Posted in: Amazon Studios, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: amazon, eric kripke, Jensen Ackles, preview, season 3, soldier boy, the boys, The Seven

The Boys Season 3: Jensen Ackles Gets His Eye of the Tiger Focused

So the last time we checked in on the fine folks over at showrunner & EP Eric Kripke and Amazon Prime's The Boys, the crew was sending tons of birthday love at The Deep's real-life counterpart Chace Crawford. But that was around mid-July. Since that time, things have been a little quiet on the intel front but that's looking to change in the next few days with the newest edition of VNN (Vought News Network, more on that in a minute). But because we were lulled into this false sense of cozy security, we nearly missed out on this gem/cry for help from Jensen Ackles aka Soldier Boy.

Sporting a pretty sweet season 3 baseball cap backwards (couldn't see what was on the front of it), Ackles enters the scene to the tune of Survivor's 1982 kick-ass anthem that's fueled many a drunken mistake and midlife crisis over the course of its nearly four decades of existence. That's right, it's "Eye of the Tiger" time! But for Ackles, it appears to be doing the job it was intended to do. Put you in that mindset that you know you got this. Here's hoping it helped with the week. Next stop? A full cast lip sync video. Let's make this happen, Kripke!

In the following first edition of VNN hosted by Matthew Edison's VNN anchor Cameron Coleman, viewers get some intel on how things have been since we last saw anyone. Homelander (Antony Starr) is MIA publically, the government's backing away from "supe soldiers," Dawn of The Seven" may be DOA, Vought covers up Blindspot's (Chris Mark) death, and Hughie (Quaid) now a senior analyst for Congresswoman Neuman (Claudia Doumit)- with Neuman now the director of the Office of Supe Affairs. In addition, Eagle the Archer keeps making his case while Starlight (Moriarty) is praised for lighting up the music charts. And we'll leave it to you to figure out who we think "OurSheet's Mickey Londale" is supposed to be.

Heading into the third season, viewers can look forward to seeing Laurie Holden (The Walking Dead, The Americans) in the recurring role of supe Crimson Countess, along with Sean Patrick Flannery (The Boondock Saints), Nick Wechsler (Revenge), and Miles Gaston Villanueva (Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders) as three original supes characters. Villaneuva plays Supersonic, rumored to possibly have a personal connection with Starlight (Erin Moriarty). Flannery will play the weapon expert-sounding Gunpowder, while Wechsler will be taking on the role of Blue Hawk.

Speaking with Deadline Hollywood earlier to talk all things The Boys, Kripke discussed what his goals are for the third season and a teaser about the series opener.

Expect America & Being An American to Be Key Season Themes: "We've been certainly a political and satirical show. We were really interested in exploring both the recent history of Vought, the company in the show, but also through that the recent history of the United States… We got really interested in the myths we tell ourselves, to feel that we're righteous, really exploring America itself as a myth.

A big element of the comics actually are flashbacks to World War II and Vietnam. I always really loved it because you got to see how the superhero phenomenon didn't just affect the present, but how it affected parts of the past as well. And so we have this character, Soldier Boy, played by Jensen Ackles, and he's been around since World War II and was the first Vought superhero. Through him and through his story, we're able to explore a lot of the history of the country, really.

I'd say in previous seasons the boogeyman for you to be scared of used to be, 'The terrorists are coming to get you.' And now it's sort of metastasized into, I think, a much more ominous, 'Your neighbor is coming to get you.' And that's scary to me, how politics are turning us on each other. So, we want to explore what it means to be in America, really."

Viewers Should Expect "Something Nobody Has Ever Seen Before" in S03E01: "Without giving away any spoilers, I was just in editing yesterday, and we're doing something here in the season 3 premiere that is not only I think the craziest thing we've ever done, it's got to be up there with the craziest thing anyone's ever done. Maybe it won't work. Who knows? But I'm just so high on this gag that we're pulling off. And it's certainly something nobody has ever seen before, probably for good reason. So all that's really exciting."

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