As ‘The Boys’ ends, actors reveal their craziest stunts and what’s next for Vought

LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� After five seasons of death, depravity and digs at the capitalistic superhero-industrial complex, Wednesday.

But the gutsy (in more than one way) Vought Cinematic Universe is not coming to an end, with two spinoffs on the horizon at Amazon’s Prime Video: 鈥淰ought Rising鈥� and 鈥淭he Boys: Mexico.鈥� 鈥淰ought Rising鈥� is due out in 2027 and traces the origins of the titular corporation’s 鈥渟upe鈥� program, bringing back fan favorite Soldier Boy

鈥淚 mean, look, you hope it鈥檚 received well. We don鈥檛 necessarily know just yet, my fingers are crossed,鈥� Ackles said at 鈥淭he Boys鈥� series finale’s premiere Tuesday in Los Angeles, praising 鈥淭he Boys鈥� cast and crew for building a remarkable fanbase. 鈥淪o, I鈥檓 hoping that we can just capitalize on that as much as we can and that they will go with us on this new journey.鈥�

How last season of 鈥楾he Boys鈥� came together

Showrunner Eric Kripke said the final season 鈥� in which Homelander essentially takes control of the United States 鈥� was based on history but developed 鈥渦nsettling鈥� parallels to current events. adapted from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic book series, which ran from 2006-2012.

鈥淲e were looking at what happens in countries that have authoritarian creep, like what happens in Eastern Europe or South America or Germany,鈥� Kripke said, pointing to leaders building statues of themselves, asserting they’re ruling by divine right and building internment camps. 鈥淎nd the fact that all of these things happened before we even aired, we genuinely thought we were doing something a little out there. And it ended up sort of becoming reality in a way that鈥檚 not great for reality.鈥�

He does see an upside to on-the-nose satire.

鈥淚 actually feel like if there鈥檚 any silver lining to get out of this dumpster fire, it鈥檚 that especially young people might see a golden statue of Trump and say, 鈥極h wait, I saw something like that on 鈥淭he Boys鈥� and it was so ridiculous that this is completely ridiculous,鈥欌€� he said. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 real value in that kind of satire of just pointing out how silly it all is.鈥�

Daveed Diggs felt 鈥渧ery privileged鈥� as Oh Father, a supe leading a church that evangelizes Homelander as God.

鈥淧eople aren鈥檛 leaning on satire as much as I think we should in these times. You know when stuff gets the hardest, the darkest, when fascism is the most present, that鈥檚 when satire is really supposed to kick off,鈥� he said.

For those who have been there from the start, saying goodbye to their characters was emotional. Kimiko, said her final scene was with Erin Moriarty and Karl Urban (who plays Billy Butcher, leader and sometimes bane of The Boys).

鈥淚 got anxious and it鈥檚 hard for me to let go,鈥� she said 鈥� so the assistant director had to trick her into thinking it wasn’t the final shot so she wouldn’t cry during the take.

Moriarty plays the supe Starlight/Annie January 鈥� a former member of the Homelander-led group The Seven who joins The Boys in the resistance 鈥� and strove to maintain the character’s humanity throughout the show.

鈥淚鈥檒l just miss playing this badass female who has this level of strength that is totally defined by her humanity and her flaws, as opposed to… being this invincible superhero. It鈥檚 the definition of the humanity behind that superhero that really makes her who she is,鈥� she said.

The wildest stunts and the memes

Emotions aside, it wouldn’t without out-there, gross-out stunts and profane lines just waiting to be turned into memes.

At the season’s March premiere in Rome, Hughie Campbell, a gadget-store employee who gets pulled into the vigilante group after his girlfriend is thoughtlessly killed by a supe 鈥� described the show as a 鈥渇unhouse mirror, distorted slightly, version鈥� of the world.

鈥淎s much as we try to do our best to add a little bit of what our art can do to influence reality, reality is still crazier than fiction. Reality still out-crazies us, and we鈥檙e a crazy show,鈥� Laz Alonso, who plays The Boys member Marvin/Mother’s Milk, said in Rome. Some of that crazy?

鈥淲hat am I doing with my life?鈥� Jessie T. Usher, who plays superspeeder A-Train, thought to himself in Season 1 while filming a scene where his girlfriend sucks on his toe.

鈥淚 just remember sitting there and it鈥檚 like a whole thing and like the makeup team is coming in in between takes and they got wet wipes and they鈥檙e wiping my toe down. And I was just sitting there and I was like, 鈥榃here did I go wrong in my life? I felt like I was on the right path and now they鈥檙e prepping my toe to be sucked,鈥欌€� Usher recalled in March. 鈥淚 hate foot stuff.鈥�

And what about the big man himself, Antony Starr, who plays the seemingly all-powerful but curiously stunted Homelander? He made a discovery about himself on 鈥淕en V,鈥� the college-set spinoff that was recently canceled after two seasons.

“It was on 鈥楪en V鈥� when he (Kripke) put me up in the air, 80 feet or whatever it was. And I found out that I鈥檓 actually terrified of heights. Swore like a truck driver,鈥� Starr recalled during the March junket.

Starr’s Homelander 鈥� a far cry from the brown-haired New Zealander with his blond hair, American flag-themed suit and perpetually twitching (laser-enabled) eyes 鈥� something that Starr encouraged Kripke to incorporate into the show.

鈥淎nt had this idea of, like, 鈥楲et鈥檚 have memes be the real thing that get to me.鈥� He pitched it. I was like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 hilarious,鈥欌€� Kripke said in March.

鈥淭he real problem is memes,鈥� Starr said.

___

Jaleru reported from London. Associated Press journalists Paolo Santalucia in Rome and Mallika Sen in New York contributed reporting.

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