From showrunnerEric Kripkeand based on the best-selling comic byGarth EnnisandDarick Robertson, the eight-episode Amazon Prime Video original seriesThe Boysis an irreverent look at what happens when the popular and influential superheroes abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good, and often need someone to cover up all of their dirty deeds and secrets for them. But when Hughie (Jack Quaid) suffers a devastating loss as a result of one Supe’s recklessness, he becomes so outraged that he teams up with Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and The Boys, in order to seek out their own brand of vigilante justice.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, executive producer/writer/finale director Eric Kripke talked about how he came to be doing this TV series, being a fan of Garth Ennis’ work, why eight episodes was a good number per season, his own filthy sense of humor, tackling some of the more delicate subject matter, whatDan Trachtenbergbrought to the first episode to establish the series, and how he came to direct the season finale. He also talked about how it feels to haveSupernatural(which was heavily influenced by the work of Garth Ennis) reach 15 seasons, before all is finally said and done, and what it means to know how much good that show and its fans have put out into the world. Be aware that there are some spoilers discussed.
Collider: How did you come to be the person tackling this crazy material? Was it something that you were in pursuit of, or did someone suggest it to you?
ERIC KRIPKE: I’m a huge Garth Ennis fan. I’m a big fan of everything the guy writes. A lot of his work onHellblazerandPreacherwere very influential onSupernatural. There’s a gun inPreacherthat can kill anything, that became a version of our Colt (inSupernatural). There’s a lot that I ripped off ofPreacher, the comic, when I was makingSupernatural. And so, when I found out that (executive producers) Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Neal Moritz were making a television show out ofPreacher, they didn’t know me and they had no reason to have picked me, but I was still so pissed that they picked somebody else, besides me, to do that show because my favorite comics, of all time, were basicallyPreacher,The Boys,Sandman, and one or two others. So, I had a meeting at Neal Moritz’s company, and I sat down, for no other reason than to say, “Hey, screw you guys! I can’t believe you gavePreacherto somebody else.” And I sat down and they were like, “Hey, how are you doing, Eric?” “I’m good. How are you?” “Good. So, what’s up?” And I said, “I just wanted to say, screw you for givingPreacherto somebody else.” And they said, “We didn’t know you were intoPreacher.” I was like, “I’m the single biggest fan ofPreacher. I should’ve done it!” And they said, “Well, we haveThe Boys. Do you wantThe Boys? I was like, “Yeah, totally. That’d be great!” And that was it. Seth and Evan were already circlingThe Boys, at the same time because they were getting really familiar with how to adapt Garth’s work, which is so out there and insane and innovative, and how to get that to the screen. And so, the three of us met and we all, ultimately, clicked immediately’ cause we’re all just Garth Ennis fanboys, and then, we just started kicking around how to make this show.
What’s it like to go from being such a fan of Garth Ennis’ material to sitting across from him and talking to him?
KRIPKE: It’s hard. I always say, I never come at this business like somebody who’s cool. I’m really not cool. I’m a fan. And so, the first time I meet Karl Urban, and I need to like swallow my shit and be like, “I’m a professional. It’s nice to meet you, Karl Urban.” And the first time I meet Elisabeth Shue, I have to like not get out aboutThe Karate Kid. I find myself trying to hold my shit together. I’ve spent a lot of my career, just trying to hold my shit together. And so, when I met Garth, who’s literally my all-time favorite comic book writer, and I was just sitting across from him and chatting about how to do the show, I was just pretending to be like, “I’m supposed to be here. Totally! I’m not a fraud, at all. It’s very natural that I’m here talking to Garth Ennis about how to do this show. I’ve spent a lot of time with the expression, “Fake it ‘til you make it.”
It seems like, if you’re in it, eight episodes probably feels like a lot to get through and survive and get to the other side of, but it’s also not that many episodes, compared to some shows. Have you thought a lot about what you could continue to do with this material? Have you thought quite a bit about what you’ll do, beyond this season?
KRIPKE: Yes, definitely. I come fromSupernatural, where we were doing 22 episodes a year, for years and years and years. So, believe me, anyone who says eight episodes is a lot, is a whiner. It takes a lot of time and effort, and it does, in its own way, take as much time ‘cause you just have to focus on those stories, but it’s all good. It’s just about like continually layering them, and making them more complicated, and working on the production value, and making sure that it really feels like a movie. But I’ll take eight episodes a year, for the rest of my life, and be happy. That is a very civilized way to be a showrunner, when only doing eight episodes a year. Yes, we’ve had a lot of conversation about what Season 2 would be, and hopefully we’ll get there and beyond. What’s really great about eight episodes – and I think we did it well in Season 1 – is that it’s enough episodes to tell a complicated story, but you can really move it forward. When you’re doing 22, you have so many filler episodes, just by necessity. You just have so many things where not much happens. In this show, it was so refreshing to, in every single episode, have the ball really move forward. Even as you’re beginning, you can see the end in sight, so you can craft a really coherent story, and you can drop in clues, in Episode 1 or 2, that don’t pay off until Episode 7 or 8 because you have the time to do them all, before you shoot. I think people are gonna find a really fast moving, but well-crafted a story. And yes, we’re already thinking about how we can improve upon that in Season 2.
You’ve done a lot of work on broadcast networks, withSupernatural,RevolutionandTimeless. WithThe Boysbeing on Amazon, anything is possible, as far as language, violence, sex and nudity. Do you feel a sense of freedom, working in that kind of environment, that you don’t have with a broadcast network, or do you find yourself thinking even more about everything that you do, on a show like this?
