Inside ‘The Boys” Second Season: 20 Teases from Our Visit to the Set

The Boys and the Seven clashed in a serious way at the end of Season 1, and tensions have only escalated. “The stakes have been ratcheted up, because of what happened at the end of last season,” said Jack Quaid, who plays the Hughie, the Boys’ conscience. He continually establishes boundaries that the other Boys, particularly Billy Butcher, have no intention of respecting. That’s still the case. “There’s basically an all-out war happening. Figuring out how to be a good person and morally right within this war, where lines are blurred and crossed so often—that’s definitely something Hughie has to deal with this season.”

Butcher’s gone AWOL at the start of Season 2, meaning he left the rest of the Boys at the mercy of the Seven. Thankfully Hughie stepped in and stepped up—and that’s thrown the group’s dynamic out of whack. “Karl [Urban] and I have been having a blast playing this conflict,” said Quaid. “These two men: one who will stop at nothing to get his mission accomplished, and the other wants some of the same things but doesn’t want to cross a line. We’ve gone way deeper with that this season.”

This rift has had an effect on Butcher’s #2, Mother’s Milk. “[Mother’s Milk] is like a street therapist, like your bartender or your barber that you just find yourself talking to because this is somebody that you know and you trust,” said Laz Alonso, who returns as the mighty MM. “He’s the hub that keeps everybody together, because Butcher and Hughie this season, they’re at each other’s throats. So I’m trying to keep this guy from killing this guy, I’m trying to keep this guy from going that way, trying to keep Frenchie and Kimiko—it’s a fun role to play because, in many ways, he keeps the Boys together.”

Speaking of Frenchie and Kimiko—the connection teased in Season 1 is only going to get stronger in Season 2. “Frenchie and Kimiko, I feel, are twin flames,” teased Tomer Capon. “Soulmates.”

His frequent scene partner, Karen Fukuhara, elaborated: “The first time [Tomer Capon] and I met, we met with a few others of the cast. We went to a place to grab a drink. He was talking to me about this relationship of the twin flame. Which is—they’re not lovers, and they’re not just friends, they’re kind of just soulmates. But it’s a little deeper than the word ‘soulmate.’ It’s ‘twin flame’—as he says it. It’s just this connection that you feel with someone.”

Like the rest of the cast, the mysterious and murderous Female will get a deeper character arc in Season 2 that will reveal more of her past. “In Season 2, you get to see more of [the Female’s] backstory, what experiences she went through with the organization,” said Fukuhara. “Just a little reveal of the past. It all makes sense after a few episodes of Season 2.”

Karen Fukuhara also revealed the unique, but inspired, choice she made while prepping to play Kimiko before Season 1. “I wanted her to be very animalistic. When I first auditioned for the character, I went in for the scene where she’s in the basement, in a cage with the Filipino guards. To prepare for the season, I went to an animal shelter. I felt like that is kind of how she must have felt when she was contained and kidnapped. I did a lot of animal, creature work. I say that she’s a wolf when she’s baring teeth and ripping heads off. She also has a very different side to her. She can be kind. She doesn’t want to be this animal. In Season 2, there’s definitely a progression of her going from animal to more human. And eventually, girl, woman.”

We’re gonna learn a bit more about Frenchie in Season 2, including some of his backstory. This was major for Tomer Capon, who noticed that Frenchie’s past was never really explored in the comic—and the few times it was mentioned, Capon thinks Frenchie wasn’t being honest. “In the comic book, [Frenchie’s] telling this crazy story to Hughie about his past. I feel like he lied,” explained Capon. “He was definitely lying. He was fuckin’ with him, and I feel like he’s lying the whole way through. He’s just telling him shit because he heard MM tell him his origin story before.”

Okay—whether or not Frenchie cheats at games, we don’t know (but come on, probably). Tomer Capon, however, definitely does—and he admits it! “We try to prank each other all the time. Me and Mr. Karl Urban actually, we’re in the midst of this never-ending backgammon game, since Season 1,” said Capon. “We just played it yesterday, like 50 or 60 games. So sometimes when I’m on a losing streak, if he will go and shoot a scene, if he is on the winning side, let’s say I will adjust the table a little bit to my favor. Then he’ll come back.”

The cheating leads to something positive, though: “But actually, that’s a funny thing between us. I love when Karl has his tough or action or angry scenes, and I’m winning. I feel like I’m doing him a favor because he’s getting [claps angrily]. Then he goes and does a scene and it’s beautiful. And I say, ‘That’s me. That’s me. No problem, Karl. Percentages later on.'”

Life has never been glamorous for the Boys, but now it’s downright filthy. That’s because they’re hiding out with some of Frenchie’s criminal buds, the Haitian Kings. “They’re hiding, they’re taking cover with some dangerous drug dealer group. That’s where we find them,” said Capon of the start of Season 2. “They’re underground, undercover, running for lives. It’s survival.”

