The Boys: COVID-19 to Significantly Influence Season 3

The Boys is Amazon’s dark answer to the more family-friendly superhero outings of Marvel and DC. The show’s first season, which aired in July of last year, became one of the streaming platform’s most successful shows. This quickly earned it a second season. And a third season, along with an aftershow, has already been confirmed. Ahead of the second season’s September 4th premiere, showrunner Eric Kripke has given us some news on what to expect from the third season.

While talking to GamesRadar, Kripke spoke about how real-life news influences the storylines on The Boys. For example, while they were writing Season 2, they took inspiration from the US’s travel ban and the caravan that was said to be approaching the Southern border with Mexico. Therefore, the upcoming season will deal with xenophobia and how “authority figures rile up people and make them afraid in order to control them.” The show’s third season will take inspiration from the US’s response to COVID-19.

I can tell that season three, without being specifically about COVID— we’re having a lot of conversations about the government response to COVID here in the States. And my guess is, you’ll see that metaphorically show up in one way or another in season three. It’s a fortunate opportunity for me to have a show that I can, you know, talk about the world. I have a place to put all my frustration.”

COVID-19 could also negatively affect The Boys. Kripke has been courting Jeffrey Dean Morgan for a role. But Morgan is a regular on The Walking Dead and there is a two-week quarantine restriction between the US and Canada. The Boys takes place in NYC but films in Toronto. This could mean the shooting schedules will overlap. Kripke previously worked with Morgan on Supernatural where he played protagonists Sam and Dean Winchester’s father. Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean, will also appear in Season 3.

Kripke created The Boys alongside Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. It is based on the comic of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The first three episodes of the second season will premiere on Amazon Prime on September 4th.