The Boys Season 3

This review of The Boys season 3 contains no spoilers and is based on all eight episodes. Ever since satire was invented people have loved to claim that ...

In that respect, The Boys remains the rare streaming TV property that understands how to exploit both the advantages of streaming (accessibility, memeification) and traditional serialized storytelling (escalation, rhythm, and *ahem* consistent episode lengths). It’s in exploring that question that The Boys bumps into its first major character introduction of the year. Like we said, the show really does have a handle on the Western cultural landscape. Just as important as the shock the opening minutes of this season provides, however, is how economically it catches viewers up with each character in the show’s sprawling cast. Something has to give with Homelander in season 3 and wouldn’t you know it, it eventually does in breathtaking fashion. I’m just so tired of losing.” It’s a valid question, borne of frustration that is eerily reflected in much of our political discourse today. Characters like Annie January a.k.a. Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), and Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) build upon the cheeky “Girls Get It Done” Vought campaign from last season to uh…really get shit done. When The Boys season 3 premieres its first three episodes this Friday, June 3 on Prime Video, even the most satire-agnostic among us will have to concede that the show is onto something. In speaking to Den of Geek at SXSW prior to season 3’s premiere, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke revealed that the first 15 minutes of season 3 was “by far” the craziest thing the show had ever done. No pop culture entity in living memory has better understood the human inclination towards hero worship better than The Boys and this third season puts that understanding to use in profoundly insightful and entertaining ways. The impulse is understandable as sometimes the world is so intensely bizarre that there doesn’t appear to be much point in comedically exaggerating it further. The rubber meets the road quickly and loudly.

As long as we must live in Marvel's Cinematic Universe, Amazon Prime Video's The Boys offers an oasis for everyone who wishes we didn't.

The situation is especially complicated for Annie, whose role in the Vought fight requires her to remain in the company as a double agent at ever-increasing cost to her own well-being. Other than, you know, everything that’s bad about contemporary life — politics, capitalism, patriarchy — The Boys’ most obvious satirical target is Disney, which owns the two biggest sci-fi genre brands in pop culture, Star Wars and Marvel. The show’s June 3 season three premiere is hammocked between the Disney Plus premieres of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ms. Marvel. Yet while there is an argument to be made that Disney is a malignant force in the world, or at least not a benign one, Amazon is probably worse — and as savage as cultural critiques can be in The Boys, the show’s creative forces leave their evil corporate overlords alone. It’s already been widely reported that this season includes a trip to the 70th annual superhero orgy known as Herogasm, but “graphic” is an insufficient term to describe what makes it on screen. Hughie, who closed Season 2 saying he wanted to attack Vought “the right way,” has gone to work for the Federal Bureau Of Superhero Affairs — not knowing that its director, former Congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), is a supe who ascended to her current position in part by strategically exploding her opponents’ heads. So as we rejoin the story for season three of The Boys, which begins one year after we left off, Vought’s crisis managers have supplied Homelander with talking points; the company has also rewritten the narrative of the Rise Of The Seven movie to make Homelander look less complicit. Like The Avengers and Stark Industries, The Seven are closely tied to a corporation.

We live in a world over-saturated by superhero movies with obsessive fans clamoring for the next predictable energy battle finale and loudly campaigning for ...

Starr continues to give the most unsettling performance as Homelander—descending fully into a madness that we haven’t seen before, which is saying something because Homelander has been a narcissistic psychopath since day one, but Season 3 takes him to entirely new levels. By the end of the season, Soldier Boy’s introduction begins to feel a lot more like this is The Boys’ Captain America: Civil War, right down to a secret about parents that tears the Seven apart. While character development is a very important discussion, this review would be remiss not to dive headfirst into a character that fans have been anxiously awaiting the introduction of: Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles). Riffing on the ever-popular trope of a superhero being taken by enemy forces, brainwashed, and turned into a weapon, Soldier Boy is brought in Season 3 as Butcher’s last-ditch effort in destroying Homelander. While he’s not quite the same cartoonishly ridiculous character that was created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson in their comic book series by the same name, he is almost everything that fans were hoping for. While he has come close a number of times, and he has certainly put a dent in the population of supes, Season 3 brings him the closest to achieving his goals—but at a great cost. Since the start of the series, Butcher has been on a singular mission to get revenge against Homelander for what he did to Becca and, in the process, bring down Vought and put an end to superpowered individuals in general. We live in a world over-saturated by superhero movies with obsessive fans clamoring for the next predictable energy battle finale and loudly campaigning for studios to release some director’s cut of the last big team-up movie.