Quaid revealed that Hughie—of course—has quite possibly the worst spot in the worst hideout in history: “It’s a really run-down jewelry shop in Queens or Flatbush. Beneath that is the basement for the Hatian Kings. I’m in a cot in the janitor’s closet.”

The new digs don’t sit well with Mother’s Milk, said Alonso. “[Mother’s Milk] doesn’t like them. It’s dirty down there. There are rats. It smells. It’s not sexy. They got their little altars and stuff going on—he’s not about that. He’s a Christian man. Last season at the Believe Expo, he felt right at home. He’s agnostic, I think. This is Frenchie’s world. [Frenchie is] morphable. He’s an anything goes type of guy. [Mother’s Milk is] not about that life. So we made sure that in the hide-out, Mother’s Milk’s area was very tidy, very clean. He’s got his Purel, his Wet-Naps.”

Mother’s Milk’s obsession with cleanliness—TBH, a very prescient character choice!—falls right in line with actor Laz Alonso. “I’m OCD too. [Showrunner Eric Kripke] was telling me about different things that he wanted to bring out this season, and one thing was this Purel gag. I opened up my bag and there was the Purel, with aloe! That’s Mother’s Milk’s thing, ‘with aloe.’ We just started laughing and talking about my OCD and how can we bring some more of this into the character. I just started pulling shit out of my bag, and one of the items in my bag was Wet Naps. I’m big on Wet Naps. I got the anti-bacterial ones for the plane.” Everyone, follow Mother’s Milk’s lead, please!

The music of Billy Joel plays a big part in Season 2, which you know if you’ve read our review. Jack Quaid talked about how Hughie’s favorite artist came to play such a pivotal role in setting the season’s tone: “Hughie’s favorite musician is Billy Joel. We got a lot of Joel this season, which is great. [Billy Joel] scores some nice Hughie moments, hopefully. I just think that’s such a cool thing for Eric to do, because that all came out of improv. It was a scene with Karl and I at the bar, where he’s telling me to go put the bug in Seven Tower. I say, ‘You know who my favorite musician is? James Taylor.’ And Eric was like, ‘Make it a list. Make it James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, Billy Joel.’ So then, later, when Robin says to me, ‘What are we going to do, just spend all night staring up at that dumb Billy Joel poster?’ That used to be Led Zeppelin! And now, Billy Joel is my whole character. It all came out of a little thing that Eric and I just came up with, and now he’s factoring it in in such a major way.”

Of all the superheroes, none went through the Season 1 wringer quite like Starlight. She found out that her superhero dreams were really nightmares, thanks to the illegal and dangerous actions of teammates like The Deep and Homelander. In Season 2, Starlight is a bit more worn-down than we’ve seen her before—with good reason. “I think that Season 2 is essentially Annie grappling with the borderline PTSD that a lot of people would go through when they found out that the core values that they’ve built their personality on, and their morals on, are stripped to their core and end up being invalid,” said Moriarty. “The question is: will she overcome that to find herself again? And be able to trust again? And have relationships again? Have a family again?”

After the Season 1 finale, Starlight’s fate is now inextricably tied to the Boys’. Season 2 finds Starlight playing a dual role as a member of the super-sketchy Seven and the Boys. Now, not only does Starlight feel the pull towards the Boys’ cause—so does actress Erin Moriarty.

“As I’ve played this role and spent more time in her shoes, I feel more like I am kind of one with Annie and Starlight,” said Moriarty. “I’ve become more and more resentful of Vought and the supes and that whole world. I think that it’s also reflective of Annie’s trajectory and her camaraderie with Hughie. Initially, her objective is to save the world. It shifts, and saving the world then kind of happens to involve seeking justice on behalf of herself towards Vought. So I think overall, Erin and Annie are inching closer and closer to the world of the Boys.”

That means that Moriarty also gets to spend more time on set with the actors who play the Boys—like Laz Alonso. “She has a lot more fun as a Boy. Don’t let her tell you otherwise. She’s told me, she’s like, ‘Oh my god, Laz! I just have so much fun with all of you guys!’ And Antony [Starr] hates it. He fuckin’ hates it!”

Moriarty did not disagree. “I was really excited to work with Mother’s Milk, because I’ve never had a scene with him [before Season 2]. Just the idea of having a scene with a character who feels like they’re on a different show was really cool. And then we worked together, and I just loved it. It’s because we’re working on a show that’s a comedy, but can also get quite serious. It’s kind of important, between takes, to maintain a certain level of levity. He’s just a goofball.”

Season 1 concluded with three shocking reveals: Butcher’s wife Becca is still alive, she has a child, and that child is Homelander’s. You know those bombshells are going to leave a few craters in Season 2, especially the child-sized one. “[Homelander] has a tumultuous relationship with this child in Season 2,” said Moriarty. “At times, when that relationship [with his child] is dipping, and Annie is maybe at the peak of defiance, she definitely is going to feel his wrath.”

