"The Boys" are back, baby, for a brand new season of superhero-inspired mayhem! The red-band trailer for season 3 of Amazon Prime's hit series is finally here, and it packs a bigger punch than even Homelander (Antony Starr) could lay claim to.
Fans have been anxiously awaiting this one for awhile, with only the faux-Fox News "Seven on 7" shorts and the animated spin-off series to hold us over. The trailer gives fans quite a few hints about what to expect in season 3, shares a few sneak peeks at some of the biggest heroes from the comics about to make the hop to the small screen, and more. Let's break it down, shot by shot, and see what Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and his "boys" have been up to for the past couple of years.
The Eyes Have It
The first shot is of series protagonist William "Billy" Butcher staring right into the camera, looking as miserable as ever. He doesn't look badly injured or dirty, which is good, but then things take a very interesting turn when his eyes begin to glow. Does this mean that Billy has finally become one of the enemy in order to fight them? He's been staunchly anti-supe the entire series, so it seemed like he would be the last person in the world to take Compound V and try to gain superpowers. Those are some seriously golden eyes, though, so apparently anything's possible.
Mirror, Mirror
The trailer cuts straight from Butcher to his mortal enemy, Homelander, staring in a mirror. His eyes are as steely and dead as always, with a facial expression to match. The trailer has no real dialogue, instead relying on visuals to tell a story. Homelander's haunted eyes alone say so much, and his cold rage is sure to become white-hot by the end of season 3.
Sides Of A Coin
Fans of "The Boys" comic book series know a few things about Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) that have yet to be revealed on the live-action series, but the finale episode of "Diabolical" hinted at his being a major part of season 3. The creepy mute superhero hasn't done much in the series' first two seasons, but we're hopefully going to learn much more about him soon.
Hughie Has A Bad Day
Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) can't really catch a break. Sure, he's dating the absolutely stunning Starlight/Annie (Erin Moriarty), but otherwise his life has been a series of really unfortunate events. "The Boys" could really be called "Hughie Campbell's Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day" and it would still be incredibly accurate. We see Hughie in a suit and tie, likely serving in his new role working with Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) and the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs. Ever since A-Train (Jessie Usher) ran through his girlfriend and disintegrated her into human goo in season one, Hughie's been struggling just to survive. I was hoping "The Boys" season 3 would cut him a break, but it's looking unlikely.
Co-Workers But Not Friends
We see Starlight and Homelander doing some kind of promotional video, standing next to on another on camera. Starlight seems to handle herself just fine, but you can see Homelander's awkward posture even in the still above. The shot quickly cuts to Starlight squeezing her fist at her side, so Homelander probably says or does something gross in this scene. That's kind of his M.O., after all.
Mother's Milk's Still Around
Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), one of Butcher's oldest and best friends, is thankfully still around. As the trailer quickly goes through its roster of characters to catch us up on who's still around and how they're doing, we get a brief glimpse of ole MM looking pensive. Like Hughie, he can't really seem to catch a break (and totally deserves one).
Stan Edgar Positions Himself To Be A Big Bad
You know who doesn't deserve a break? CEO of Vought International Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), who has been an annoying tertiary villain working his way towards being a big bad for some time now. If ever there was a perfect "evil CEO" archetype, it's this guy, who is somehow terrifying enough to subdue even Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue). Vought is a truly evil corporation, and the man at the top has to be a special kind of awful in order to even survive. Esposito is always great as a villain, so it'll be fun to see him chew up a bit more scenery this season.
Frenchie In VoughtLand
Next we see Frenchie (Tomer Kapon), looking a bit like Jean Reno in "Leon the Professional," strolling through the Brave Maeve section of Vought's theme park. Fans first saw a fake advertisement for "VoughtLand" in one of the "Seven on 7" segments in 2021, and the rainbow monstrosity is apparently going to factor into the series as well. "The Boys" has many kinds of satire, but its skewering of the way corporations use symbolism for LGBTQ+ pride instead of actually doing anything meaningful is some of the best the series has done.
Solve Injustice With Soft Drinks
Speaking of satire, there's a spoof of the embarrassingly tone-deaf pulled Pepsi commercial featuring Kendall Jenner solving police brutality by offering an officer a Pepsi. In this version, A-Train stops a potential act of police violence at a peaceful demonstration and hands the officer a can of his energy drink, Turbo Rush. "The Boys" never pulls punches, and this is one impressive roast.
A Supe Boy Band?
Next is what looks like some kind of superhero boy band. The guy in the center features in the next brief moment in the trailer, performing on stage in front of Homelander and Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott). This could be part of the VoughtLand addition opening, or, possibly, part of the long-awaited Herogasm convention.
Put On A Happy Face
Homelander and Maeve are watching the performance from up in their private box, a "Vought Studios" banner behind them, which means the "Herogasm" theory is a little less likely. (Unless Vought is cool with that level of debauchery? They seem like the pretend pious types, because of "family values.") When Homelander realizes that the cameras are on him, he immediately changes his facial expression from detached annoyance to a terrifying, shark-toothed smile.
