Posted in: Amazon Studios, Opinion, Preview, streaming, TV, TV, YouTube | Tagged: amazon, prime video, season 4, the boys

The Boys: Vought+ Eyes Warner Bros. Discovery/HBO Max Business Model

Okay, we know it may seem like we praise Amazon and Showrunner & EP Eric Kripke's The Boys a lot. Well, one of the reasons that we do is that it's an excellent series that keeps getting better with each season. Another reason is that we appreciate the between-seasons "meta marketing" (we made that up) that the marketing team executes masterfully, keeping viewers invested in the series as production on a new season rolls along. And then there's the social media team and the work they do with the "meta marketing" team to offer us posts that do an amazing job of twisting the knife in a great way on what the current pop culture "hot topic" is at the time. Like the "news" today that Vought International is "restructuring" its streaming service from Vought++ to Vought+ (yup, its original name). But that's not all because, for $119/month, subscribers can now look forward to seeing their favorite apps unbundled and 35% of the streamer's film library disappear (probably as a tax write-off because Vought International is going to have to spend a ton cleaning up Soldier Boy's mess). If all of this is sounding vaguely familiar to what's been going on with Warner Bros. Discovery and HBO Max, then… well… we're right there with you. We're not saying that's who they're targeting, just to be clear. But if we were placing a bet…

Here's a look at Vought rolling out their new streaming pricing & platforming plan for Vought+, where apparently less is more (for subscribers to pay for):

The Boys Showrunner/EP Eric Kripke Discusses Season 4 & Beyond

In July 2022, Kripke covered a ton of topics in his interview with Variety (check out the complete interview with a ton of other details here), with highlights focused on Butcher (Urban), Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Soldier Boy (Ackles), and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell):

So Should We Be Expecting Ryan to Go "Brightburn"? "Ryan is a really important piece of the story because he's half Becca, half Homelander. If Butcher can figure out how to get his shit together and get the kid back, that could be the single best weapon they have against Homelander. But vice versa. If Homelander wins the kid over, that's apocalyptic because then there's two Homelanders. It's like a child drama with apocalyptic stakes. It's like 'Kramer vs. Kramer' meets 'Avengers: Endgame.' So that will be a really rich story moving forward."

How Will Butcher React to Knowing He's on a "Crazy Ticking Clock"? "He's got so much to do that he hasn't done. And everything that he's tried to do up to this point has exploded in the most horrible way. What we find fascinating about the question we're asking about Butcher is, is he self-aware enough to realize that he's causing his own misfortune? Is he self-aware enough to actually see if he can change? Those are some of the interesting conversations we're starting to have for Season 4."

Maeve's Leaving Will Make Things Tougher for Starlight… at Least Until She Returns? "I don't think 'The Boys' will end without Maeve showing up again… We needed a way to sort of gracefully get Maeve out of the show, let her head for the exit. Obviously, we didn't want to kill her and fall into the tropes of gay characters and bisexual characters in shows getting killed. We wanted to do the opposite of that and send her off and give her a happy ending with Elena. The best way to do that was, well, take away her powers, and she's not useful in the fight anymore. And we did that because Annie can't really grow into her own until all the characters that are around to protect her are gone. It was important for her next step for her mentor characters and her protector characters to go away. And so it's only up to Annie. There's no one left but Annie. So what is she going to do?"

Black Noir Is Dead! Long Live Black Noir! "Without spoiling anything, I will just say this: When you have a silent character in a mask, he's reasonably easy to recast… If you notice in the flashbacks of this season, it was a different actor [Fritzy-Klevans Destine], and perhaps the reason we did that is so that if we were to recast Noir, we could recast him with Nathan [Mitchell, the original Black Noir actor].

Just Because Soldier Boy's on Ice Doesn't Mean He Can't Return… Right? "The old TV adage is like, never kill anyone unless you really, really have to. Never close a door, open a window. We'll all have to wait and see, but I can't imagine the series ending without Soldier Boy making another appearance."

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