The Boys Season 2 Preview

Last July 'The Boys' dropped on Amazon Prime and instantly became one of the shows of the year, adapted from Garth Ennis set of graphic novels the show was developed and produced by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. However with the Corona virus shutting down TV / Film production worldwide many fans were wondering about the status of season 2, thankfully Kripke confirmed by Twitter this week"I get asked a lot, so #TheBoysTV update: finishing #Season2 remotely."Still some VFX & sound to do, but we're SO CLOSE! Airdate (& other cool s***) will be announced SOON!".

We knew that principal filming had concluded when Karl Urban posted the above picture on social media late last year, and as Kripke confirms above some SFX work and editing is being completed remotely and an announcement on Season 2's release date should be made soon.

So what can we expect from Season 2? Well, the first season stayed fairly close to the major plotlines from the original graphic novel with one major twist being the cliffhanger reveal that Butchers wife is alive and has had Homelanders child in secret. This was a major departure from the source material however upon re-reading the original graphic novel the show can still get to the same ending as the comics it wants to in later seasons.

Ennis material has always been shocking and controversial (read also Preacher & Crossed) and whereas the Preacher adaptation on Prime didn't really satisfy the fans, the show runners of 'The Boys' adapated and modernised some of the characters and actually improved on the source matieral.

With the threat of Madelyn Stillwell removed in the final episode, we were introduced to Giancarlo Esposito's character Stan Edgar who had been her shadowy superior throughout the season and with the casting of Esposito, its probably a safe bet that he will be 'The Boys' behind the scenes adversary for Season 2.

Which brings us to a genderswapped 'Stormfront' (Aya Cash) who is going to through a spanner in the works of 'The Seven', in the graphic novels 'Stormfront' is a fullr fledged neo nazi super villian who leads Payback the 2nd biggest team behind 'The Seven'. From various interivews it seems that this version of 'Stormfront' is going to be much more nuanced than the original version. Just as Season 1 dealt effectively with sexual assault and the 'MeToo' movement in its storyline with Starlight & The Deep, Cash has hinted in interviews that 'Stormfront' will be a character that references the rise of the far right worldwide at the moment and that she will be a match for and unafraid of Homelander.

Also we need to see how Butcher deals with finding out his wife is alive but with Homelanders superpowered son (that he only just discovered himself in the finale) This will create a great arc for Butcher as he hates 'Supes' more than anything in the world so will this revelation make him question his views on all supes or will he doubledown on his mission to wipe them out even at the expensive of his wifes illegitimate child?

What the first season did so well is use the main plotline of the graphic novels as a throughline for the show, but leaving enough room and great arcs from the original material. We still have much to learn about the backstory of many of 'The Boys', whereas in source material some of 'The Seven' were lightly sketched villains, the show gave equal character development so both our heroes and villains which improved upon the original storylines.

We have already been given all the episode titles for Season 2 and they are as follows -

1. Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker

2. Nothing Like It In The World

3. Over The Hill With The Swords Of A Thousand Men

4. Proper Preparation and Planning

5. The Big Ride

6. The Bloody Doors Off

7. We Gotta Go Now

8.What I Know

As readers of the graphic novels will know the chronology of the episode titles in reference to the story arcs from the novels are way off and can only be taken lightly, for example the storyline of'What I Know' the Season 2 finale was focused on Butcher finding out about Hughie & Starlights relationship and as this already took place in Season 1 we can guess that the plotlines will be radically different.

There are still many great plotlines from the graphic novel to be adapted and Amazon has already confirmed that 'The Boys' has been renewed for a 3rd Season already with that in mind, I'll let Butcher have the last word.