The Boys – Season 3 (2022)

🦅 America’s favorite psychopath finally gets competition. 🦅


—

⚠️ Content Warning ⚠️

Before we even start, this season needs a warning.

This show is already known for being violent, but Season 3 really cranks the dial up. Expect extreme gore, exploding bodies, graphic violence, disturbing sexual content, and some moments that are just flat-out uncomfortable to watch.

And yes — like the previous seasons — the show continues to lean into political satire. It’s baked into the DNA of the series at this point.

If you’ve seen the first two seasons, you already know what you’re walking into.

But Season 3 definitely pushes the envelope.


—

🎥 Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

—

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

Season 3 is weird for me.

Because on one hand, I had a lot of fun watching it. There are some genuinely great moments here, some insane sequences, and some performances that absolutely carry the season.

But on the other hand, this is the first season where I started noticing cracks.

Not giant cracks yet.

But cracks.

Season 1 for me was a straight-up masterpiece. That season was a 10/10. Everything about it worked — the shock value, the writing, the tension, Homelander being absolutely terrifying, and the entire world feeling fresh and unpredictable.

Season 2 was still great, but you could start seeing the structure of the show a bit more.

Season 3 is where I started noticing that some of the writing decisions weren’t landing as well as they used to.

And I think a lot of that comes down to a few things:

• Some characters start looping instead of evolving.
• The show starts telling us things about characters instead of showing them.
• And Homelander — while still dangerous — starts feeling a little less intimidating than he used to.

Now don’t get me wrong.

This season still has plenty of great stuff in it.

But it’s also the first time I walked away thinking:

“Okay… something feels different.”


—

Character & Actor Rundown

Homelander (Antony Starr)

Antony Starr is still phenomenal.

Let me make that clear.

If Homelander feels different this season, it is not because of Antony Starr. The man is still giving an incredible performance.

The difference is how the character is written and framed this season.

In the first two seasons, Homelander was terrifying because he had to hide who he really was.

He had to smile.
He had to pretend to be the perfect hero.
He had to maintain that public image.

And behind closed doors?

That’s when the monster came out.

That’s what made him so scary.

You never knew when the mask would slip.

Season 3 changes that dynamic a little bit.

Homelander starts becoming more open about how unhinged he is. He’s more emotional, more explosive, more reactive.

He’s still mean.

He’s still powerful.

But the mystery that made him chilling in the earlier seasons starts fading a bit.

Early Homelander felt like a ticking time bomb.

Season 3 Homelander feels more like a bomb that’s already going off.

Still dangerous.

Just a different type of scary.


—

Billy Butcher (Karl Urban)

Karl Urban continues to absolutely nail this role.

Butcher is still one of the most entertaining characters on the show.

But this is also where I started getting a little tired of his arc.

Because Butcher’s whole storyline still revolves around one thing:

“I want Homelander dead.”

And while that motivation made perfect sense early on, by Season 3 it starts feeling like he’s stuck in a loop.

He makes extreme choices.

He pushes everyone away.

Then he pulls back.

Then the cycle starts again.

It’s still entertaining, but you start noticing the pattern.


—

Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles)

Okay, let’s talk about the big new character this season.

Soldier Boy.

First off — Jensen Ackles is good in this role. He commits to the character and clearly has fun playing him.

Also he’s basically playing a douchbag version of Captain America, thats the whole shtick.

But here’s the weird issue I kept running into.

The show constantly tells us:

“This guy is horrible.”

“This guy is the worst.”

“This guy was an absolute monster back in the day.”

But we don’t really see enough of that firsthand.

We hear about it from other characters.

We hear stories about what he did.

But the show doesn’t give us that one defining moment where you go:

“Okay yeah… this guy is irredeemable.”

And there’s another factor here.

Jensen Ackles is just… naturally charismatic.

Anyone who watched Supernatural knows this.

Dean Winchester was sarcastic, arrogant, reckless, and kind of a jerk sometimes — but he was still lovable.

That charm carries over here.

So even when Soldier Boy is being a jerk, he doesn’t fully land as someone I’m supposed to absolutely loathe.

He comes across more like:

A bitter relic from another era.

A guy stuck in an outdated mindset.

But not on the same level of pure sadism as someone like Homelander.

And that contrast makes it harder to buy the show’s claim that he’s the “worst of the worst.”

But let us quickly talk about the fake promotion for season 3, it has got to be some of the best promotion for Soldier Boy, makes me wish these fake promotions were in the show.

First promotion, a fake PSA video, say what now?

If taking drugs is uncool, I must be the most uncool mother motherfucker on this planet. Hahahahahah fuck you.

Second promotion, Soldier Boy singing a song on stage. Uhhhh say what?

Third promotion, a video of him in the war. Yes we get it hes pretty much douchbag Captain America.

I told y’all, this promotion is some the best, its absurd

—

👍 Pros

• Some genuinely insane action sequences

• Jensen Ackles adds a fun new energy to the cast

• Antony Starr continues to crush it as Homelander

• The show still knows how to shock the audience when it wants to

• Homelander still proves to be a piece of shite.

—

👎 Cons

• Some character arcs start looping instead of evolving
• The show tells us things about Soldier Boy instead of showing them
• Homelander begins losing some of the mysterious intimidation he had earlier


—

Final Thoughts

Season 3 is still a good season of television.

I had fun with it.

There are memorable moments, strong performances, and plenty of wild scenes that remind you why this show became so popular in the first place.

But it’s also the first season where I started noticing the formula a bit more.

The characters feel a little more stuck.

Some ideas feel a little underdeveloped.

And the tension that made the earlier seasons feel unpredictable isn’t quite as sharp.

It’s still good.

Just not quite as great as what came before.


—

⭐ Rating: 7.5 / 10


—

🚨 Spoiler Section 🚨

Alright.

From here on out we’re talking about major plot points.

So if you haven’t watched Season 3 yet, stop reading now.


—

Black Noir

One of the moments that really didn’t sit right with me was Black Noir’s death.

After everything we learn about his past with Soldier Boy, it feels like the story is building toward some kind of confrontation between them.

And then…

Homelander just kills him.

It feels abrupt and kind of anticlimactic considering how long the character had been around.


—

The Finale Problem

Now we gotta talk about the big finale decision.

Butcher spends the entire season saying he’ll do anything to kill Homelander.

Anything.

That’s the whole deal he makes with Soldier Boy.

But when the moment finally comes — and Ryan is involved — Butcher suddenly flips.

Now, emotionally, I understand why he does it.

Ryan is Becca’s son.

But the way the season builds up the “no matter the cost” mentality makes that last-minute reversal feel a bit rushed.

Instead of feeling like powerful character growth, it kind of feels like the story resetting the board.


—

Homelander’s Public Kill

The final scene where Homelander kills someone in front of a crowd is one of the most important moments of the season.

Because it shows that the mask is officially slipping.

People see him commit murder.

And instead of turning on him…

They cheer.

It’s a huge turning point for the character.

But it also changes the type of villain he is.

Early Homelander was terrifying because he had to hide his true nature.

Now?

He’s starting to realize he might not have to hide it anymore.

And that shift changes the entire dynamic going forward.


—

Season 3 might not be perfect.

But it’s still one wild ride.

Even if some of the cracks are starting to show.

Anyways hope y’all enjoy today’s review.

Why am I reviewing the four seasons now? Because that’s the show is about to come to an end with season five, here’s the official trailer to get y’all hyped.

See y’all all eventually for the season five review. Once this all airs and I can binge it.