'The Boys' Season 2 Will Include A Short Film Following Billy Butcher's Time Spent MIA
The second season of The Boys will arrive on Amazon Prime in September, but there will be a slight change to how the show airs on the streaming service. The first three episodes will premiere on September 4, but afterwards, new episodes will be released weekly. On top of that, showrunner Eric Kripke has revealed that there will be a short film focused on Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and his whereabouts after he went MIA in the first season finale that will fill in some gaps after he returns.
Collider recently spoke with Eric Kripke about the upcoming second season for The Boys, and the showrunner revealed that a Billy Butcher short film will be to watch if they want to keep up with the second season of the show properly.
Billy Butcher will make his triumphant return in the second episode of the second season. Originally, this episode would have revealed what Billy was up to while he was gone. But that backstory had to be cut because it was messing with the pacing of the overall episode. Thankfully, all the footage that was shot for that sequence will be put together into a short film simply titled Butcher, chronicling the two weeks he was on the lam.
Though it might seem like this is supplementary material that would merely be deleted scenes cobbled together for a home video release, the short film will be integral to the viewing experience of watching the second season. There will be references to what Billy went through in that short film throughout the second season, so if you don't watch, there might be moments where what's being discussed doesn't make any sense.
The plan is to release the short after the premiere of the second season. Since Butcher doesn't return until the second episode, that leaves only one episode where you might be in the dark about Butcher's activities before his return. But maybe the references to what happens in that short don't begin until after the first three episodes. I'm sure Eric Kripke has figured out exactly how to play this just right, especially since he has a bigger budget to play with this time.
Kripke also talked about what that means for the series, and it's not just bigger action. The showrunner said:
"It doesn't just mean huge action scenes. It does mean some of those. We have some huge sequences... But there is also a lot more intense stuff and scenes that were really difficult for the actors emotionally and require a bit more time. It's not just the visuals that are epic; I think the emotions are a little more epic this season and that just takes some TLC with the actors."
The second season also stars Karen Fukuhara, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capon, Jack Quaid, Anthony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Jesse T. Usher, and Chace Crawford, as well as the return of Giancarlo Esposito, and the debut of Aya Cash as Stormfront. The new season features episodes directed by Philip Sgriccia, Alex Graves, Sarah Boyd, Stefan Schwartz, Frederick E.O. Toye, and Batan Silva, and the show is created by created by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, based on the comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson,
In Season 2, The Boys are on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought. In hiding, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) try to adjust to a new normal, with Butcher (Karl Urban) nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander (Antony Starr) sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash), a social-media-savvy new Supe, who has an agenda of her own. On top of that, the Supervillain threat takes center stage and makes waves as Vought seeks to capitalize on the nation's paranoia.
The Boys season 2 starts arriving on Amazon Prime Video on September 4, 2020 and will be released weekly after that.