By Nate Parker | TV | March 14, 2022 |
By Nate Parker | TV | March 14, 2022 |
Contains spoilers for S1-2
When last we saw our merry band of anti-heroes, things looked surprisingly bright. Sure, Billy’s wife Becca was dead for real, accidentally killed by her son Ryan when he unleashed his powers at Stormfront, Homelander’s girlfriend and Nazi member of The Seven. Their plan to hold Vought accountable for their sins fell apart when witness and Congressional heads exploded during a hearing, but they had enough blackmail material on America’s Aryan Avenger to keep Homelander from exacting revenge. A-Train’s on The Seven again but so is Starlight, and she’s got an eye on everyone with Queen Maeve’s reluctant help. Mother’s Milk is home with his family. Kimiko and Frenchie escape their life of violence and give normalcy a shot. Hughie, in love with Starlight, has joined Senator Victoria Neuman’s Supe Affairs Department. And Homelander jacks off on the city of New York. Everyone gets a happy ending! Well, except Stumpfront. She just gets what she deserves.
So how’s all that going?
So … Not great. Sure, Kimiko and Frenchie get a dance number, but The Seven are cracking up. The Homelander is one bad day from murdering everyone, and indulges his lactophilia with an actual cow, a real step down from Elizabeth Shue. Kimiko snaps Hughie’s arm, presumably in some mad undercover plot against Senator Neuman, who we see popping skulls like water balloons. A-Train has a ridiculous Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial moment somehow more embarrassing than his drug addiction. The Deep, taking a break from angrily emailing Kayleigh about her takedown of My Octopus Teacher, eye-bangs a cephalopod while screwing his wife.
We also get our first real look at Rowles’ man-crush Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy. One of Vought’s very first Supes, Soldier Boy is a member of Payback, Garth Ennis’s Avengers parody. Once Vought’s number one darling, they were relegated to B-Team status with The Seven’s inception. In the graphic novels Payback attempted to take down the Boys only to be maimed or murdered by Billy. In the trailer, we see Payback member Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) entertaining the rabble at a Supe theme park. Although he’s not shown in the trailer we know retired Payback member Gunpowder (Sean Patrick Flanery) will be around, with team members Tek Knight, Mind-Droid, and Swatto still waiting in the wings.
But the biggest reveal is Billy Butcher, hater of all things Vought, finally takes Compound V. In the comics it merely made him immensely strong and nigh-invulnerable, but in an ironic twist here he shares the same eye beams used by Homelander, Ryan, and everyone’s favorite Laser Baby. Surely another super-powered sociopath can only lead to good things.
The Boys third season premieres on June 3rd, only on Prime Video.