Ahead of the second season of Amazon’s “The Boys” arriving on the service, showrunner Eric Kripke has revealed that a short film about Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher will be released shortly after the new season debuts on the streaming platform on September 4th.
Speaking with Collider, Kripke reveals that fans shouldn’t expect to see Butcher until the second episode of the new season. Originally the character’s only appearance in the first episode was a series of flashback sequences – but those were cut from the episode due to pacing issues.
The team has saved the footage, along with other extra material, and are assembling it into the short film titled “Butcher” which will depict certain events that will be referenced throughout the season.
Kripke also revealed that the show’s new season received a much bigger budget from Amazon which allows for more than just action and VFX improvements:
“It doesn’t just mean huge action scenes. It does mean some of those. We have some huge sequences. There are larger sea mammals. There is some bigger stuff for sure. But there is also a lot more intense stuff and scenes that were really difficult for the actors emotionally and require a bit more time. It’s not just the visuals that are epic; I think the emotions are a little more epic this season and that just takes some TLC with the actors.”
In the new season The Boys are on the run from the law, hunted by the Supes, and desperately trying to regroup and fight back against Vought. In hiding, Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) try to adjust to a new normal, with Butcher (Karl Urban) nowhere to be found.
Meanwhile, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) must navigate her place in The Seven as Homelander (Antony Starr) sets his sights on taking complete control. His power is threatened with the addition of Stormfront (Aya Cash), a social-media-savvy new Supe, who has an agenda of her own. On top of that, the Supervillain threat takes center stage and makes waves as Vought seeks to capitalize on the nation’s paranoia.
