seeing who was The Seven before The Seven.โ
โAnd what was life like for Vought? In the history of Vought, what was it like in the 60s and 70s and 80s? To dig into the history of the world, not just the present has been a lot of fun.โ
The biggest revelation regarding Vought last season involved the villainous Stormfront (portrayed by Aya Cash). Brought along by CEO Stan Edgar to replace Translucent in The Seven, during the last few episodes, audiences learned she was indeed the first superhero โ or โsupeโ โ ever manufactured: the wife of German scientist Fredrick Vought, who formulated the superpower elixir Compound V, ex-member of Payback (the team preceding The Seven), as well as being a former Nazi. Now, it would appear weโre about to meet additional figures from her specific cohort.
RELATED: โThe Boysโ Season 3 Will Feature An Extremely R-Rated Storyline
Jensen Acklesโ Soldier Boy, of course, has been billed as yet another major component of The Boys season 3 (in addition to the exploration of Vought history). Inspired by Captain America, his character is a legacy mantle that has undergone three different iterations in the original graphic novels written by Garthe Ennis and illustrated by Darick Robertson.
The version which Ackles will portray in the upcoming instalment appears to be the first: among the earliest successful applications of Dr Voughtโs Compound V, World War II veteran famed for killing German soldiers by the dozens, and the leader of Payback. Armed with a distinctive shield โ not entirely unlike his Marvel counterpart โ it has been hinted that Soldier Boy will be โmuch stronger, darker, and more menacing supeโ than the one portrayed in the original source material.
โEvery dent, every scratch, every mark tells a story,โ the Supernatural star writes on Instagram.
โA story that ends with me winning.โ
RELATED: โThe Boysโ Season 3 Will Be Three Times As Bloody As Last Season
As for the matter of The Boys season 3 and its long-awaited release date, that crucial detail is still largely unknown. A few months prior, immediately after production officially wrapped, series lead Karl Urban โ who portrays the gruff-yet-loveable former SAS operator turned black-ops agent, William โBillyโ Butcher โ offered the following status update via Instagram.
โAnd thatโs a wrap on The Boys season 3,โ writes the New Zealand dramatic talent.
โMassive thanks to our brilliant cast and crew for all the blood, [sweat, and tears] โ and also to everyone involved in the production at Amazon Prime Video and Sony Pictures TV for working so hard to keep us all COVID safe.โ
โAnd of course massive thanks to [series creator Eric Kripke] for delivering a next-level bat shit crazy good season 3. I canโt wait for yโall to see it. Be safe yโall.โ
Fellow cast members Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell), Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko Miyashiro / The Female), and Erin Moriarty (Annie January / Starlight) celebrated the occasion in a similar fashion โ taking to the latterโs Instagram.
โA labour of love, blood, sweat, tears, tequila, laughs, nose swabs, and so many ?s,โ writes Erin Moriarty.
โThere is no group I would rather go through it all with. WRAPPEDIGGITY on season 3 of The Boys.โ
Considering how season 1 premiered in July 2019 and season 2 premiered in September 2020, based on the seriesโ production history, The Boys season 3 may very well be staring at the barrel of a December 2021 release date. To avoid getting your hopes up and hearts broken, however, itโd be best to widen those parameters to early 2022.
But like weโve said before, only time and Amazon Prime Video will tell.
