The Boys Showrunner Has The Best Explanation For The Amazon Spinoff, Just Ordered To Series

the boys homelander starlight black noir a-train amazon
(Image credit: Amazon)

News broke that a spinoff of Amazon's The Boys was in development a little over a year ago. After the project moved forward with some castings and the original series reached new heights in critical acclaim, the spinoff has officially been given the greenlight and ordered to series. There are still some big questions about the new show that will need to be answered, but The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has a hilarious explanation for what's on the way.

Eric Kripke actually isn't the showrunner on the spinoff of The Boys, with those duties taken on by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, who are also on board as executive producers. Fazekas and Butters have some superhero experience thanks to Agent Carter, although it's safe to say that any show set in the same universe as The Boys is going to be very different from that ABC show. Still, Kripke had a message to hype the project, and it's pretty much the best. As part of Amazon's announcement about the spinoff getting a series order, Kripke said:

Much like Mork & Mindy spun-off from Happy Days—which is an insane and true fact—our spinoff will exist in the Vought Cinematic Universe, yet have a tone and style all its own. It’s our take on a college show, with an ensemble of fascinating, complicated, and sometimes deadly Young Supes. Michele and Tara are stone-cold geniuses, we’re thrilled to have them steer this ship, and grateful to Sony and Amazon for the opportunity. We love this show and can’t wait for you to see it. Also, Baywatch Nights spun-off from Baywatch, and it had vampires. Vampires!

There may not be any shows that are identical to The Boys, but I'm guessing that few fans would have even guessed that the showrunner would mention Mork & Mindy or Happy Days as at all similar. Eric Kripke did acknowledge that the comparison is both "insane" and "true," and he actually had a pretty good reason for the comparison: just as Mork & Mindy wasn't Happy Days 2.0, the spinoff of The Boys (which has yet to receive a name) won't be exactly like The Boys. And as somebody who had no idea that Baywatch Nights involved vampires, Kripke's comments were hilarious as well as informative!

As for what the show will be about, it's easy to see how Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters will be able to take it in a different direction than the corner of the Vought Cinematic Universe that The Boys covers. The action will take place at the only college that is exclusively open to young adult Supes, and is of course run by Vought International. While these Supes aren't exactly going to be interchangeable with The Seven, the show will explore the students' boundaries when it comes to morals, sexuality, and physicality. Hormonal and competitive at their age, they're up against each other to try and win the top contracts in the best cities.

And being set in the Vought Cinematic Universe – even if it's to The Boys what Mork & Mindy was to Happy Days – presumably means that some of the students will be more villainous than the others. After all, if Starlight can remain a good person after joining The Seven, then surely even being in the competitive world of the college won't turn every student into a future Homelander or Stormfront.

There is no premiere date announced for the spinoff just yet, which isn't too surprising considering it doesn't even have an official title yet. It is safe to say that Season 3 of The Boys will premiere before the spinoff, as it recently wrapped production. For now, you can find the first two seasons of The Boys available streaming on Amazon.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).