The Boys are back for season three on Prime Video and the highly anticipated return has us more than excited. That’s why we leaped at the chance to participate in a roundtable with series creator and showrunner, Eric Kripke, as well as the man who brings Butcher to life, Karl Urban.
Kripke talked about what it’s like for him as the man behind the heroes, and those who fight them, for him to finally have season 3 available to The Boys fandom who have had to wait since October 2020 for their hero fix. He’s most excited for the viewers to witness some serious character development—amongst the utter insanity that fans have come to expect from The Boys—that he is clearly proud of achieving.
Meanwhile, Urban talks about where we find Butcher, the man who has devoted his life to exposing Supes as the frauds they are and knocking them off, one by one. The New Zealand native also dishes that it was meeting Kripke way back in the beginning, which set him on this journey. There was something about this guy and the vision he had for The Boys that Urban had to be a part of the ensemble. Lucky him, he gets to be at the center of this superhero storm.
Q: First of all, you two, thank you so much for visiting with me. I’m Joel Amos from The Movie Mensch. Congratulations on a show that just keeps getting better, and better, and better, and better.
Eric Kripke: Oh, thanks. Thanks a lot.
Karl Urban: Thank you, Man.
Q: I have no idea where you can go from here because, my gosh, you just blew me away. My question is for Mr. Urban. I’ve actually talked to you previously. I think the first time was in 2012 in Toronto for Judge Dread.
Eric Kripke: Good movie. That movie-
Joel Amos: Rocked.
Eric Kripke: Rocks.
Joel Amos: Yeah, big time. So, my question is actually, you’ve played a lot of different characters showing a lots of range, but I don’t think there’s been a character quite like Butcher out there for anybody to tackle. What was it initially that you liked about tackling that character? And now that you’re three seasons in, what is your favorite part of playing that character?
Karl Urban: Well, I think my initial attraction to Butcher, it was primarily in the first episode or two that I read. I identified this kind of Machiavellian character who had a charm and a charisma about him, but then was also absolutely, I guess, obsessed and driven to achieve revenge. So fundamentally, he is on a morally bankrupt road. And I was drawn into his ability to coerce all of those around him into helping him achieve his goals, which in a way is kind of like his own superpower. And then beyond that, I guess it was meeting with Eric (Kripke), and Evan (Goldberg, producer), and Seth (Rogen, also a producer). Then it was pretty clear to me within the first few minutes of meeting Kripke that, (a) he was a straight shooter and, (b) that we were going to have a lot of fun. From there I was like, “Sign me up.” The show has proven to be one of the most amazing experiences of my career. To be able to have the opportunity to explore a character, I guess, in a format or a medium that unfolds over multiple episodes, as opposed to just a short window in a feature film or something, you get the luxury of time. And with that, I think, come the rewards of connecting with the character.
Q: Karl, how was it exploring a more broken and deranged side of Butcher?
Karl Urban: I won’t lie, it was definitely a huge challenge. There was so much going on for Butcher this season, mentally, physically. And the scenes with Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) were both tender and sweet, and they brought out some compassion in Butcher that we haven’t quite seen before. Then also, ultimately, just the tragedy of that relationship, that was a challenge to play, and it was difficult to play. But I just feel that this season’s probably been my most challenging yet. I really enjoyed getting to explore the superpowers.
Q: Yes, Butcher gets “temp” superpowers, as we see in The Boys trailer. Why was now the right time for Butcher to go super to fight super?
Karl Urban: We’ve had this conversation with Kripke for a couple of seasons now, going, “There’s only so much we can play the blackmail card. We have to level the playing field.” And in true Kripke fashion, and with the writers, it’s like Butcher does get to level the playing field, but it comes at a cost. [It’s] a high personal cost in terms of pain and ramifications for everyone around. It really is that sort of moral dilemma, are you willing to turn yourself into a demon in order to defeat a demon? And if you do, what is the cost? And every character has to make that choice this season.
Q: There’s a lot of crazy stuff that’s happening this season. I mean, there’s always something crazy, but without too many spoilers, what are you most excited for audiences to see this season?
Eric Kripke: Look, there’s all that crazy in the show, obviously, and it is certainly completely bananas. But honestly, I’m most excited for people to see how these characters develop. They all go through such a ringer this year, and the stakes are so high, and it’s so much more intense that, to me, is the stuff that I think, ultimately, keeps people coming back. I mean, the shocking stuff is great and crazy in water-cooler moments. But I learned a long time ago that when you’re in TV you’re in the character business, and it’s my job to addict you to these characters. And if I can, the show will work. And if I can’t, the show won’t. All the actors, the whole cast, Karl and the entire cast, they so bring their A-game every season, but especially this season. Watching how much they throw themselves into their roles is something I’ll never take for granted.
Karl Urban: I’m most looking forward to an audience seeing which side of the fence characters will fall upon. Every character has a choice to make, whether they’re going to join the fight and which side they’re going to fight on. The wonderful thing about this season is that it puts characters together who haven’t worked together before. So, you get sort of interesting, fresh dynamism occurring, and just, I think, diving deeper into these characters and into the heart of it. And yeah, I’m super excited for audiences to see that.
Q: So, Eric, there’s a musical number in this season that, I admit, I freaking love that whole musical number. How long did it take to get that whole thing together? And did you have to edit anything out or something that just didn’t work with that musical number?
Eric Kripke: You’d be surprised, by how dark The Boys is, but I love Hollywood musicals. It’s a genre that I completely love. I was dying to get a musical number into the show. We actually tried in season two in the script stage, and it was going to be a number for Karen. But we never could quite pull it together, and it wasn’t right to the story, and it sort of fell away. So, I’ve always had my eye on doing it, and this season we sort of found the perfect story opportunity to do it. But then you actually have to pull it off, right? The composer… I mean, it has to go off like clockwork. The composer needs to write exactly the right length of this edit together. It’s a classic Hollywood song—but it has to edit it to exactly the right length.
Q: The prep on it must have been epic.
Eric Kripke: Then our choreographer, Amy, who was just brilliant, then had to get Karen (Kimiko Miyashiro, who plays Fukuhara) and Tomer (Capone, who plays Frenchie) for weeks, and weeks, and weeks, and weeks, and weeks of choreography, plus all the background dancers. Plus, that’s really Karen singing. I mean, not live, but we recorded it. But that’s really her, and she does all of her own singing this year. You have to bring all of these elements together. Then you have to shoot it, and you have to shoot it like a classic Hollywood musical with cranes and overhead shots. And Nelson, our director, did such a fabulous job with that. After we worked that hard on all of those elements, there was no way I was cutting any of it down, because we busted so much ass to pull that off, and I love it. It puts such a smile on your face. I love that, for as dark and cynical as the show can be, there are these relationships and little beating hearts in the show that are so pure, and I think Frenchie and Kimiko are one of them.