A Little Stress Release?
We see put-upon Vought employee Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) having a little adult fun with a random writer nerd in a bathroom stall. Good for her! At least she's finally letting off a little steam, poor thing. Working for Vought must be a unique kind of hell.
Hughie And Annie Sitting In A Tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Hughie and Annie's romance is one of the only sweet, pure things on this demented series, and it's good to see them together. There's a shot of them holding hands and then kissing, with Hughie in his grown-up attire and Annie out of her Starlight getup. If I have one great hope for "The Boys," it's that these two eventually get to live happily ever after.
A Work Dispute
On the opposite end of "nice," we see Homelander arguing with recent re-hire A-Train in the Vought Tower hallways. He pokes A-Train in the belly and then gets all angry and glowy-eyed on him before things turn violent. Is Homelander starting to lose it even more than before after the loss of his evil Nazi girlfriend? Lord have mercy on us all.
A Bloody Boom
Remember Victoria Neuman and her secret head-exploding powers? It turns out she can cause an entire body to explode, which she does to a random person with some traumatic head injuries in an alley way. The red in this red band trailer is for the buckets of blood that get splashed around like a veritable fountain of gore.
Angry Butcher
Oh look, there's Billy and his laser eyes again. Hi Billy!
Gold Eyes For Everyone!
Do you know who else has laser eyes? Starlight. Her's are prettier, too. We get a glimpse of her looking absolutely furious about something and her golden eyes ready to light up. Is it the return of her ex-boyfriend, Supersonic (Miles Gaston Villanueva)? We'll have to wait and see, but my money is on The Deep (Chace Crawford) being a total creep again.
Speaking Of Creeps...
"The Boys" has its very own version of Tucker Carlson, Cameron Coleman (Matthew Edison), who has made the jump from the "Seven on 7" shorts to the series proper, and we see him seated at a rather nice-looking desk. Cameron seems rather cocksure until a star-spangled strap-on appears in front of him, only to cut away before we find out what all of that was about.
The Girl
The one female member of The Boys, the superpowered badass Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), appears wearing a sparkly top and someone else's blood. I would watch an entire series just about Kimiko, so I'm glad to see her getting some screen time in the trailer, even if it's short. Here's hoping she gets to do lots of butt-kicking in season 3.
The Crimson Countess
Fans of absolute goddess Laurie Holden have been waiting to catch a glimpse of her in action as the Crimson Countess, a member of the superhero team Payback. We finally get that glimpse, and she's apparently spending a bit of time in Brave Maeve's rainbow kingdom, but isn't too happy about a Homelander mascot she sees wandering around. She creates an energy ball between her hands and launches it at the underpaid lackey wearing a giant head, exploding him into a million tiny pieces. It seems like all of the superhero teams in "The Boys" aren't all that heroic.
Hughie Has Another Bad Day
Kimiko breaks Hughies arm in a way that only be described as "turning his elbow into a knee," while Hughie (understandably) screams in agony. Butcher looks on and sips a hot cuppa, totally unfazed. What did Hughie do to deserve that?
Soldier Boy, Tell 'Em
"The Boys" has been hinting at the inclusion of comic character Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) for quite some time, and fans have been salivating at the prospect. Not only is Soldier Boy a twisted riff on Captain America, but the role will reunite Ackles with his former "Supernatural" boss, Eric Kripke, who is the showrunner for "The Boys." We get a quick shot of some grainy old footage of Soldier Boy in his heyday. Season 3 is going to expect Vought throughout the decades, and this is only the first of many looks into the company's sordid past.
Herogasm And The Deep?
Is The Deep going to Herogasm? It sure looks like it based on this quick and slightly blurry, smoky shot, which shows the conflicted supe in a room with some salacious-looking individuals and a silhouette of a woman on a stripper pole.
Beans
Beans.
A Man And His Baked Beans
The less-than-appetizing legumes apparently belong to Black Noir, who is eating them in the creepiest room I have ever seen. The cartoon animals painted on the wall are such a stark contrast to the murderous maniac we know Black Noir to be, so I'm curious to see how he ended up here, and who's with him. (There are two bean bowls there, after all.)
Queen Maeve Gets Brave
Poor Maeve has been through a lot. In "The Boys" season 1 she witnessed Homelander massacre an entire airplane full of people, and then in season 2 she was forcefully outed and her only good relationship was put to the test as Vought made it public. Now she's looking a little more ready to fight back, perhaps inspired by her battle with Stormfront at the end of last season.
A Swoon-Worthy Supe?
They really want us to know Jensen Ackles is here as Soldier Boy, don't they? He's looking pretty good here, with the mask and scruff. Too bad he's probably just as evil as most of the rest of the supes on this series. It's extremely unlikely that they're going to follow his story straight from the comics (he has a complicated sexual affair with Homelander), but it will be interesting to see what they do with him regardless.
