Unlike its first season, The Boys season 2 is holding fire on dropping all eight episodes at once. Instead, the first three entries were made available on September 4, with new episodes arriving every Friday.
According to showrunner Eric Kripke, that was a deliberate, creator-led choice – and not something mandated by Amazon. It might even be a better thing in the long run, even if you are desperate for that elusive fourth episode.
“The airing schedule came actually when we were pretty close to being done – probably 3/4ths of the way through post-production,” Kripke told Collider. “For the record, it didn’t come from Amazon. It came from the producers… we’re the ones who pitched them. A lot of people over there were actually reluctant because it was a new idea or they don’t do it that often. We really wanted it and Amazon ended up agreeing that they’d give it a try.”
The reasoning behind The Boys season 2 release schedule is pretty simple: the fan discussion around the new season will last far longer, instead of everyone binging the episodes over one weekend and never thinking about them again.
“Our feeling is that when it airs all eight at once, it becomes a sugar rush of a binge,” explained Kripke.
“People burn through it in a week or two. There’s an intense amount of activity and then it sort of fades…. There’s so many great moments in season 2, we want to give it time to marinate so people can reflect on it and talk about it before they move on to the next thing and be in the conversation a little longer. I think a little anticipation for the fans is healthy.”
Honestly? Something to look forward to every week isn’t exactly a bad thing at the moment. The Boys going weekly, alongside the likes of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus, may signal a return to appointment television, one where we can all watch the same thing and talk about it at the same time. Wouldn’t that be something?
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