Let’s hear it for The Boys!
This nasty, violent, foul-mouthed and downright crazy superhero satire has just wrapped up season 3 with a thrilling finale - and what a ride it’s been.
The Amazon Prime slice of deliciously off-the-wall entertainment has done a great job of pulling us into the extreme world of Hughie, Starlight, and Billy Butcher, alongside vicious villains such as Homelander and Soldier Boy.
A no-doubt even more no-holds-barred Season 4 was announced back in June, and showrunner Eric Kripke clearly has a satisfying story arc in mind.
Each season of The Boys has so far successfully managed to ramp up the madness to increasingly dizzy heights.
We’re talking about a show where a superhero managed to explode a penis from the inside (don’t see that every day) and also featured a superhero orgy (again, an unusual sight) – but where else is there left to go?
Disappointment is simply not an option for The Boys, and our hopes and expectations are as high as a Homelander soaring through the skies. We literally cannot wait to see The Boys back in town.
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I am hyped for it - when will Season 4 of The Boys be released?
That’s the million dollar question, and it’s rather up in the air at the moment.
Karl Urban, who plays antihero Butcher, told entertainment website Collider that filming for the new season would start next month (August).
This means we could get the new instalment as early as Spring 2023, but we’d wager it’s a safe bet to assume ‘sometime in 2023’.
What will the new season be about?
There’s quite a bit to unpack from the end of Season 3, not least of which Butcher taking far too much of the Temp-V compound, wreaking untold damage on his body and severely capping his life expectancy.
But there’s one issue that needs addressing with even more urgency - namely Homelander lasering the head off a protester.
In The Boys graphic novel (SPOILER ALERT!), Black Noir is revealed as a supercharged clone of Homelander, who is even more insane than the host, so this could play out with equally disastrous consequences in the TV show.
Elsewhere, we have congresswoman and anti-Supe activist Victoria Neumann who, after getting rid of Stan Edgar and streamlined power for Homelander, is running as Dakota Bob Singer's vice president.
And that's just a few of the tantalising story threads to whet our appetites.
What’s this I hear about a spin-off series?
You heard correctly.
Filming of a college-themed spin-off called Varsity is currently underway, with the official description stating it will be set at Godolkin University School of Crimefighting.
It’s run by Vought and will see the young adult Supes tested to his very limit in a brutal series of Hunger Games -style challenges.
In an interview with Hollywood entertainment website Deadline, Eric Kripke was very clear that season 4 and Varsity will happen in tandem with one another.
He said: "There’s definitely crossover, and we’re doing our best to design a universe that sees some of the issues and storylines in Season 3 hand off to the first season in Varsity.
“Like there’s a presidential campaign happening in the background of that season, and there’s certain things that are happening at that school that are both in reaction to Season 3 of The Boys” .
He continued: “There’s Soldier Boy, etc, but also some new storylines that are happening in that season of the spin-off that we have to pick up and take into Season 4 of the show."
This is all sounding very exciting! Who will be in the cast of season 4?
We can safely say returning will be Karl Urban, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jack Quaid, Laz Alonso, Jessie T. Usher, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Colby Minifie, Karen Fukuhara, and, presumably, Cameron Crovetti.
As with all TV series, a question mark hangs over the fate of some its stars, with a reappearance of Soldier Boy’s Jensen Ackles and Queen Maeve’s Dominique McElligott far from certain.
Elsewhere, we know Black Noir is dead, but Kripke teasingly told website Entertainment Weeky that it was possible for someone else to wear that suit.
He said: "It's definitely not the last we've seen of Black Noir as a hero. It's just that the guy who was inside [the Noir suit] in season 3, he's gone. But we have (actor) Nathan Mitchell playing a really interesting and hilarious character who wears the suit next season."
One thing's for sure, The Boys will have us all together in dazzlingly electric streams before you know it. Watch this space.