The Boys season 3 review: Amazon Prime Video's crazy superhero satire is more violent, funnier, and darker than ever before. And it features some unexpected ...

But the real star of the show is Antony Starr as the all-powerful Homelander. He is a delight to watch and you cannot take your eyes off of him whenever he is on screen. In season 3 we see Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles). The character is a parody of Marvel’s Captain America and is pretty much the antithesis of the first Avenger. Soldier Boy is racist, homophobic, sexist, and abusive. While many believe the USP of the show is the premise or the blood and gore, for me it has always been the performances. And then there is a surprising Rogers and Hammerstein-esque song-and-dance routine in the middle of all the bloodshed. Karl Urban is among the most underrated actors of our times. It’s relevant, it’s political, and it is well-intentioned. The third season follows The Boys attempting to find a fabled weapon to kill the mightiest superhero Homelander, as he descends further into madness and paranoia. The show shocks and surprises with both its violence, and numerous celeb cameos out of nowhere. The gorefest and sleaze is just the icing on the top, but it is rather interesting icing. In an interaction with prior to the release of the third season of The Boys, cast member had Claudia Doumit said, “I think that every season: ‘How are they going to top that?’ And they top that.” That pretty much sums up The Boys season 3, which begins streaming on Amazon Prime Video on June 3. - The Boys season 3 review: Amazon Prime Video's crazy superhero satire is more violent, funnier, and darker than ever before. Part satire, part dark humour, and part sheer existential horror, The Boys is an irreverent take on the superhero genre.

Our spoiler-free review of The Boys season 3 reveals a show that reaches shocking new heights.

Throughout just the first episode of The Boys season 3, the series does it best to shock you. Starlight's also got a fantastic story this season, as she's offered more power with The Seven. And, thankfully, The Boys doesn't send her down a predictable plot of being asked to do things and becoming corrupt. The Boys season 3 is here to go full Homelander on your streaming watchlist, blasting eye-beams through your queue. Yes, a show that ended its second season by exploding heads with super-powers has many more tricks up its sleeve, as I'll explain in this The Boys season 3 review. The other big twist of the season, though, comes for A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), whose story goes from farce to powerful over the season. It may not dish out new shows with the sheer volume that Netflix does, but The Boys stays super-strong this season, without any sign up letting up.

But even a subdued Homelander (Starr) is still dangerous. The answer to taking him down may lie with the original Supe, Soldier Boy (Ackles).

Indeed, Homelander’s unpredictable nature has always been The Boys’ trump card in relation to other contemporary superhero content. Queen Maeve ( Dominique McElligott) is a bit shortchanged by the material in early episodes, but other subplots are heartfelt. But any concerns that The Boys’ capacity to shock has dimmed in the context of its new counterparts are emphatically blown out of the water within the first ten minutes, thanks to an Ant-Man riff so completely outrageous that it really has to be seen to be believed.

The Boys Season 3 keeps the hits coming as it's back to work for Butcher's crack squad of superhero with all the bleakness and bloodiness you'd hope.

