The Boys is still the best superhero show on TV in season 2

(Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

Spoilers for season 1 of The Boys follow, with some mild spoilers for season 2, too.

We've seen three episodes of The Boys season 2, and in many ways it's reassuringly familiar stuff: you've got comically overblown violence, superheroes behaving badly, and Karl Urban swearing in an accent that fluctuates wildly between cockney and Australian, with no regard for geographical borders.

In The Boys season 1, the titular group waged an underground war against The Seven – a corporate-owned group of superheroes who behaved amorally with no consequences. Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) joined The Boys because his girlfriend was murdered by one of The Seven, but that became complicated by his later relationship with Starlight (Erin Moriarty), the superpowered team's newest member.

Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), meanwhile, had his own axe to grind with evil Superman-alike Homelander (Antony Starr), The Seven's leader. Butcher was under the impression that his wife had been murdered by the dickish all-American hero, who has an eyebrow-raising fondness for breast milk. 

The season finale, however, showed that she was actually still alive – and that she'd had Homelander's son in the ensuing years since Billy last saw her. The scene was seemingly set for a confrontation at the start of season 2.

The thing is, it doesn't really go that way in this new set of episodes. There's a little wait until Butcher fully rejoins the group – and the show picks up some time later, with the gaps only partially filled in. 

In The Boys season 2, the group is no longer underground. They're a known quantity and wanted by law enforcement, and Homelander has them in their sights. 

Meanwhile, Vought – the company that owns The Seven and is responsible for the drug that gave them their superpowers – has a new leader in Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito, who seems to play the villain in everything now). Edgar asserts power over The Seven from behind the scenes, putting Homelander in his place at the start of this season. 

Bleak, but entertaining

(Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

The Boys season 2 struggles to keep the relationship thread between Hughie and Starlight as interesting as before, based on the three episodes we were sent for review, which is a slight shame. This was one of the strongest elements of season 1, but it's harder for the writers to put them in the same place this time, given that The Boys are in hiding. 

That said, The Boys is still exceptionally good at presenting the different perspectives and power struggles of its characters. Even the egotistical members of The Seven that you know have done terrible things, like A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), or indeed the reprehensible Homelander himself, have their own gray areas that make them unpredictably exciting to watch.

It helps on The Seven side of things that their new 'hero', Stormfront (Aya Cash), has been added to shake things up, and she instantly irritates the other members. Her addition to the team is against Homelander's wishes, which is surely leading to a clash between the two down the line.

Meanwhile, shamed and excommunicated member of The Seven, The Deep (Chace Crawford) – better known as the show's gross version of Aquaman – is the subject of a side plot where he tries to find his self worth. It's largely in line with where he was at the end of season 1: trying to rehabilitate, but embarrassing himself.

This season also finds new ways to provoke tension between The Boys themselves, too, with Hughie and Billy's relationship at a particularly low ebb. 

The Boys' tonal range is fascinating – so much attention is paid to characterization and dialogue that the show's comical violence always feels like a background attraction, despite the series having exceptional effects work. Supporting characters who didn't get much attention in season 1 get a little more of the spotlight here, too. 

Saying much more about The Boys season 2 would spoil it. If like us, though, the first season of the show surprised you by being a bloodbath with heart, that hasn't changed here. Enough about this cynical world of superheroes has moved on, however, to make the threat level feel higher.

Don't miss out on the return of Amazon Prime Video's best drama. 

The Boys season 2 releases on September 4 on Amazon Prime Video, with new episodes rolling out weekly until October 9.

Samuel Roberts

Samuel is a PR Manager at game developer Frontier. Formerly TechRadar's Senior Entertainment Editor, he's an expert in Marvel, Star Wars, Netflix shows and general streaming stuff. Before his stint at TechRadar, he spent six years at PC Gamer. Samuel is also the co-host of the popular Back Page podcast, in which he details the trials and tribulations of being a games magazine editor – and attempts to justify his impulsive eBay games buying binges.

Latest in Amazon Prime Video
Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve dressed regally and on horseback in The Wheel of Time season 3
'There's a reason why we do it': The Wheel of Time showrunner responds to fans who are still upset over the Prime Video show's plot alterations
Cece Carroway (Sara Silva), Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) in Cruel Intentions.
Cruel Intentions has been canceled after one season on Prime Video, but I'm not surprised by its cruel fate
Pia holding a camera and smiling at something off camera in Picture This.
Picture This is Prime Video's #1 movie, but it hasn't captured everyone – here are 3 more rom-coms to watch instead with over 85% on Rotten Tomatoes
Moiraine using her magic in The Wheel of Time season 3
The Wheel of Time season 3 proves that Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show isn't the only high fantasy heavyweight worth watching on Prime Video
A group of people, including Rand and Moiraine, standing on a sandy cliff in The Wheel of Time season 3
'It's bigger, bolder, and bleaker': The Wheel of Time season 3 cast teases what to expect from the Prime Video show's most daunting chapter yet
A TV in a living room with the language settings displayed
Prime Video is testing AI dubbing to make movies and shows more accessible – and might avoid the backlash that hit Netflix
Latest in News
Google Gemini Robotics
Gemini just got physical and you should prepare for a robot revolution
Lilo & Stitch Official Trailer
Stitch crashes into earth and steals our hearts with the first trailer for the live-action Lilo & Stitch
GTA 5
GTA Online publisher Take-Two is gunning for a black market that’s basically heaven for cheaters
Y2K cast looking shocked
Y2K has a streaming release date on Max, so you can witness the technology uprising at home
The Discovery+ homepage
Discovery+ just got a big update to its streaming app that makes it more like Max – here are 5 great new features to try
Two Android phones on a green and blue background showing Google Messages
Struggling with slow Google Messages photo transfers? Google says new update will make 'noticeable difference'