The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has revealed which iconic DC superhero he still needs to satirize in the R-rated TV series.
Ahead of The Boys season 3‘s release on June 3, Kripke told TechRadar (and other media outlets) via a roundtable discussion that he was looking to find a way to parody Batman in the popular Prime Video show.
The Dark Knight may seem like an odd choice for Kripke to choose. After all, the legendary DC superhero, who has had his fair share of movie adaptations down the years – including Matt Reeves’ critically acclaimed The Batman film – is the chief inspiration behind Black Noir, one of The Boys’ most powerful Supes. Both characters wear all-black suits, do their best work in the shadows and as stealthily as possible, have similar abilities, and aren’t afraid to dole out punishment (in more life-ending terms where Black Noir is concerned, too) when it’s necessary.
However, Kripke believes that there’s room to include another Batman-esque character in The Boys in a future season. As he explains, there are other parts of the Batman mythos that are ripe for exploration and mocking in the show, albeit using a different character.
“[In season 3], we have an Ant-Man character and, obviously, Soldier Boy is a Captain America reference,” Kripke says. “When we’re coming up with heroes, we’re always thinking ‘what are the archetypal heroes that we haven’t done yet.
“The one we haven’t figured out yet is Batman – he remains a character we still need to touch on. And we should, because he’s basically a capitalist nightmare who was oppressing lower classes of criminals just to advance his family’s wealth, so you’d think we should get into that! Actually, I think I’m going to get into that right now.”
If Kripke and his fellow writer on The Boys find a way to infuse another character with Batman’s persona and other thematic elements, it’ll be interesting to see if this individual would be added to The Seven’s line-up. As fans of the show (and the original graphic novel series) will know, The Seven are a satirized version of the Justice League, DC’s iconic supergroup. You know, Homelander is Superman, Queen Maeve is Wonder Woman, A-Train is The Flash, and so on.
Black Noir is already on The Seven’s roster, so Vought International’s most popular superhero team isn’t in dire need of a Batman-like character. Still, it’ll be intriguing to see how Kripke and company bring other Batman aspects into The Boys’ universe, especially as the series may only run for another two seasons.
For more on The Boys, find out why one of its stars was stunned to learn about what happens in the third season’s most shocking episode. Meanwhile, where Batman is concerned, read up on how to watch the Batman films in order. And be sure to check in with TechRadar later this week for more exclusive content about The Boys season 3.