When Amazon Prime’s superhero drama The Boys returns for a highly anticipated Season 3, the titular misfits will have a handful of new Supes to worry about on top of Homelander and the other power-hungry members of The Seven. Jensen Ackles and his newfound beard will lead the crew of newcomers, who include some original characters not found in the satirical comic series by Garth Ennis. Executive producer Seth Rogan revealed last year that The Boys was granted a third season even before the Season 2 premiere, and since the series doubled down on the antics for its second season, I'm expecting an even more fantastically filthy Season 3.
The Boys Season 2 finale left us with plenty to unpack, including the death of Becca, which will certainly have Billy Butcher’s rage dialed up to 11 in Season 3. We also saw the satisfying takedown of Stormfront, and Homelander back under the corporate thumb of Stan Edgar and Vought. Not to mention what Congresswoman Victoria Neuman is up to after blowing up members of congress and the leader of the Fresca-friendly Church of the Collective. So we’ve got a lot of questions going into Season 3, and I’m excited to see how these new Supes play into everything. Let’s take a look at who’s been cast to join The Boys in Season 3.
Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy)
Supernatural star Jensen Ackles will suit up as a character familiar to The Boys graphic novel fans in Soldier Boy. “The original superhero,” as he’s been billed, fought in World War II and was a mainstay in American culture for decades. Soldier Boy seems like an obvious threat to Homelander in particular, but perhaps for all of The Seven, as in the graphic novels he was part of his own superhero team called Payback, who showrunner Eric Kripke called “the Seven before the Seven.” Stormfront, who was arguably even more evil than Homelander, was a member of Payback in the comics, if that’s any indication of what Soldier Boy could provide with his “humor, pathos and danger.”
Jensen Ackles is best known for playing Dean Winchester on Supernatural and is even developing a prequel spinoff, The Winchesters, with wife Danneel Harris. This sounds like awesome news, if you’re not Ackles’ on-screen brother Jared Padelecki, who through tweets told fans he was “gutted” to learn of the project — and his non-involvement — with the rest of us on social media. But before Supernatural and any fraternal drama (now resolved), Ackles was known for other roles, including a longtime stint as Eric Brady on Days of Our Lives. Others might recognize him as Jason Teague on Smallville, C.J. Braxton on Dawson’s Creek and Alec/X5-494 on Dark Angel.
Sean Patrick Flanery (Gunpowder)
Sean Patrick Flanery will play another character from Garth Ennis’ graphic novels in Gunpowder. Gunpowder actually made a brief appearance in Season 1 (but by a different actor) where he spoke on TV about gun ownership and the Second Amendment. Gunpowder’s superpowers in the comics revolve around breathing fire, so we’ll have to wait to find out how the show will weaponize Flanery’s version of the character.
Sean Patrick Flanery is best known for the role of Connor MacManus in The Boondocks Saints and as Jeremy “Powder” Reed in Powder. On TV he was the lead in ABC’s The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and he played Greg Stillson on Stephen King’s Dead Zone. Flanery is also known for the role of Sam Gibson on The Young and the Restless and as Jacob Elway on Season 8 of Dexter.
Miles Gaston Villanueva (Supersonic)
Though there’s been no official description of the character Miles Gaston Villanueva will play in Season 3 of The Boys, it’s rumored that Supersonic will be a reinterpretation of Drummer Boy from the comics, who was, among other things, an ex-boyfriend of Erin Moriarty’s Starlight. All right, Hughie, looks like it’s time to up your game. Villanueva is another soap opera veteran, appearing as Luca Santori on The Young and the Restless. Other notable roles include Alex Shaw on The Resident and Lyle Menendez on Law & Order True Crime.
Nick Wechsler (Blue Hawk)
Blue Hawk is another new name to The Boys universe, but one theory posits that Nick Wechsler’s character might be a version of the comics’ Ground Hawk, who wears a blue hawk helmet and has hammers for hands. Sounds inconvenient, but I bet The Boys crew could find some fun things to do with that superpower. Wechsler is best known for playing Kyle Valenti on Roswell and Jack Porter on Revenge. He also has played a small role on This Is Us as Ryan Sharp, Cassidy’s estranged husband.
These new faces will join The Boys regulars Karl Urban (Billy Butcher), Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell), Erin Moriarty (Starlight), Antony Starr (Homelander), Dominique McElligott (Queen Maeve), Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk), Tomer Kapon (Frenchie), Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Chace Crawford (The Deep), Nathan Mitchell (Black Noir), Claudia Doumit (Victoria Neuman) and Colby Minifie (Ashley Barrett).
A couple of characters who won’t return include Shantel VanSanten’s Becca, who was tragically caught in the crossfire when Ryan, the son she shared with Homelander, tried to save her from Stormfront. And for now we can also assume Aya Cash will not be returning as Nazi villain Stormfront, although some fans think she survived the maiming from Ryan.
While we may not know too many details about the new characters coming to The Boys Season 3, I think it’s safe to say if we’ve learned anything from The Boys, they’re all capable of some pretty heinous actions. Whether it’s intentional or not, the raunchy Amazon Prime series seems to be pulling its actors from soap operas, so I say bring on the drama! Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more information on Season 3, as well as the upcoming spinoff series. Here's where you can watch The Boys cast until then, and be sure to check out our 2021 summer TV schedule for ideas of what to watch in the meantime.