Part of me wishes Season 3 let Hughie's pleasant little cubicle bubble last a bit longer — the other half relishes a continuation of Season 3 that confirms to action-horror fans they ain't seen nothin' yet. The Boys keeps the pedal pressed as tremendous acts of violence, fury, and revenge leave a wake of bodies in a mere few hours thus far. Season 3 doesn't allow any of its characters a moment to breathe, which is the bread and butter of The Boys. Starlight's (Erin Moriarty) required to be Hughie's confidant once more, but luckily, there’s enough added to the mix that it doesn't feel like a cheap retread of similar storylines in previous seasons. Commentary continues to be aces, as Season 3 initially pays homage to the Snyder Cut with its own "Bourke Cut" of Season 2's project-at-large, Vought's latest film, Dawn of the Seven, which features an appearance that adds thunderous star power. Butcher's working for Hughie at the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, but all that fleeting do-gooder hope in government-regulated Vought activities goes out the window because this is The Boys, and you're here to witness the pinnacle of "supe" depravity. The Boys chases hope and activism with swift blows of narcissism, and Hughie's green light to Butcher is a massive moment.

Within 15 minutes, The Boys season 3 will deliver one of the show's wildest moments ever. Or at least that's how two cast members think.

We can't wait to see how over the top they go for Herogasm, but with the shock and gore we've already seen, The Boys has clearly sent a message. And then she gets a little sexual, right as she's starting to talk shop about the ubermensch army she wants to create. Doumit referred to this moment as "The first 15 minutes of episode 1," and Crawford called it "the most insane thing of anything, of any of the moments, of which there are plenty." This isn't the next moment, but I wanted to save that big surprise for last. After lingering there for a little bit, he makes a mistake, and a scene that made me squeamish gets all the more disgusting. So, consider this your spoiler warning for The Boys season 3 episode 1, because some of this stuff requires explanation.

The show may move away from the comic book source material, but it's done in a flawless way. Some of the moments seen in Garth Ennis' comic book may not have ...

Fans of The Boys can expect the season premiere to set the stage for what’s to come in season 3. The rest of The Seven are going to be doing their own things. As of now, this schedule will remain the same throughout the season, with new episodes releasing weekly. Some of the moments seen in Garth Ennis’ comic book may not have worked well in a TV show. The show may move away from the comic book source material, but it’s done in a flawless way. At first, fans ate up the violent nature and raunchy behavior of the so-called heroes.

The Boys premiere recap: Damn, we've missed this show! To say the first three episodes of season 3 are "shocking" is an understatement.

In the climax of the prior episode, he injected himself with V-24 in order to take on Gunpowder. But now… - As much as I love Hughie and Starlight together, the writers have done a great job of making me invested in the Supersonic/Starlight relationship. In classic Butcher fashion, he makes a bold move to push Ryan away for good — not by opening up about his feelings — by telling Ryan that he can't stand to look at the monster who killed his wife. But there's one person who might know: Payback's CIA handler — and Butcher's mentor — Grace Mallory. With that intel in hand, Butcher has a chance to let Gunpowder walk free, but with the combination of V-24 and blind rage flowing through his veins, he can't help himself — and he beats Gunpowder to death. Hughie, however, is unaware of this encroaching romantic threat, as he's busy with Butcher and the Boys — including Mother's Milk ( Laz Alonso) who's back in the ring after a few episodes of daddy-daughter time — pressing CIA agent Grace Mallory for insight into the cause of Soldier Boy's death. In the last episode, Queen Maeve gave him a valuable piece of intel that could help him eliminate Homelander once and for all — but that's not all she gave him. Back in the world of Vaught, there's a bunch of super-powered shenanigans going on. Instead, Gunpowder tries to murder Butcher in the parking lot after the convention, and nearly succeeds. After failing to arrest a superhero named Termite (in what's perhaps the most hilariously outlandish sequence thus far in all of The Boys, and that's saying something), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) steps in with a potentially game-changing piece of intel: Regardless, Homelander's thrilled to celebrate his greatness and to do, as he puts it: "Whatever the hell I want." But in the world of The Boys, good things don't last. It's been a year and a half since the explosive finale of The Boys season 2, and they haven't missed a beat, kicking off season 3 with a premiere that's as shocking as it is…

Let's talk about that cameo from the first 60 seconds of 'The Boys' season 3 premiere.

