The third season of Prime Video’s The Boys has already been, uh, explosive. But according to the cast, things are about to go up a level in episode 6, which will tackle the iconic Herogasm storyline from the comics.
“It’s my favourite episode we’ve ever done. Bar none,” Jack Quaid, who plays Hughie, told Lifehacker Australia during a press junket in Sydney.
“It’s so crazy, but also every character gets a second to shine and gets a really hearty, meaty scene.”
For those unfamiliar, Herogasm was a miniseries of comics set in the world of The Boys. The story saw the group infiltrate a private Vought-sponsored retreat where supes were free to indulge in sex, drugs and all sorts of mayhem away from the public eye.
Karen Fukuhara, who plays Kimiko, said fans of the comics have a lot to look forward to.
“I think that it’s the biggest nod we have in the season to our comic book fans. We hope we get their stamp of approval,” she said.
The Boys showrunner, Eric Kripke, said in an interview with Vanity Fair last year that there will be “no topping Herogasm”. Given what we’ve seen in season 3 already, that’s quite a high bar.
Despite all the NSFW content that’s bound to come with Herogasm, Chace Crawford (The Deep) told Lifehacker the episode is “more than just shock value”.
“There’s a lot more to that episode than just Herogasm,” A-Train actor Jessie T. Usher agreed. “It’s a heavy episode.”
“It’s intense and you can’t really prepare for it,” Claudia Doumit, who plays head-popping congresswoman Victoria Neuman, added.
@lifehackerau The cast of #theboys tell us about the Herogasm episode in season 3. #theboyss3 #jackquaid #karenfukuhara #claudiadoumit #jessietusher #chacecrawford #primevideo
Herogasm will become just one of many extreme moments this season in The Boys. Close to the top of the list is a sequence in episode 3 which had fans calling for ‘justice for Timothy’ online.
Crawford said The Deep’s octopus-eating scene was “emotionally scarring” for more than one reason.
“Honestly, the grossest part was the seafood tower was like actual seafood. Just sitting around for 12 hours, it wasn’t very appealing after a while,” he said.
While no real octopuses were harmed in the scene, Crawford did have to sink his teeth into something.
“It was like three little different setups and Stefan, our [VFX] guy, was like ‘the octopus legs, these are mochi, they’re vegan,’” he explained.
“The main little ink sac was made of maple syrup and that kind of ruined waffles for me for a while.”
The Boys has always done an excellent job of pairing those emotionally scarring sequences with important character moments – it has been nominated for an Emmy, after all.
That’s continued this season with many of the main characters grappling with the gift and burden of having superpowers, including a few that didn’t have powers before.
“Hughie takes Compound V and he has the ability to teleport, which is insane,” Quaid said.
“I think for him, he really just wants a little sliver of power because for seasons he’s just felt like he’s a loser and a screw-up, and once he actually takes that you see that he really likes it. That was such a fun, weird aspect of Hughie to play.”
Another thing that took both audiences and cast members by surprise was an A-List cameo in the form of Charlize Theron in the first episode of season 3.
An appearance like that is pretty hard to beat, but the cast members did have some ideas for who their dream cameos in The Boys would be.
Fukuhara pointed to other superhero stars Samuel L. Jackson and Christian Bale (as Batman, of course). Doumit followed that line of thought with Jason Momoa’s Aquaman; a natural rival for The Deep.
“I’m going to put it out there just because I know she likes the Fast and the Furious movies, cause she’s in them, but I want Helen Mirren,” Quaid said. “I want her in, in some way shape or form.”
Helen Mirren turned out to be a popular choice amongst the cast of The Boys.
“I always think Helen Mirren. Because Eric Kripke always joked that Helen Mirren was going to be the voice of my gills,” Crawford said.
There are still three more episodes to go in this season of The Boys, so there’s still plenty of time for more surprises.
But before we get to the newly-announced fourth season, we’ll have to see where things stand at the end of season 3. The Boys cast members said the finale will leave audiences “nervous”.
“I was definitely nervous. At the end of the season, I was very unsettled,” Doumit said.
“I think at the end season 3 is going to leave you wondering where the hell things can go next,” Usher agreed.
New episodes of The Boys release weekly on Fridays on Prime Video.
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