The brilliant first season of Amazon's The Boys was a violent whirlwind of action and subversive superheroics, but streaming viewers who hadn't read the comics might be shocked to discover there were some extreme elements that got completely left out of the TV adaptation. One of the biggest absences was definitely that of Billy Butcher's loyally vicious dog Terror, but fans can take comfort in knowing the four-legged beast has been confirmed to get his day of reckoning in Season 2, which is supposedly even better than Season 1.
The Boys star Karl Urban, who would presumably have more scenes with Terror than anyone else, confirmed the comic favorite's inclusion in Season 2 while speaking at a recent fan fest. In his words:
You know what? You're gonna love Season 2. . . . If you love Terror, you'll love Season 2. Definitely, Terror makes an appearance.
It's understandable that the crowd at C2E2 (Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo) didn't immediately start barking and humping the legs of everyone nearby, since that would have been a pretty frightening experience for all involved. But the excitement was definitely there for everyone who spent Season 1 scratching their heads and wondering where Butcher's bulldog was hiding.
For a bit of background, Terror shows up in The Boys comic book right from the start and cements his place as one of the most memorable super-pets (so to speak) in the medium. Amazingly enough, Terror keeps things friendly with everyone in the hero-hating group, but those who get in his way usually come away missing at least a chunk of skin.
Of course, Terror isn't motivated only by violence. He's also quite the loving dog, in a manner of speaking. At Butcher's discretion,Terror will get sexual with anything he's commanded to...anything. So if you thought that The Boys Season 1 featured a disturbing lack of CGI dogs dry-humping antagonists and/or inanimate objects, everything is coming around in Season 2.
This isn't the first time that the subject of Terror has come up, of course. Following the release of Season 1, a subsection of the fandom questioned the bulldog's absence, and creator Eric Kripke had some good news at the time, though it was the kind of update that could have easily gotten reversed in the many months between then and now. Speaking with EW at the time, Kripke explained why Season 1 skipped out on the character and then promised fans a Terror-centered episode.
The reason Terror doesn’t have a larger role this season is the most boring and practical one, which is it’s so fucking hard to work with animals. We have such an unbelievably challenging show anyway that I was just too intimidated by the idea of having an animal who doesn’t listen to directors and doesn’t care about your stunt or pyrotechnic and your CG or your green screen, just doesn’t give a shit about any of it. . . . We felt, as the writers, the fans need him. We had to bite the bullet and have one fucking pain-in-the-ass episode to shoot with the dog, and then at the end the dog will return to the safe and comfortable place it’s been. But it does come out of retirement for one more mission with Butcher, and so we can at least put Butcher with Terror for one big episode.
Here's hoping that Eric Kripke found the most comfortable way imaginable to work with animals, so that fans might actually see Terror for more than just a single Season 2 installment. Assuming, of course, that he didn't already hump everything into oblivion in his first episode. He might have some competition in that respect, with Chace Crawford's The Deep harboring his own perversions.
The Boys may already be trying to loop a Walking Dead star in for Season 3, but it doesn't yet have a release date for Season 2 set. That said, fans can watch the first trailer and expect to see it hitting Amazon at some point this summer or fall. Gather your dog collars and leashes, and check out everything else that's hitting streaming and linear TV soon with our Winter and Spring premiere schedule.
