How do you stop a legion of xenophobic, authoritarian caped crusaders? If you’re The Boys from the Amazon series The Boys, the answer is … violence. Righteous violence.
Amazon’s adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s acclaimed comic is a pitch-black satire of a world in which the military–industrial complex has fused with popular culture to turn murderous comic book heroes into social media stars. Not that unfamiliar! And in the final trailer for The Boys season 2, due in September, we get a taste for how unchecked, capitalist fascism continues to spin out of control. Somehow, showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural) finds rooms for jokes.
Season 2 finds ex-CIA operative Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and his goon squad on the run from The Seven, this world’s version of the Justice League. Led by the Superman-esque Homelander (Anthony Starr). The Seven are backed by a Vought International, a conglomerate that’s been secretly producing a serum to imbue normal people with superpowers. Vought and Homelander’s shared hope is to generate enough “supes” to hold more power than the U.S. government. Butcher and The Boys want to put a stop to it, even while they’re being chased by “the good guys.”
The trailer spotlights one of The Boys’ new enemies, and reasons why extreme tactics might be the only solution to this conflict. Stormfront, played by You’re the Worst star Aya Cash, can fly, punch like there’s no tomorrow, and shoot lightning from her hands. We see her give Homelander a run for his money, which shouldn’t please the bloodthirsty narcissist or The Boys. She’s also power hungry and willing to kill to push her agenda forward. She fits right in with The Seven.
The preview ends with a scene of Butcher and his crew crashing into a whale summoned by The Deep (Chace Crawford), promising that as dark as things get, The Boys still has a sense of humor. The audience is clearly here for Kipke’s scathing sense of humor: at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, the series officially got the season 3 greenlight.
But first up, season 2. The Boys returns on Sept. 4 with a three-episode premiere, followed by weekly new episodes every Friday.