The Boys Season 3: Vought's Zombie Army Theory Explained

Amazon's The Boys has spawned many intriguing theories ahead of season 3, but the idea of a Vought zombie army is by far the most chilling. The Boys is adapted from Garth Ennis' comic book series of the same name and follows an eponymous team of vigilantes trying to combat a corrupt team of superheroes known as the Seven. As a result, The Boys' comic book source material acts as a signpost for potential plotlines yet to be unveiled in the live-action The Boys, with the Amazon series already confirmed to be using the comics' Herogasm plot for season 3.

Although The Boys comics are certainly a good indicator of where Amazon's live-action series may take audiences, their plotlines are far from a certain inclusion. The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has already proven his penchant for subverting expectations, such as changing Stormfront's (Aya Cash) gender and making Ryan Butcher (Cameron Crovetti) a central character despite his premature death in the comics. These clear deviations from The Boys' source material have ensured speculation remains rife for what twists The Boys season 3 will include, birthing swathes of online theories regarding which direction Vought, the boys, and the Seven will turn next.

One such theory that The Boys season 3 could well follow is ripped straight from the original comics, which sees Vought create a host of "zombified" Supes by administering emergency doses of compound V to dying superheroes. While the idea of Vought's zombies will likely be changed by Kripke and company in some capacity, the idea of the boys battling an army of Vought's Supe zombies remains terrifying. Here's The Boys season 3's Vought zombie army theory explained, including why Vought creates them, and how the live-action series could implement this idea.

How The Boys Comics Create Supe Zombies

In The Boys comic series, the Supe zombies are a horrifying look into Vought's twisted collective psyche. The original The Boys storyline sees Mallory take revenge against the Seven for the death of his grandchildren by shooting a subdued Lamplighter in the head. However, before Lamplighter can fully perish, Vought brings him back from the brink of death with an emergency dose of Compound V. It is subsequently revealed this injection can keep dying Supes alive, but at the cost of their humanity, leaving the revived Supes in a zombified, deformed state.

Homelander revels in showing A-Train and Starlight a hideous visage of the once-proud Lamplighter, with the Seven members recoiling as they see the Lamplighter zombie chained to a wall and grasping at them with desperate, monstrous hands. Later in The Boys comics canon, it is revealed Vought implements the zombification procedure for two purposes: publicity and as a threat against disobedience. The first purpose sees Vought bring out zombie-like Supes in front of the press in the days following their high Compound V doses, with Homelander stating that the Compound V takes time to completely debilitate the saved Supe into the state that Lamplighter now exists in. The second, and more nefarious purpose, is to act as a chilling deterrent for Supes considering betraying Vought, with Homelander regularly taking Seven members to see the zombie Lamplighter to ensure their continued obedience.

Who Could Become A Supe Zombie In The Boys Season 3?

Provided The Boys season 3 implements Supe zombies, there are several clear candidates for zombification in the live-action series. The first is Stormfront, who ended The Boys season 2 as a torso following Ryan's eye-laser attack. This makes Stormfront an immediate possibility for Vought's emergency Compound V administration procedure, with the last shots of Aya Cash's character showing her in a dire state as she murmurs to her long-dead lover Frederick Vought. While it remains unclear whether Stormfront survives at the end of The Boys season 2, or indeed if Homelander (Antony Starr) flew her to a semblance of safety, she remains an excellent candidate for this zombification process provided she is still alive at the start of season 3.

The second strong choice for the Compound V emergency procedure is Black Noir, who ends The Boys season 2 in a catatonic state after being overpowered by Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) wielding an Almond Joy. If it transpires that Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) cannot wake up from his nut allergy-induced coma, he may well find himself under the Vought needle receiving a large dose of emergency Compound V. Furthermore, several versions of this online theory go one further, stating that Black Noir is in fact already a Supe Zombie - which explains why he does not speak in The Boys and silently does Vought's bidding.

Vought Conjures A Zombie Army In The Boys Season 3 - Theory Explained

Billy Butcher holding a vial of Compound V in The Boys

Given The Boys canon making zombies a genuine prospect, the Vought zombie army theory suggests Hughie (Jack Quaid), Butcher (Karl Urban), and company will end up battling a host of zombified Vought supes in The Boys season 3. This idea harks back to the theory that Black Noir has been a Vought zombie for some time, which indicates The Boys' live-action zombies retain far better motor skills than their comic book counterparts. This, in turn, means Vought's injections give them complete control over their Supe subjects rather than incapacitating them into mindless, shambling creatures.

As a result, this theory gains further traction when looked at as a narrative vehicle to bring back some of The Boys' most popular season 2 characters. As aforementioned, Stormfront and Black Noir remain excellent candidates for this process, while reviving Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore) would certainly keep with Ennis' established The Boys canon. It remains to be seen whether Kripke and The Boys' creative team will choose to go down the sentient zombie route, or whether a shambling, mindless horde of once-great Supes turned undead is more in keeping with The Boys' dog-eat-dog dystopian vision. Whatever ultimately transpires in The Boys season 3, the idea of Vought commanding a zombie army remains a terrifying prospect for both audiences and the boys alike.