The superhero action-adventure television series The Boys is based on the comic book by Darick Robertson and Garth Ennis of the same name. Published originally by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint, it later moved to Dynamite Entertainment. The story follows an eponymous team of vigilantes who combat an official superhero group called The Seven, run by a multi-industry company Vought International. The group members disguise themselves as heroes with unique superpowers who save the world but, in reality, are corrupt and do horrifying things in secret. Eric Kripke serves as the showrunner of the TV series. He is famously known for creating The CW’s Supernatural.
The third season of the foul-mouthed dark comedy superhero series will be released on June 3, 2022. Its first season premiered on July 26, 2019. Kripke told Entertainment Weekly that "The Boys will explore the Seven before the Seven." in season three.
The TV series is greatly praised for its dark humor, writing, and storyline. The cast performances are also highly raved. The new trailer for the latest season has been released. There are some significant changes, the introduction of new characters, and plot components pulled straight out from the comic book.
The Boys: Show vs. Comics
Comic book adaptations adjust source material at their own risk to appeal to their audiences. The Boys is an excellent example of using certain materials as a starting point for creating new stories. In the comic, the main character, Billy (Karl Urban), is much more intimidating and less compassionate. Hughie (Jack Quaid) is an anti-social conspiracy nut, and Frenchie (Tomer Capon) is even meaner. In both versions, there is a heavy focus on the romance between Hughie and Annie (Erin Moriarty). Though in the comic, Hughie doesn't manipulate Annie, using their relationship to convince her to work against the Seven secretly. When Billy finds out about them, he wonders if Hughie is a mole working for Vought.
Many superhero groups operate worldwide, but the series has only focused on one team. Before fighting off the Seven, The Boys sharpen their skills with teams like Payback and Teenage Kix. Stormfront (Aya Cash) and Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore) appear in season 2, so they may slowly introduce the new groups, but that's yet to be seen. They both are different from the comic material. Though currently, The Boys group is shown as a fully independent team, Eric Kripke said:
"The Boys we will find at the top of Season 3 will actually be very recognizable to the ones in the comic book: officially backed by the CIA now, offices in the Flatiron building. You know, it’s going to be kind of classic Boys but with a couple of twists and turns."
Since the show has carried out a lot of changes throughout its two seasons, The Boys season three may just become different from the comics.
What The Boys Season 3 Trailer Suggests
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In the previous seasons, it's shown that only Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) from The Boys' team has superhuman powers, but as per the season 3 trailer looks like Billy, Hughie, and everyone else in the group have superpowers. Now that they inject themselves with Compound V, it gives them superhuman strength and other abilities.
In the trailer, you see them with some mysterious new substance that can grant them superpowers for an entire day only. Safe to assume that this drug is either derived from Compound V or maybe from Homelander’s DNA. Little Nina (Katia Winter), who is interested in tearing down Vought and destroying Homelander, presents them with this new drug. This newfound illicit drug will be beneficial when The Boys and The Seven go against each other again. But we see that they will soon realize this weapon comes with considerable risk, just like in the comics.
They risk becoming as dangerous and twisted as the enemies. "That's the dilemma: does Butcher become a superhero or a supervillain?" Karl Urban told Entertainment Weekly of the superpowers reveal:
"In order to defeat the monster, do you become the monster? And I think that's one of the cool things about this season is every character is faced with that choice. How far are they willing to go? What line are they willing to cross in order to achieve what they want to achieve? For all the characters on the show, it creates a conflict, and it's fun to see who actually ends up on whose side."
We also see Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) and his team Payback getting introduced this new season. The team comprises Chrimson Countess, Stormfront, Tek Knight, and Eagle, the Archer. In the trailer, you see a glimpse of Soldier Boy beating someone.
Kripke told EW:
"One of the reasons that we're getting into Soldier Boy [in season 3] and that team, Payback, is we're interested in exploring a little bit of how we got here. Through the history of the supes, we can tell a little bit about the history of America and how we ended up in the current fraught position that we're in. Soldier Boy gives us an opportunity to do that."
The Boys season 3 premieres on June 3, 2022, on Prime Video.