Annie Reacts To A Man Getting Ripped In Half
The header kind of explains this one. Annie sees someone get ripped in half from head to groin, and it's, uh, graphic. You would make this face, too.
The Sexual Perversions Of Superheroes
We know that Peacemaker is obsessed with the sexual perversions of various superheroes and is totally convinced that Aquaman f**** fish, but "The Boys" takes that a bit farther by showing The Deep mid-coitus, staring at an octopus spread out on the glass in a nearby aquarium. He's rather entranced by the hole in the center of the octopus, although anyone with an appreciation for the eight-legged creatures will tell you that sticking anything near there is a dangerous idea, because that's the octopus's mouth, and it has a razor-sharp, bird-like beak. Unless The Deep wants to spend the rest of his life as a eunuch, he needs to rethink his strategy.
Compound V
Butcher holds up a bit of Compound V, the substance we know turns ordinary humans into supes. Any questions regarding whether or not he took the stuff are immediately solved as we see him reacting with a violent bit of roaring and brightly glowing eyes. He also vomits neon-green Nickelodeon slime on Hughie, who handles being barfed on like a total champ.
Subtlety Isn't This Show's Strong Suit
Look, the satire on "The Boys" is funny and cutting, but it is very rarely subtle. We see Homelander arriving to a crew of flag-wearing, MAGA-spoofing morons carrying propaganda posters with his face on them. Homelander is the ultimate symbol of modern American fascism, and seeing the QAnon guy who stormed the Capitol building wearing a buffalo headdress represented in the weird world of "The Boys" seems pretty perfect.
Brightburn 2?
Just kidding, it's actually Butcher's wife Becca's son, Ryan Butcher, who is the result of the horrible night when Homelander raped Becca. We watched him grow up a bit last season, but here he's finally starting to show his superhero powers and a little of his dear old bio-dad's rage. There's no telling what will happen with this messed-up family now that everything's out in the open, but at least one member is clearly unhappy about how things have shaken out. At least it looks just like Ryan ... this could also be a Homelander flashback. Either way, it's an angry young supe ready to unleash some hurt.
Run Like Your Life Depended On It
There's a desaturated, "flashback filter" looking shot of a light-haired woman running through gunfire and explosions. She looks a lot like Stillwell, but since the former Vought chairwoman has been dead since "The Boys" season 1, the only way that's possible is if this is indeed a flashback.
Two Sides Of A-Train
A-Train is undergoing a new PR campaign to rehabilitate his image, and we see him putting on some kind of show in addition to his knock-off Pepsi ad. Almost immediately after dancing in front of the words "American Hero," the clip cuts to A-Train getting into a fight with Blue Hawk, a superhero with ties to the police.
Black Noir's Lil Buddy
Black Noir doodles a little beaver in a shirt that either has a slice of pizza or a chunk of cheese on it. It's kind of cute, if you didn't know that it was drawn by a homicidal maniac. It also vaguely resembles the cartoon critters on the wall when ole Noir was eating beans, so maybe he just really likes animated animals.
The Deep Giving Blue Steel
The Deep spins around in a vaporwave-looking environment and mugs for the camera. It looks like a shot out of either an '80s workout video or a '90s porno, so who knows?
Sad Times For Starlight
Remember how I said that Starlight deserves to be happy? Apparently she's not going to be for at least part of "The Boys" season 3, as we get a quick shot of her crying without smudging her absolutely flawless eye makeup. Now that's a superpower.
Got Milk?
Homelander really likes milk. We've seen the man drink some seriously expired human breast milk, so clearly there are no boundaries to his obsession. The trailer shows him milking a cow and, well, really enjoying it.
A Dance Montage?
At some point, there will be a dance sequence with Frenchie and Kimiko. It's probably some kind of dream sequence, given her joyful smile and the fact that everyone is doing choreographed dancing. It looks like they're in some kind of hospital, and Kimiko is wearing a gown, so this is probably in her head while she's recovering from something awful.
Ashley's Mad
If you had to work for Vought, you'd probably look like this too. That's a killer jacket, though.
A Slightly Sad Soldier Boy
Soldier Boy doesn't look quite so sure of himself here, with tears welling in Ackles' eyes. He looks sad, even though there's the tiniest hint of a smile on his lips. Soldier Boy's story is likely to be bittersweet, so it's likely an accurate introduction.
Billy Beats Up Somebody
Butcher has a lot of fun testing out his newfound supe powers on an armed and armored target. This poor guy doesn't stand a chance.
Scruffy Soldier Boy
The final shot of the trailer, after the series title and release date pops up, is of a freshly awakened Soldier Boy, with a long scruffy beard and ragged hair. Soldier Boy was one of the original superheroes and was likely cryogenically frozen in some way. He will be a very important part of the upcoming season, and this tiny moment of him not in costume is exciting.
"The Boys" season 3 premieres June 3, 2022, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
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