Posted in: Amazon Studios, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV, YouTube | Tagged: A-Train, annie, Black Noir, bleeding cool, butcher, cable, Frenchie, Homelander, Hughie, lamplighter, Mother's Milk, Queen Maeve, season 2, shawn ashmore, starlight, stormfront, streaming, supes, television, the boys, The Deep, The Female, The Seven, tv, Vought

The Boys Season 2 Casts Shawn Ashmore as Lamplighter; "Radio Butcher"

When The Boys returns to Amazon Prime next month (September 4, with a three-episode premiere), Butcher (Karl Urban) and the crew are going to be dealing with a world that's slowly being overrun with supes. Even worse, those very same supes know that our heroes have a serious price on their heads after how everything played out last season. So with their backs against the wall and the public buying into the hype of having supes embedded with the military, there's only one thing for our Spice Girls-loving leader to do: fire up "Radio Butcher" and start dropping truth bombs about Vought and the supes.

But before we get to that, here's a little breaking news as we were writing this: Shawn Ashmore ("X-Men" film franchise) will be taking on the infamous role of "retired" The Seven member Lamplighter. Possessing the power of pyrokinesis (you have to appreciate the irony) that he wields via his staff, it was Lamplighter who Mallory (Laila Robins) mentioned as having killed her grandchildren. Serving as the reason the team originally broke up, Lamplighter's return will be the "wildcard" that ignites some painful memories and righteous anger.

"We were thrilled that Shawn — who is, let's be honest, an OG superhero — wanted to play the crucial part of Lamplighter," said showrunner Eric Kripke in a statement. "He brings so much depth, menace, and world-weary humanity to this former member of the Seven. And Shawn is a really good guy. We're grateful to have him join our bloody little family."

The Boys: A Look Ahead to Season 2

A more intense, more desperate Season 2 of The Boys finds Butcher (Karl Urban), Hughie (Jack Quaid), and the crew wanted by anything and everything with a superpower for the mess that was the first season. So what better time for our heroes to take the fight directly to Vought. Speaking of supes, it's not like Homelander (Antony Starr) has it any easier: Stormfront (Aya Cash) has her eyes on his leadership spot on The Seven- but her plans are much more "global" in nature.

The following second-season teaser picks up where things left off last time: a bloody Homelander meeting his son. From there, we have a bloody mess that finds A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) not doing so well; Homelander taking on Starlight (Erin Moriarty); Mr. Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) stepping up his presence, The Deep (Chase Crawford) still trying to not be so shallow; a quick look at Butcher's good boy Terror, and more.

Amazon Prime Video also released a preview introducing Stormfront in all of her social media glory. In the opening scene, we get to see Vought's PR campaign making the public feel comfy about supes in the military just before the set gets a visitor, much to the chagrin of Homelander, Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), and public relation powerhouse Ashley (Colby Minifie). But Stormfront's not just there to make a name for herself, because she's already done that. That's because Mr. Edgar just named her as the late, not-so-great Translucent's (Alex Hassell) replacement- and Homelander's not happy.

Speaking of Mr. Edgar, during "The Boys F**kin' Reunion," Kripke previewed the first three minutes of the second season opener (at around the 47:30 mark) that plans are moving forward to embed supes with the military, with the Vought CEO and Secretary of Defense Robert Singer (Jim Beaver) negotiating "collateral damage" while Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) takes care of a first-season threat.

In this clip, Butcher is reunited with the team- just in enough time to take off again to meet with a contact. To say that doesn't sit well with Hughie would be an understatement: he wants answers- and a new plan. Of course, there's no way that doesn't come across to Butcher as a challenge to his leadership. Yeah, Butcher isn't a big fan of being questioned. Following that, we see what happens post-whale impaling (yup): As The Deep mourns the loss of Lucy, he looks to convince Starlight that one day she might welcome him back on the team. Yeah, that's not gonna happen- until Stormfront steps in. Meanwhile, Homelander looks to go underground to continue the hunt:

On the side of The Boys, the series also stars Laz Alonso (The Mysteries of Laura) as second-in-command Mother's Milk, and Tomer Capon as unpredictable wild card Frenchie, a brutal warrior when who lives a life of no attachments or responsibilities. Also joining this season are Goran Visnjic, Claudia Doumit, Patton Oswalt, and a returning Malcolm Barrett.

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