Eric Kripke Reveals How the Filming of ‘The Boys’ Is Going: “The whole thing is pretty organic.”
As everyone knows, The Boys is one of the most well-liked superhero shows on television. The fourth season of the show has been airing since June 13, 2024, and the conclusion is quickly approaching, much to everyone’s excitement. With high ratings, the season is currently Certified Fresh, and according to Amazon, the show’s viewership increased as well.
The season has a stronger political undertone, which has led to some fans review-bombing it. However, the show’s creators don’t seem to care because the satire in each episode is getting more and more outrageous.
In light of that fact, showrunner Eric Kripke, who is known for speaking his mind and revealing information about the filming and development of the series, provided us with some background information ahead of the season finale and the show’s final season.
Kripke sat down for a talk with Amazon Prime Video, and he answered several questions related to the show and the filming of the current season, revealing how things change from crafting to actually filming an episode, which are two different moments in the production timeline. Here is what he said:
Generally, how much would you say the story of each season of The Boys changes from conception to actually shooting on set?
Eric Kripke: The whole thing is pretty organic. Any showrunner who tells you something like, “We have this multi-year plan and it’s intricate,” is lying! I know enough showrunners, and that’s not what they do.
Our process is more along the lines of, we will spend four full weeks at the beginning of the season, sometimes more actually, of just big picture stuff, asking questions like, what do we want the season storyline to be? What are the themes we’re interested in? What is the satire we want to explore? We get a first draft of a map this way. You know, I don’t do it alone on a mountain, there’s a team of brilliant writers who all put this thing together.
When we start breaking down episodes, we start to realize, “Oh, that storyline isn’t going to work,” or “That one’s not as fun as we thought.” And so we go back. It’s like you’re building an airplane mid-flight — you’re taking out the part that’s boring and putting in a better part. You keep working on it over and over. Same thing when the actors come in.
I always say, “It’s my job to know the chessboard, but it’s your job to know your piece,” so we’re both going to catch things the other person is going to miss. The actors are good at asking questions like, “Why would I do this particular moment?” and “Why is that important?” So, then it changes during shooting, and then it changes another time in editing. If I wasn’t forced to deliver the episodes, I would be changing it still now (laughs).
Source: Discussing Film
He also explained how the season draws inspiration from real-life events, as well as how these events influence the story of The Boys:
This show has always pulled from the real world. But in The Boys Season 4, the public’s treatment of Starlight is especially reminiscent of some celebrity cases in the past few years. Was that always part of the plan, or was it something that revealed itself as the season was developing?
Eric Kripke: We take each season of The Boys as it comes, based on where we left off. Starlight not being Starlight anymore after living her whole life as that person and dealing with the identity of who she is became important. We really put her through the wringer, through some things that are pretty topical. We write about what pisses us off or what scares us in the writer’s room. You know, there are a couple of things happening in politics and in the Supreme Court that we found pretty upsetting. So, we wanted to infuse Annie’s character with it and give us a chance to explore it.
Source: Discussing Film
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