KRIPKE: Actually, I’m having the time of my life. I’m having a blast. It’s so fun to not have restrictions on where you want a scene or joke to go. Anybody who knows me or has spent time with me in the writers’ room knows how filthy I am. I have a filthy sense of humor, and I’ve always had to restrain it for network television. And so, for better or worse,The Boysis probably the most accurate representation of my actual real taste. Maybe that’ll be a horrible thing, but it’s the thing that is probably, out of everything that I’ve done, even though it’s an adaptation of Garth’s work, the thing that’s most specifically me, and the things that I’m interested in, and my sense of humor, that I’ve ever really put out there. My close friends and the people who have worked with me on shows, when they saw the trailer, were like, “Oh, you’re finally doing something that’s you.” That was everyone’s response. So, we’ll see what people think, but I’m having a blast because it’s very much my sense abilities.
You’ve said previously that there are things in the comic that you wouldn’t do on the show, but the show is definitely still very edgy and pushes a lot of boundaries. In the first episode, you have a scene between the Starlight and The Deep that is clearly going to make some people uncomfortable, especially in the #MeToo era. What sort of conversations went into how you wanted to handle that scene, and did you also involve the two actors in those conversations?
KRIPKE: Oh, yeah. I would say an exhaustive amount of thought and attention and care was put into that scene. It’s a scene that’s from the original comics. From the beginning, me and the other writers talked about whether we were going to put that scene in the show, especially in the current era and with the #MeToo movement. A lot of the writers on my staff are female, and we had a really careful conversation, where we all really collectively welcomed diverse opinions and points of view and past experiences, and we talked about it a lot. We came to the conclusion, after a lot of discussion, that we had to put the scene in there. Just because we’re a superhero show, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t talk about the difficult things. And in fact, we have a responsibility to. I work in genre, and I reject the notion that genre is just supposed to be light entertainment and you’re not allowed to talk about serious things. I think the point of genre is that you can talk about really serious and uncomfortable things. The more that we can have a conversation about it and the more that we can expose it to the sunlight, the better. So, I talked to all of the writers multiple times. I talked to all of the producers, male and female, multiple times. I had long conversations with the actors and the director. It’s probably the most serious scene that I’ve ever done, so I felt a really intense obligation to really get it right. I wanted to approach it with sensitivity and responsibility, and the gravity that it deserves. I didn’t want to make light of it. I wanted to really present it with empathy, and really present to the audience that we’re approaching this with a good heart. I think the way to do that, in a weird way, is to let people express their opinions and put their input into it, and try to stay out of their way, and let them infuse their sensibilities into the scene. I wanted to work hard to understand people’s experiences, and work hard to just try to get it right
Now that we finally know thatSupernaturalwill be ending with its 15thseason, which is clearly not something that happens regularly on TV, how does it feel to know that the show that you started in 2005, will have made it all the way to 2020, and will have been on the air for 15 years?
KRIPKE: It’s hard to internalize any of it. I’ve said, many times before, that I was stunned that we made it to the fifth season. To make it to the 15th, people ask me the question, “Could you have ever imagined that would have happened?,” and my answer is, “In what world could I have imagined that anything I would have made would become old enough to drive? That’s not, at all, possible.” You never know, but you hope for the best. My feeling for that show is one of just intense affection and pride. It’s been a great show. That crew has become such a family, and that cast is so astounding and such a family. The cast leading the fandom, and vice versa, have put so much good and support into the world. So many people have found that they’re not alone, through that show, and that is my proudest accomplishment, with that show. Yes, it’s been a good show and entertaining and well-written, but that show has actually put real good into the world. That’s something that is astounding and mind-blowing to me.
How did you come to have Dan Trachtenberg direct the first episode of this series and, and how did you end up directing the final episode of the season yourself?
KRIPKE: I knew Dan, just ‘cause I was a huge fan of10 Cloverfield Lane. I didn’t know him personally, but I was a fan of his work. Seth and Evan knew Dan, and the guys over at Neal Moritz’s company knew Dan, so he came up early, as a really talented, really smart director. I said, “All right, let me meet with him.” He came in, and what was supposed to be a one-hour meeting was a three-hour meeting. You just immediately recognize when there’s a kindred spirit. I was like, “Hey, there’s a neurotic nerd, just like me,” and we started talking about all of our neurotic nerd stuff, and we were just on completely the same page, about what the show should be. He brings such a remarkable visual style, to that first episode. He’s got shots in there that, when he was pitching me those shots and telling me what he was gonna do, I was like, “I don’t know what the hell you’re even saying. I don’t even understand what you’re trying to tell me.” He was like, “Just trust me. Let me figure it out, and I’ll show it to you.” And sure enough, he has these astounding moments that are so visual. He’s got such an intensely visual eye, and he’s just a really good dude. It’s probably just as important, if not more important, to me to work with people that are good people than that are talented, and he’s both. In terms of directing the finale, I haven’t been this passionate about a show, in a long time, frankly. I love all of my shows, but this one’s a real special one for me. I probably haven’t had this much fun since Season 4 ofSupernatural. It just immediately rang true that this is a really special moment, and they don’t come around very often, when you’re this in love. And when a moment like this comes around, I want to direct it. I hadn’t directed in almost 10 years, but I wanted to get back out there and direct the last one. And Sony and Amazon were cool with that. I had the best time. It was so fun to get back into the director’s chair and work on this show.
The Boysis available to stream at Amazon Prime Video on July 26th.
