Amazon heads into second season of comic book-inspired series 'The Boys'

"The Boys" is back in town, or at least back on Amazon.

Based on a comic that both honors and satirizes superheroes, the series that includes Seth Rogen and Eric Kripke among its executive producers starts streaming its second season Friday, Sept. 4. It finds the ragtag group of fugitives known as The Boys enmeshed in considerable infighting - as are their superpowered opponents, known as The Seven and also as the "Supes."

Self-assured newcomer Stormfront (Aya Cash) prompts Homelander's (Antony Starr) concern about retaining his Supes leadership, but he also clashes with idealistic Starlight (Erin Moriarty). Meanwhile, among The Boys, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) seems to have his own agenda, causing worry for his supposed ally Hughie (Jack Quaid). Chace Crawford, Laz Alonso, Jessie T. Usher, Karen Fukuhara, Tomer Capon and Dominique McElligott also continue in the principal cast; additionally, Season 2 features Goran Visnjic, Patton Oswalt and returnee Giancarlo Esposito.

Kripke developed "The Boys" in series form, and he reasons, "it's a show that works for people who both love and hate superhero stuff. It delivers all the pleasure of that genre, but also is highly critical and deconstructive of it. I also think this show reflects the exact minute we're living in, and I think people find it sort of surprisingly current and probably smarter than they thought it was going to be."

"All the characters have something that's very important to them ripped away from them," co-star Urban adds, "and we get to see how they individually deal with it. Throughout the season, it's just a continual process of upping the stakes, leading toward the sort of crescendo. It just packs such a punch that we're super-excited for everybody to see it."

"The Boys" addition Cash is happy to be part of that "punch." She admits, "I was not super-familiar with the comic books. I read some to get a flavor, but I also feel like the show is a real jumping-off point from the comic, so I went with the writing that was in the show vs. going back to the source material. I felt like the writers had done that job of translating already."

Amazon has ordered Season 3 of "The Boys" (which will add "Supernatural's" Jensen Ackles to the cast), though it's anyone's guess when that can and will be filmed ... as the cast noted during a recent press event at which they advised people to keep wearing masks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Moriarty maintains that whenever she gets to adopt the "Boys" guise of Starlight, "It's a pleasure to play a character who has a stronger moral compass than I personally do. In many ways, I kind of look up to her."

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"The Boys"

The second season begins streaming Friday, Sept. 4, on Amazon