The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke reveals some moments had to be cut from season 3’s “Herogasm” episode due to time constraints. Like Amazon Prime Video's mature adaptation, Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s original comic takes place in a world where superheroes/”Supes” exist and have embraced celebrity status. A six-issue miniseries of The Boys comic, “Herogasm,” sees the world’s greatest Supes team up under the guise of fighting a worldwide threat à la The Avengers or Justice League. In reality, they’re all attending a giant orgy. Following season 2, Kripke announced The Boys season 3 would adapt the Herogasm event and viewers would get the full experience, for better or worse.
In season 3, episode 6, “Herogasm,” everyone is looking for Soldier Boy, who is with Butcher and Hughie searching for the Supe’s former Payback partners, the TNT Twins. This leads the group to Vermont, where the siblings are hosting the 70th annual Herogasm. The event featured the return of Love Sausage and Termite, as well as a toilet cam, a sex toy conjured out of ice, and the show's version of Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth being used for bondage. On top of that, Mother’s Milk has an unfortunate encounter with a lot bodily and The Deep befriends an Octopus (so to speak). Suffice to say, it was a lot to take in. While one would think Herogasm would make Prime Video hesitate on more than a few of these moments, the only cuts made were due to time.
In a recent interview with TVLine, Kripke talked about how The Deep’s mollusk encounter may have given his bosses pause. However, nothing was ultimately excluded from “Herogasm” for being indelicate. The only ideas that were cut were done so due to time and money. Read what the showrunner had to say about the cut moments from “Herogasm” below:
“We just couldn’t pull off all the gags we wanted to pull off. I remember at some point there was discussion about some kind of aquatic, Creature from the Black Lagoon-type Supe in the pool, having sex underwater. That was discussed at one point, and I don’t think we could pull that off. We were going to make a running joke out of these massive firehoses of fluid that get sprayed. There was going to be a female one that was going to get sprayed all over Hughie and that was going to be a running joke. Then we just sort of ran out of time, and so it all kind of combined to the one on poor Mother’s Milk.”
Leading up to the premiere of “Herogasm,” there was a lot of hype online with disclaimers released beforehand and Kripke calling it one of the most graphic hours of mainstream television ever. Those involved in the filming of the episode have also talked about their experience making the episode. Jensen Ackles said the crew looked “traumatized” and Erin Moriarty explained the debauchery was filmed for 5 straight 12-hour days.
“Herogasm” is being hailed as one of the best episodes of The Boys thus far. Not because of its depiction of sex or anything overtly outlandish, but for how it uses the setting of an orgy for some of the series’ best dramatic moments—from MM’s OCD confession and A-Train’s apology to the fight between Solider Boy, Butcher, Hughie, and Homelander. By using the event that is Herogasm as a framing device and not the focus, The Boys not only spent its time wisely but continues to improve upon the source material and justify Amazon’s faith in Kripke and company. That said, the series creator has compared “Herogasm” to the season 3 finale, saying the latter features the most ambitious fight they’ve ever done. In the wake of episode 6, that’s saying a lot.
Source: TVLine