The Boys Season 3 Trailer Breakdown: Soldier Boy, 'Splosions, And Beans

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. 

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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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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?

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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. 

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.)

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. 

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. 

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. 

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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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.