By Jacob Hall/July 23, 2020 4:04 pm EST
“It’s a lot more intense,” showrunner Eric Kripke said of the sophomore season during the show’s panel, where he was joined by members of the cast. “We worked hard to make season 2 crazier but also more emotional and higher stakes. Everyone’s in a really tight spot.” The first season concluded with the titular team of superhero-hunting vigilantes cornered and totally screwed, and season 2 catches up soon after. They’re fugitives, doing their best to fight back after essentially getting their asses kicked in the finale. And naturally, the psychopathic Homelander is more powerful than ever and increasingly out of control.
While The Boys is very much a wild superhero show (filled with impossible action) and a vicious dark comedy (filled with imagery that make you want to bleach your eyeballs), it wants to use its powers for good. “We try to make this not just the most realistic superhero show ever made, but we try to make it a commentary on the up-to-the-minute world we’re living in,” Kripke said. “It’s just this strange blur of politics and celebrity and media and social media manipulation.”
The first season directly tackled corporate corruption, celebrity, and religion. So what about season 2? Kripke was blunt: “We’re going after white supremacy in season 2, we’re going after white nationalism in season 2, we’re going after systemic racism in season 2. All of those things really effing suck.”
The panel also debuted a clip from the new season and it’s pure, 100% undiluted The Boys. The scene finds the team on a speedboat pursued by an army of sharks, driving toward the relative safety of the shoreline. But where there’s killer sharks, there’s also The Deep (the show’s grotesque riff on Aquaman), who arrives riding a whale, which he promptly positions in front of the boat. But rather than slow down, Karl Urban’s Bill Butcher only speeds up, impaling the whale and sending everyone flying through the air, soaking the surroundings in a massive pile of gore. It’s gross. It’s hilarious. It’s shocking. It’s the series in a nutshell.
You can watch the clip in the embed below:
The panel included one final piece of big information – The Boys has been officially renewed for season 3 ahead of the second season’s premiere. Plus, season 2 will also be accompanied by a new aftershow hosted by Aisha Tyler.
Here’s the official statement from Kripke:
Here’s the synopsis for season 2:
In Season 2, The Boys are on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought. In hiding, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) try to adjust to a new normal, with Butcher (Karl Urban) nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander (Antony Starr) sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash), a social-media-savvy new Supe, who has an agenda of her own. On top of that, the Supervillain threat takes center stage and makes waves as Vought seeks to capitalize on the nation’s paranoia.
