The Boys Season 3 Trailer Breakdown: The Boys Aren't Alright

The trailer opens with Homelander visiting his old buddy Cameron Coleman (Matthew Edison) from Vought News Networks' "Seven on 7," the faux-Fox News channel that exists in the world of "The Boys." He explains that although he's a superhero, he's also "just a man who fell in love with the wrong woman."

He's talking about Stormfront (Aya Cash), Vought's former wife who turned out to be a Nazi. She ended up getting stomped by Queen Maeve (‎Dominique McElligott), Starlight (Erin Moriarty), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) and then burned to a crisp by Homelander's son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) when she attacked the boy's mother. Stormfront is currently in a detention center somewhere, according to one of the "Seven on 7" teaser segments, and it appears that Homelander is going on every possible media network to disavow his involvement with her. He's a terrifying fascist, but even he draws the line at Nazis, apparently. He promises that "out of crisis comes change" and explains that he spent the last year working on himself, and he can't wait for everyone to meet the "real" Homelander. 

Homelander's lactophilia has been well documented by the series, and apparently heartbreak hasn't stopped his intense milk fetish. You would think the character named Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) would be the one with the udderly unusual perversion but it's actually Homelander, who just really loves making sure he gets all of his calcium and vitamin D. Where are our "Got Milk?" ads, Vought? 

It's worth noting that the first "The Boys" season 3 trailer was flagged for content more than 20 million times. This shot was in both trailers, and will probably be flagged by at least one over-zealous suburban mom who doesn't understand that we don't kinkshame, even if the kinky person is a megalomaniac murderer. The milk thing is fine, the murder isn't!

One thing Butcher has done that redeems him a bit is his promise to take care of Ryan. The boy is technically not his son, but was conceived when Homelander raped Butcher's late wife, Becca (Shantel VanSanten). Becca tragically died at the end of season 2, attacked by Stormfront and then accidentally killed when Ryan tried to defend his mother by blasting Stormfront away with his laser vision. Homelander blamed Ryan for Becca's death, but Butcher promised her that he would protect and take care of Ryan for her, and it appears that he's doing just that. He can be kind of a jerk sometimes, but it's clear that Butcher cares.

Ryan is the first "natural born" supe, inheriting his powers from Homelander instead of being injected with Compound V, and his upbringing will likely help shape the future of superhero-human relations. We also find out that Butcher is working for Hughie (Jack Quaid) and the Federal Bureau of Superhuman affairs, and that he's given up drinking, fighting, and vigilante justice ... for now, anyway. 

Giancarlo Esposito has made a career out of playing brilliant businessmen who also happen to be totally evil, in part because he finds some way to connect with them. Stan Edgar is another of his corrupt CEO's, the man in charge of Vought International. He was the kind of man who could even scare Stillwell a bit, and he's only human. We see him talking to Starlight in an office, explaining that real power isn't just being able to shoot beams out of your hands, but something much more. Real power, he says, is "the ability to bend the world to your will." 

That's a power that we know Edgar has, because Vought is one of the most powerful corporations in the world, and much like our own reality, corporations control everything. Even with superpowers, capitalism wins, apparently. 

One of the most hotly anticipated parts of season 3 is the introduction of Soldier Boy, played by Jensen Ackles. The character comes directly from the comics written by Garth Ennis, though the writers of the series made some pretty big changes in order to translate him to television. Soldier Boy was one of Vought's first superheroes, and he's a riff on Captain America the way Homelander is a riff on Superman. Fans expecting Ackles to play a hero are going to probably be sorely disappointed, as Soldier Boy is as morally ambiguous as the rest of the supes and probably won't be doing anything all that heroic. The good news is, no matter what he's doing, he'll look good doing it. 

We already knew Butcher would be playing with powers somehow this season, as his laser eyes were revealed in previous trailers, but now we have a bit more information. There's a quick sequence with Maeve giving Butcher some small green vials that look a lot like Compound V. She explains that they will make someone a supe for 24 hours, and we see Butcher inject himself.

Maeve suggests that they use it to "blow Homelander's f***ing brains out," which means she's working with Butcher and The Boys, at least to some degree. Butcher seems like he's having a good bit of fun and says he's finally "leveled the playing field," but Mother's Milk rightly points out that it flies in the face of their entire ethos: "No one should have that kind of power." 

Another character being introduced this season is Crimson Countess, played by Laurie Holden. She is another of the early-era supes, and we see her in the same retro-tinted military encampment that we spotted Soldier Boy and his rocket launcher in earlier. She uses her powers to turn two fleeing soldiers into piles of meat and blood, which is both kind of cool and extremely gross.

Fans were promised that season 3 would show the history of Vought in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, so there's no telling exactly when this takes place. It could be the Korean War, the Vietnam War, or potentially some imaginary conflict, but regardless of who she's fighting, it looks like Crimson Countess wins. 

Mixed in with the many quick shots is one new piece of footage, featuring a costumed supe with bug wings running as fast as he can through some jungle ruins while yelling "f*** f*** f***!" Someone in the background clearly didn't get out of the way in time, so it's hard to blame the winged fellow for his profanity or hauling his butt out of there.