Last year, right when we thought we couldn’t handle another superhero storyline, The Boys smashed onto the scene proving that dark corrupt superheroes fighting morally grey anti-heroes is exactly what we needed. A cynical take on how superheroes would function in our overly corporate world, season one was edgy, not safe for work, and definitely not concerned with being politically correct.
As the season opens, we see the heroes saving two boys from robbers, basking in the glory of their public adoration. It’s all over the news, which is how we meet soft-spoken electronics salesman Hughie Campbell––cleaning a television screen while watching the news footage. Hughie is living a quiet but happy life. He’s working up the nerve to ask his boss for a raise so he can move in with his girlfriend. But his life is quickly disrupted when one of the superhero Seven, A-Train, runs through her––literally––pulverising her body via high velocity impact.
If power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, then it should come as no surprise that the superheroes in this world are a special blend of arrogant corruption only deep corporate pockets can produce. Lawyers for Vought Corporation offer Hughie a pittance of a settlement for his girlfriend’s death. But after a vigilante named Butcher recruits him to take down the supes, Hughie finds out that the death of his girlfriend is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to superpower corruption.
We learn that Homelander assaulted Butcher’s wife, who then disappeared, only to find out that she’s alive and raising Homelander’s son. In an even more shocking twist, not even Homelander knew. And he’s the one who tells Butcher. So… that’s going to be interesting.
Compound-V serves almost as its own character. Vought’s been using it to create supes for a while now, as we see with a lab-raised Homelander. Even more scandalous, Annie learns that her mom handed her over for supernatural experimentation when she was a tot.
But what good is a team of superheroes if you can’t profit from them? And how can you make sure the world can’t fight the enemies on their own? Obviously, the answer is to create supervillains, which then makes the only logical next step to militarise the supes. This move is complete, a la blackmailing members of Congress, with a side of poignant murder, and then creating terrifying situations that only superheroes can handle. It’s an arrogant power move, but given it almost works in season one, they’re willing to double down on it in season two.
As with any series, we not only get higher stakes and new plotlines, we also get new characters. In the trailer, we see that the Seven has a new addition. Stormfront, a social-media savvy, outspoken feminist of a sort is going to give Homelander a serious run for his leadership money. Butcher was, and still is, a fabulous antagonist to our hero antagonist, but there’s something about Homelander having to face someone he can’t dismiss or ignore that is all the more tantalising. She’s his equal, which isn’t something he’s ever had to deal with. Plus, she has her own hidden agenda. Homelander is usually the one pulling the Seven’s strings, so this power struggle is going to be delicious to watch unfold.
We’re also going to get a retired supe, Lamplighter, who was referenced in season one as the one who destroyed the first Boys team. All we really know is that he masters fire and used it to burn the family of Butcher’s CIA team leader, effectively dismantling the original supe-fighting group. Butcher came back though, so it makes sense that after all the chaos he managed to wreak, that Vought would bring back the one supe who broke the team up before.
We mentioned Butcher’s wife and the bombshell of her raising Homelander’s son after she disappeared. This storyline promises to be full of juicy drama and complicated nuance, especially since it appears that Jack has powers of his own. At least, let’s hope that’s why Homelander shoves him off the roof of his house in the trailer. Regardless, this difficult situation promises all sorts of emotional challenges for both Homelander and Butcher, and we are here for it.
Frenchie, Mother’s Milk, and Kimiko all return fighting not just Vought and the Seven but a heap of new superterrorists wreaking havoc across the globe. Whether some of the Compound-V supes will prove to be reluctant experiments like Kimiko is yet to be seen, but it seems likely. Of course, it seems just as likely that this Vought created problem is going to blow up in spectacular form, maybe even pushing Homelander to work against the Seven? Or Stormfront anyway. The enemy of the enemy and all. It would make sense as complicated and questionable morals are the go-to themes of The Boys.
There’s a ton more waiting to be revealed and a lot of teaser scenes released showing more details regarding Homelander’s creepy lab upbringing, The Deep working either with The Boys or just mucking things up for the Seven as he tries to regain their favour, and a lot of superstar casting that remains a mystery. We’re looking at you Patton Oswalt. But one of the most revealing facts that makes us believe this season is going to be intense and a non-stop action ride is that Amazon is ratcheting up the suspense by not releasing the entire season at once. That’s right, they’re only releasing three episodes on September 4, with new episodes releasing one per week after that.
Part of the rationale is based on how season one was a filled with power-packed episodes. The sheer depth of character analysis was mind-blowing, and they managed to replicate this intense attention to detail throughout the entire season. And season two appears to do the same. There’s glimpses of backstory, revealed in bite-sized chunks so we’re always on our toes, never knowing what bombshell any of the characters could drop at any moment. It’s also this revelatory process that pushes the boundaries of good and bad, right and wrong, keeping morality and all its complicated philosophical nuance at the heart of the show.
All we know is with September 4th right around the corner, we can’t wait to follow all the twists and turns of this dark comic adventure. If it’s been awhile since you watched season one, we highly recommend a binge session, as there are a ton of hidden references and subtle plotlines woven throughout that we’re positive will show up in season two. Of course, you can always play fast and loose in full Boys style and just dive right into season two. No matter how you jump back in this series, we can’t wait to dissect each episode, tying old plot lines to the new, and being thoroughly engrossed in all things chaotic and heroic.
