Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Boys season 3.
Amazon’s hit superhero satire The Boys has been widely praised by critics for many aspects, from its uncompromisingly dark sense of humor to its sharp writing evoking relevant themes and commentary to its faithfulness to the hard-R source material.
One of the things that make the show’s tonal tightrope walk work so well is the cast’s incredible performances. This self-aware jab at the high-concept superhero genre wouldn’t connect on an emotional level if it wasn’t for actors like Karl Urban and Erin Moriarty humanizing their characters (or actors like Antony Starr dehumanizing theirs).
Jack Quaid As Hughie Campbell
Since the pilot episode, Jack Quaid has had to play the trauma that Hughie lives with following Robin’s gruesome, untimely death. Over the course of three seasons and counting, this trauma has manifested itself in various different ways. In season 1, Hughie was initially the voice of reason. He was the timid nerd who wasn’t ready for the brutality of the Boys’ vigilante crusade.
But in season 3, the character has taken a dark turn into toxic masculinity. He started taking drugs to acquire superpowers because he got sick of his girlfriend being the protector in the relationship. Quaid has done a terrific job of easing Hughie into this dark turn.
Chace Crawford As The Deep
Much like fellow aquatic superhero Aquaman, The Deep is the laughingstock of his team. The Deep is a truly hateable character precisely because Chace Crawford is doing his job right.
From the moment he first appeared and sexually assaulted Starlight, The Deep has been a character that fans despise. But he desperately wants to love himself and see himself as a hero, so he allowed himself to be lured in by a cult and reborn. Since then, Crawford has nailed The Deep’s unearned high-and-mighty smarm.
Karen Fukuhara As Kimiko
Every character in The Boys presents the actor portraying them with different trials and tribulations, but the role of Kimiko is a unique acting challenge, because the mute superhero requires an entirely non-verbal performance.
Karen Fukuhara has to convey all of Kimiko’s emotions through facial expressions and body language. And, on top of that, she also deftly handles the physicality of the action scenes.
Dominique McElligott As Queen Maeve
Although she’s been sidelined over the past couple of seasons, Queen Maeve is a mainstay of the Seven. Dominique McElligott gives a nuanced turn as a veteran superhero suffering from occupational burnout.
McElligott has always given a fierce performance in the role. Maeve is one of the only people who can see Homelander for what he really is, and one of even fewer people who aren’t afraid to stand up to him.
Laz Alonso As Mother’s Milk
Butcher’s second-in-command, Mother’s Milk, has a complicated backstory. He’s a former medic in the Marines who wants to bring down Vought to finish what his father started.
Laz Alonso masterfully handles every dry comedic reaction to situations like getting drenched in semen at Herogasm. But his performance is purely dramatic. M.M. is one of the most ethically complex of the Boys. He wants to destroy Vought as much as the next guy, but he questions some of the Boys’ methods and has to hold Butcher back when he goes too far.
Giancarlo Esposito As Stan Edgar
Vought’s corporate overlord, Stan Edgar, was retooled from the comics’ James Stillwell character. It took a special kind of actor to play this role with real depth so he wouldn’t come off as a one-note cliché.
Naturally, The Boys’ producers recruited the go-to actor for TV villains. Giancarlo Esposito brings the same chilling cold-heartedness to Edgar that he brought to Gus Fring and Moff Gideon.
Jensen Ackles As Soldier Boy
The third season of The Boys has introduced fans to old-timey superhero Soldier Boy. Unlike his characterization in the comics, TV’s Soldier Boy is Homelander before Homelander. He even turns out to be Homelander’s biological father.
Jensen Ackles has played Soldier Boy spectacularly with a devil-may-care attitude and badass line deliveries. Ackles is so charming that fans are finding it difficult to hate the character, no matter how many terrible things he does.
Erin Moriarty As Starlight
As one of the only superheroes who actually want to help people, Starlight is the moral center of the series, and Erin Moriarty has been knocking the role out of the park with a deeply sympathetic performance.
Season 3 has brought Starlight’s biggest character developments yet. She dumped Hughie after seeing his true colors, and now, she’s taking on Vought singlehandedly.
Karl Urban As Billy Butcher
In the role of Billy Butcher, Karl Urban has delivered a larger-than-life portrayal of a larger-than-life character. Urban nails the sardonic delivery of every C-bomb-filled tirade, which fits perfectly with the pitch-black comedic tone of the series.
The actor also crushes every dramatic turn the character takes, whether he’s lamenting the loss of Becca or being forced to relive his father’s abuse. As the series goes on, Butcher’s quest to kill Homelander is becoming increasingly narrow-minded.
Antony Starr As Homelander
Antony Starr captures every dimension of his uniquely deranged Superman avatar: the heroic facade, the evil underneath, the effortless charisma, the simmering sociopathy.
Throughout season 3, Starr’s performance has been stronger than ever. The actor has honed the ability to switch seamlessly between these dimensions at the drop of a dime.
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