Season 2 of The Boys firmly established Amazon’s hit superhero series as one of the most popular shows on television, with the viewership numbers matching those posted by Netflix’s biggest originals. The size of the audience doubled for the second run, based partly on the strong word of mouth generated by the first season as well as the shift in release model, which kept the adventures of Billy Butcher and the gang at the forefront of the cultural conversation for a while instead of letting the buzz fizzle out after a week or two.
Some fans may have review bombed season 2 since Amazon and showrunner Eric Kripke had the audacity to make them wait five weeks to see the story unfold, but based on the rapturous reception and the impressive ratings, it didn’t take long for The Boys to be forgiven. Kripke is already hard at work on the next subversive outing, too, and he’s promised that things are somehow going to get even crazier.
The executive producer recently revealed that he found five years to be a round number to close out the show, but let’s not forget that he also created Supernatural and admitted in the past he had no intention for The CW’s cult classic to run for fifteen seasons and well over 300 episodes. How long the series will last for remains to be seen, of course, but in a new interview, Homelander actor Antony Starr says that The Boys still has a good few seasons of story left to tell.
“The length of the run needs to be dictated by the strength of the story and the qualities of the stories that they can come up with. I think inevitably, you can sense when the train’s coming and you and need to get off the tracks. Hopefully we won’t outstay our welcome and we’ll go out when the time is right, when we’re in a good place. I think everyone’s astute enough to make that call. That said, I think we’ve got a good few seasons in us yet. I think we’ve got a great cast of characters and a really interesting premise, and I think like you said, we can really go anywhere with this. I think it’s a pretty healthy show and I think there’s a good life for it coming up.”
There’s no official release date locked in for season 3 of The Boys just yet, but the previous two debuted in July 2019 and September 2020 respectively, and with shooting set to start in the next couple of weeks, we could realistically be seeing the beloved comic book adaptation back on our screens by the end of the year.