Then there were mutants attacking New York City. And now in the final cut, Stormfront is the real villain of the movie. (Outside the show, Gilroy, the screenwriter of Michael Clayton, was hired by Lucasfilm to oversee reshoots of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.) complicated. It was meant as a fake dramatization of the Seven's origins, uniting Homelander, Stormfront, Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell), A-Train ( Jessie Usher), and Translucent over a common threat. Kripke and his writers like to use the world of The Boys to satirize our own culture, including superhero culture. The actress showed up in one of two end-credits scenes as the comic book character Clea. Showrunner Eric Kripke and his stars have been keeping a major season 3 casting secret under wraps for months, and it was finally revealed within the opening minute of season 3's first episode.

Jaw-dropping gore, outlandish humor, and scathing political satire abound in the newest installment of the celebrated comic book series.

–Christopher Lloyd, The Film Yap The Boys season 3 is bigger, bloodier, and more political than ever before. And season three densely packs in themes of PTSD, power imbalances in relationships, power addiction, the desire for normalcy and what that means, the media’s reach and influence, past sins rearing their ugly head, and more. As in the past, the series still enjoys its macho perspective a little too much, producing a few nagging blind spots (in addition to some extremely blunt real-world references). But hey, Season 3 isn’t pulling its punches, and most of them land with an outsized wallop. “The Boys” Season 3 examines how forming a country around the white male ego — and its predilection for lashing out over looking inward — has created quite a few problems. Homelander has one of the best arcs this season, and some of the best moments. Reunited with Supernatural creator and The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke, Ackles is clearly having the time of his life playing one of the nastiest, stuck-in-time characters in a series that has its fair share of them already. That theme amplifies quite a few character arcs, but Annie and Kimiko’s journeys prove to be the Season 3 standouts. Urban’s Butcher is still bloodthirsty, yet he’s still reeling from the death of his wife and has been slightly subdued following the events of season 2. –Karama Horne, The Wrap “The Boys” has never been an action series for the squeamish, but Season 3’s savagery both raises the bar and begs the question how much higher it can (and should) go. Even more so as the roster of characters grows, and everyone comes with well-defined arcs, personalities, and motivations.

"The Boys" serves notice immediately that its third season will be as ferociously gory and savagely satirical as the preceding two, racing through story at ...

Somehow, "The Boys" manages to test boundaries in a top-this way that can be insanely violent and bizarrely comical. keeps playing incessantly with a definite "It's a Small World" vibe. The heroes thus spend their spare hours strategizing with corporate PR, fretting about their popularity ratings and being apprised of how things play with "White men in the Rust Belt" among other demographics.

Spoiler Alert. Amazon Studios. [Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for The Boys Season 3 premiere, “Payback.”] Of course, of ...

A man shows up at Neuman’s office demanding to talk to “Nadia,” and while Hughie doesn’t think much of it at first, it’s a massive clue as to Neuman’s true identity. “I look forward to it,” Homelander says, and then he vanishes. If Butcher can find out what it was, he can use it to, as Maeve puts it, “blow his brains out.” She also hands him three vials of V-24, and leaves after telling him not to “f**k up” their one chance to kill Homelander. Stan pitches it to a presidential candidate as “V-24,” a temporary Compound V: It gives soldiers powers to complete a mission, and then it wears off after a day. When the premiere kicks off, shockingly, things are actually pretty OK for Hughie ( Jack Quaid). He has no clue his boss at the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs is a head-exploding supe, he and Annie, a.k.a. Starlight ( Erin Moriarty), have gone public, and he’s committed to taking down bad guys the right way. (If you require context, this involves a supe with shrinking powers who’s high as a kite, a sex thing, and an unfortunately timed sneeze.)