Posted in: Amazon Studios, Preview, TV, YouTube | Tagged: amazon, eric kripke, season 3, season 4, the boys, william shatner

The Boys: Eric Kripke Invites William Shatner to Join Him for Season 4

While we will readily admit that much of our focus over the past few days has been on Jensen Ackles (Supernatural), one of the things we respect about showrunner & EP Eric Kripke is that he always keeps one eye looking towards the future. And when that future involves none other than Star Trek icon William Shatner (who knows a thing or two about the future himself). Earlier today, Shatner tweeted Kripke to confirm if it was "that time of year again" (we'll avoid using the term for what it might be in case someone prefers that it not be used). Kripke followed that up with not only a confirmation and a show of appreciation but also… wait for it… an invitation to guest star on the fourth season (there's that "one eye looking towards the future" we were talking about). While our first instinct is to go with Shatner needing to play a supe, for some reason we could see him as a government official or someone affiliated with Vought International.

Now here's a look at what could be the start of a beautiful (Season 4, on-the-set) friendship:

With the third season of the streaming sensation set to leap tall screens in a single bound on June 3, here's a look at the official teaser trailer for Amazon's The Boys (followed by a breakdown along with our takeaways):

"Bones" by Imagine Dragons really works nicely with the trailer.

So now that the team has off-the-book government sanctioning, it looks like Butcher (Karl Urban) is looking to even the odds from a power standpoint in his growing war against Homelander (Antony Starr).

Speaking of… probably the only version of Homelander that's scarier than the one we saw last season is the one we're seeing this season: "The Ticking Timebomb Homelander."

Welcome back, Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell)! In fact, we see a montage of folks like Hughie (Jack Quaid), Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), and Mr. Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) in various moments of building pressure, too.

Hmmm… someone has a conspiracy board with some missing folks and a "Payback" reference or two posted to it…

Well, it looks like Butcher, Mother's Milk, and Frenchie (Tomer Capon) have something (though we're leaning towards "someone") in the trunk of a car. Another supe who got out of line?

A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) goes promotional and sells out an important social cause as a result. Meanwhile, we get a look at Miles Gaston Villanueva's Supersonic (previously teen hero Drummer Boy and Starlight's ex) in all of his on-stage glory in what looks to be the competition for a spot on The Seven.

Okay, we definitely didn't see the Ashley (Colby Minifie) bathroom stall sex scene coming at all (especially considering who she was with).

So it looks like Hughie and Starlight are still making it work… but for how long? At some point, will they find themselves on the opposite sides as Butcher escalates his war against all supes?

But Homelander and A-Train's relationship appears to be a little… tense.

Are we the only ones who think Cameron Coleman (Matthew Edison) is going to end up getting up-close-and-personal with that Homelander sex toy?

We really need to know what that Homelander amusement park person did to Voughtland's resident supe/performer Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) but it definitely did not end well for them.

Speaking of things not ending well, what went down that forced Kimiko aka The Female (Karen Fukuhara) to have to break Hughie's arm in a really, really bad way? And why are we not shocked that it didn't even cause Butcher to pause his coffee (we're assuming)?

Yes, apparently… Jensen Ackles's Soldier Boy sings!

We get some sweet swordplay from Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), who I feel will have a much bigger role that's being hidden right now.

Then we get a flashback to Soldier Boy's wartime actions, though it vibes more like something being filmed or staged.

Did you really think The Deep (Chace Crawford) had learned his lessons by now? And are you surprised that he gets his rocks off by having an Octopus watch him have sex?

Compound V has some very "The Exorcist"-like side effects, which Butcher demonstrates all over Hughie's face.

So it looks like Homelander hasn't exactly lost all of his followers, even after hooking up with a Nazi…

An interesting match-up, showing Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) and Ashley both having reached their limits- and we know the one person that they both have in common.

It looks like A-Train will have to address supes and racism head-on when Blue Hawk's (Nick Wechsler) Red, White & Blue Justice reality show begins targeting certain citizens of Trenton, New Jersey. A possible redemption arc for A-Train?

Who knew Black Noir could draw, let alone do a great take on Buster Beaver (of the popular family pizza restaurant chain).

So Homelander milking that cow… is that a disgusted or orgasmic look on his face?

You know that Frenchie/Kimiko dance number is going to be the talk of the entire season, right? We went back and watched it twice already.

More scenes of Soldier Boy in action, and while these appear real they also give off a very bad, very foreboding vibe.

Looks like Gunpowder (Sean Patrick Flanery) picked the wrong night to pick a fight with what looks like a Compound V-enhanced Butcher. Though if you're Butcher, it seems like it was a perfect time.

Yup, Kimiko still kicks righteous ass… and it looks like we have a new and very hairy "Laser Baby" running around.

And as the trailer ends with a symbolic (though we have a feeling it's actually some choice editing of an implied face-to-face that doesn't happen) stare-down between Butcher and Homelander, a third player enters the field. That's right… Soldier Boy has awakened!

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