The Boys Showrunner Reveals When Season 3 Begins Filming

Ahead of the season two premiere of Amazon's The Boys, the streaming service gave the show an early season three renewal. Even during the face of the coronavirus pandemic, and while other streamers are cancelling shows they'd already renewed, the comic adaptation is a major hit for the service. Now with season two in the rear view mirror, all eyes and fans are looking ahead on the next batch of episodes, and speaking in a new interview series creator Eric Kripke has offered a timeline on when the show could get in front of cameras once again.

"We're actually through a lot of the writing," Kripke told TheWrap. "So I know most of the season by now. But, like early 2021? I mean, so much of it– It's a crazy world we live in, but the goal is hopefully early '21."

Provided an early 2021 start date comes to pass for the series, it remains unclear when the series would return with new episodes. Production on the second season took place from June to November of 2019, with the first episodes not premiering until September of this year, so it's possible that we could be without new episodes of The Boys for the entirety of next year. Another mystery is what release format Amazon will use for the next season but the weekly release of new episodes seemed to do wonders for their viewership with season two.

There are some things that we know about season three of The Boys however, like the first addition to the cast. Supernatural star Jensen Ackles is set to reunite with Kripke on the series, taking on the role of the Vought supe "Soldier Boy" in the new season, a character that worked as a Captain America analogue in the Garth Ennis comics. In an interview this week with Variety, Kripke called the show's version of the character "Homelander before Homelander" and described him as being like John Wayne.

"He's one of these guys that's been around for decades of Vought history," Kripke said. "So he's from a different era, but he's got the ego and the ambition — it just comes across in a different way because he's from a different time."

Kripke also revealed last year that they'd finally cracked how to bring the storyline "Herogasm" to the television series. In the original comics, Herogasm functioned as a parody of major comic book events wherein the supes run off to have a vacation and take part in unimaginable debauchery with each other.

"We JUST figured out how to do Herogasm!!" Kripke wrote in a Reddit AMA last summer. "It'll come in Season 3 maybe (if we get picked up for Season 3). I've really wanted to do it, but needed to figure out our twist on it, so it's not just an hour of hardcore porn. But I think we got it!! Super excited about that."

Speaking on the virtual panel for New York Comic Con, Kripke offered a final update on the show's return for season three, noting: "We're in the writer's room, cooking through season 3. So we'll get that to you as soon as we can - COVID willing."