The most mysterious member of The Seven will get even more screentime in Season 2. “There is somebody under that mask,” said Nathan Mitchell, the actor who is literally the somebody under Black Noir’s mask. “From the outside, it looks like there’s a lot of armor. It’s kind of impenetrable, but he puts himself in harm’s way a lot. As we’ve seen from Season 1, he’s the one dude Homelander trusts. Homelander needs someone to get their hands dirty, to handle business. You’ll see a few missions from Black Noir this season, and in those missions, he might be in some pretty dangerous circumstances that may or may not damage parts of his suit. What happens when his suit gets damaged?”

Sure, Black Noir is the Seven’s resident Batman-type—but Nathan Mitchell actually sees Black Noir as a mixture of half of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. “Black Noir is a combination of Raphael and Michelangelo. When he’s fighting, he’s all Raph. He’s all badass. He’ll cut you up in a second and not think twice about it. But then when he’s not fighting, there’s this goofy, awkward, random figure.”

A lot of work goes into making sure the Seven look properly heroic—we’re talking months of work. “We spent five months putting [the Black Noir suit] together,” said Mitchell. “And then after that, it was still in adjustment period because making it look good is one thing, and then making it functional and comfortable is another thing. Initially, it was tough to wear. That’s just because they’re trying to figure it out, and figure out what works for you. Now we’re at a place where it’s super comfortable. I love it.”

The Boys was a huge success for Amazon when it premiered last summer, and it’s amassed a following that includes romcom icon Meg Ryan. Of course it does—her son plays Hughie! “[My parents] love it, it’s crazy,” said Quaid, whose father is the actor Dennis Quaid. “People are always surprised when I say that my parents are really into the most fucked up shit. They’re both massive fans of it. I brought my mom to the premiere at Tribeca. Just watching her face when Robin died was one of the greatest moments of my life.”

Still, Quaid is a bit surprised that his mother likes a show wherein her son is constantly covered in blood. “The fact that my mom liked it as much as she did, that was surprising because I, her son, am in constant peril. So I didn’t expect her to be super into it. I remember when I was in high school, I did a production of Godspell where I was literally crucified in front of her. She was like, ‘I’m not okay with this.'”

It’s not just family members that are obsessed with the show. Fans have taken their interactions with the show’s stars, like Jack Quaid and Karl Urban, to ridiculous extremes. “There’s been a thing with Karl Urban and I where, last season out of nowhere, he brought me a birthday cake when it wasn’t my birthday,” explained Quaid. “At dinner, he made everyone sing happy birthday to me. It was very weird. It was a light prank that was taken very seriously. Later, a few months down the line, we were having lunch on set. I made the production make these birthday cakes. It wasn’t his birthday at all. I had everyone sing happy birthday to him. It was amazing. Now, we’ve told that story at a few conventions, me and Karl. People are coming up to me with birthday cakes out of nowhere. We were at the Dragon Con, and someone—I have a booth right next to Karl—someone came up to me [with a birthday cake] and was like, ‘I love the show, and ya got caked.’ Which is what you say, I guess? Karl was like, ‘Hey everybody! It’s Jack’s birthday!’ And the entire hall sang happy birthday to me. It’s never my birthday. My birthday’s April 24—if it’s not that date, it’s not my birthday. The fact that people are taking pranks that the cast does to each other, and are doing it to us in the real world? That was a whole other level to me. I was like, ‘Okay, I guess we struck some sort of chord with people. This was really cool.'”

When you have a Season 1 that’s as next-level as The Boys Season 1, it’s natural to wonder how things can get more outrageous. Laz Alonso wondered that himself—and his worries were quickly assuaged by the Season 2 scripts. “I don’t know how the fuck we were able to outdo Season 1. We got more wow moments in Season 2 than we did in any episode of Season 1. And there are several—I would say there are at least three season finales. Out of eight episodes, there are at least three season finales, which I am so proud of. Big episodes. Big ridiculous episodes.”

We already know that The Boys is getting a Season 3, one that will feature Supernatural star Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy. Laz Alonso has very specific ideas about what he wants to see in Season 3: “[Season 2], we did good. Sony showed us love, Amazon showed us love, got a bit more money per episode. We got some more stuff up our sleeve. So I’m hoping that if we get another season, fingers crossed, we can do ‘Herogasm.’ Put that out there!”

For the curious: Herogasm is the name of a 2009 Boys limited series, which follows the Boys as they infiltrate the top secret, Vought-sponsored superhero party wherein every superhero on the payroll gets their super-freak on in the most debaucherous ways imaginable. Season 3 has to outdo Season 2 somehow…!

Stream The Boys on Prime Video