The Boys Virtual Panel
Ahead of their season two premiere this fall, Executive Producer Eric Kripke and the cast of the Amazon Prime Video series The Boys met online with moderator, Aisha Tyler, to talk about what is in store for our Vought Superhero team of “The Seven” and our ragtag, not-so-super hero team of “The Boys” — the guys who have a major hate-on for Supes.
Aisha Tyler moderates the panel with showrunner Eric Kripke and cast members Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, and newest addition, Aya Cash.
Highlights:
- Eric Kripke tells us that season 2 begins with The Boys, who are now wanted fugitives and being hunted. Homelander is out of control since Stillwell is no longer around to keep him in check (and we all know what “under control” looked like, so fasten your seat belts).
- Kripke also promises to tackle some topical issues, “We’re going after white supremacy, we’re going after nationalism…going after systemic racism in season two.”
- They show a clip featuring the team being chased by The Deep (who is riding a whale) and various scary ocean creatures. And, as expected, it ends bloody.
Take a look here:
- Jack Quaid says that everybody gave him a hard time for complaining about being covered in blood in so much of the first season. But after the scene with the whale on the beach, nobody is saying anything anymore. “They all understand now!” he quips.
- Karl Urban says that with the season one finale reveal, Butcher’s whole world experienced a paradigm shift. Where he spent the first season seeking revenge, now his objective is finding his wife and saving her. But how far is he willing to go to do that? And how will it affect his relationship with The Boys? And what about his wife’s “supe” baby daddy?
- Anthony Starr talks about how Homelander is desperate for human connection but is so damaged that he is unable to forge those kinds of bonds. He continues, “… and that’s the duality of the character…The strongest – physically – man on the show, is the weakest — emotionally — on the show, in my opinion.”
- Jack Quaid explains that Hughie is starting season 2 feeling very alone – Butcher has abandoned him to pursue his quest to find his wife. Hughie has tremendous guilt for lying to Annie (Starlight) in the beginning of their relationship and is now isolated from her (not to mention, he is on the run). In season one, Hughie latched on to other people’s quests and purpose. In season 2 he is beginning to find himself and stand on his own two feet and starting to understand what he wants and his own purpose.
- Erin Moriarty talks about Annie/Starlight stepping into her own power in season 2 and how she has to adapt to the darker world of The Seven. She also talks about Annie dealing with the residual effects of having her heart broken by Hughie.
- Jessie T. Usher and Erin Moriarty talk about the awkward relationship between A-Train and Starlight after the events of the end of season one. A-Train doesn’t know what Starlight is capable of and Starlight doesn’t know how much A-Train knows or remembers about their encounter that led to his heart attack.
- Jessie T. Usher says that Compound V has taken its toll on A-Train’s body. He also feels betrayed or hated by everyone and is very insecure about his position in The Seven. In season one, Hughie was the biggest thorn in his side and someone A-Train can blame for everything wrong in his life. In season two, he transfers that focus and blame to someone else… but who?
- When asked how Mother’s Milk would handle balancing his loyalty to “The Boys” and his own goals and his family, Laz Alonso explains that in this universe, Mother’s Milk seems to be addicted to the fight for freedom. The character was created around the idea of “crack babies” in the 80’s who were born addicted to drugs through the infusion of their mother’s or father’s drug use into their system while in the womb. Mother’s Milk was born with Compound V in his blood because of his mother’s/family’s exposure in sweat factories. His addictive nature is manifested in his need to fight for justice no matter the circumstances. He is also the moral compass of The Boys and tries to keep them from crossing too many questionable lines.
- Chace Crawford talks about how The Deep’s exile from “The Seven” is sending him on a personal quest to find out who he really is. He still wants to get back into The Seven, but he also wants to understand more about himself, find love and find connection. He teases that someone from The Deep’s past joins him this season.
- We find out more about The Female’s (Kumiko’s) past and (maybe) why she doesn’t speak. Karen Fukuhara points out that while it is nice to not have to learn lines, it is also a challenge as an actor. We dive into The Female’s psyche and emotional state more than her physical side this season. But there is still grueling stuntwork. She has high praise for the trainers and stunt team. She is very excited about an upcoming stunt they dubbed “The Black Widow Stunt” and they got it on camera with her doing it!
- Talking about The Female/Kumiko naturally leads to talking about Frenchie, played by Tomer Capon, who spent a lot of season one trying to save and connect with Kumiko. His focus on Kumiko was immediate and continues into season two, but as Kumiko develops emotionally and within her own psyche, it becomes necessary for Frenchie to give her space. They may have to separate for each of them to grow individually. Capon states that Frenchie has a lot of past trauma and he must deal with it.
- Season two Introduces Aya Cash who plays “Stormfront,” the newest member of The Seven.
Meet “Stormfront,” newest member of Vought’s “The Seven” here:
- With Stormfront, Homelander has met his match! She has social media savvy but it becomes clear that there is more going on beneath the surface of what we see (or what she shows us). Stormfront is as intense and off her rocker as Homelander.
- Aisha Tyler (moderator) states that Stormfront is not like any other female character we have seen on the show. She tells Eric Kripke that what he does beautifully is that “you make people so complex and so likable and then you kind of exploit all of our loyalties.” Now what does that mean for Stormfront??
- Aya Cash points out that The Boys is very topical and she loves that it gives people the space to step back and observe these current cultural events at a distance and through a fantasy lens. It allows people to listen and learn better because everything is out of their personal context. “Not that there weren’t moments of… being a human being… and playing the role of someone who I ultimately, violently disagree with” she admits.
- Eric Kripke states that at the show’s core is the idea that “power doesn’t actually corrupt you, it just reveals the thing you have always been.”
EPs Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg join the panel at the end of the episode for an announcement. The Boys, even before the release of the second season, has been renewed for a third season!
But wait! There’s more! Aisha Tyler announces that there will be a brand new “after show” for The Boys as well. The show is called Prime Rewind: Inside The Boys and will be hosted by none other than, Aisha Tyler. The show will be available each week along with the episodes of the show.
The new season of The Boys drops on Amazon Prime Video on September 4th, 2020 with the first 3 episodes. Thereafter, there will a new episode each week until the October 9th finale.
The Comic Con Panel Blurb
Executive producer Eric Kripke, along with series stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, and Aya Cash, with moderator Aisha Tyler, gather for a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming second season of The Boys. Executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will also make a special appearance. Based on The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys is a fun and irreverent take on what happens when superheroes – who are as popular as celebrities – abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. The even more intense, more insane season two finds The Boys on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought.
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