Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t watched the three-episode premiere for The Boys Season 4 with an Amazon Prime subscription, and possible appetizer spoilers even for those who did watch.
The Boys has never been one to turn the other cheek, as it were, when it comes to its often outrageous critics-dividing subject matter, and Season 4 went ahead and dove in face-first right between the cheeks. Or at least Supernatural vet Rob Benedict’s short-lived new recruit did during his marquee turn in the second episode, "Life Among the Septics." And we learned the most amazing (and most disgusting) detail about that salad-tossing shocker from showrunner Eric Kripke.
To properly set the stage: in a scene that preceded Splinter’s nutso naked fight, which Kripke also talked to CinemaBlend about, Frenchie and Kimiko walked in on multiple versions of Benedict’s character engaging in what I’ll now describe as a conga line, but if the conga wasn’t a dance so much as orally pleasuring the anus. Suffice to say, it’s not a position that all actors would love to find themselves in, but Kripke said the actor was all-in from the jump, even after hearing what was involved. In his words:
Yeah, I mean, look, when I heard Rob was interested in the role, I said, 'Everyone needs to stop. I need to call him. I need to tell him exactly what he's getting into. He's a friend. I can't sandbag him with any of this.' And so I called him, and I said, 'Here's every scene your character will be doing if you get this role,' and he was down. He thought it was hilarious.
I'd love to know exactly what kind of role description Rob Benedict was initially given that had him interested, to see how that compares to the finalized version that Eric Kripke had to tell him about. Not that it mattered in the long run, as the former God portrayer seemed A-OK with eating his own butt out and filming for a week straight wearing little beyond a prosthetic penis. If there's not an award for that specifically, hopefully that'll change in time.
Oh, and I wasn't exactly being sarcastic or hyperbolic in talking about him "eating his own butt," as the effects team took that idea to its logical conclusion, as Kripke told me:
Yeah, that thing in the sauna, that's a photo-real latex mold of his real butt that, you know, you keep moving down the line. [Laughs.] It's an amazing feat of visual effects.
As if The Boys would invite Rob Benedict in for an arc that had him slurping up some totally random butt mold. These people are professionals. To that end, Kripke agreed with me that the sound design and foley work in the scene is just as effective as the visual side.
Misha Collins' Nickname For The Scene
When I started to ask Eric Kripke about that moment, I realized I didn't actually know the best way to refer to it. So I asked how he and others referred to it behind the scenes, which is when another prominent Supernatural alum was namechecked. According to the showrunner:
What did we call it? I know Misha Collins, at one point, he called it a 'Butt Buffet,' which I liked, so maybe we'll just go with that.
The best thing about a butt buffet is that you don't have to worry about what to do with your plate, amirite? No?
I offered up my own nickname for the scene — "The Human Splint-epede" — and it got a chuckle out of Eric Kripke, so that felt like a giant win on my part. Now to wait and see what other jaw-droppingly raunchy moments are yet to come in the next five episodes. I don't see how anyone could have superhero fatigue regarding The Boys, since this is on a different wavelength.
We now know The Boys is ending with Season 5 — check out what Kripke told us he's most excited about — but new episodes are hitting the 2024 TV schedule every Thursday, so don't get caught in the spa with your pants down.
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