the boys exploding penis
Amazon Prime Video

Eric Kripke jokes that ‘exploding genitalia’ led to ‘The Boys’ season 4 renewal

'The Boys' season 3 came swinging, err ... sneezing right out of the gate.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Amazon Prime Video announced that it is officially renewing its hit series The Boys for a fourth season, a week following the release of season three. And as promised, the three episodes that dropped last Friday, June 3, managed to live up to the insane hype that the series stars and creators have been teasing for months.

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One moment, in particular, that shocked fans was when a size-shifting Supe called Termite (Brett Geddes) — an ostensible parody of Marvel’s Ant-Man — shrunk himself down for some kink play inside his lover’s penis. But after Termite couldn’t hold in an errant sneeze, things quickly got, uh, rather messy.

Now, after the season four pickup, showrunner Eric Kripke is crediting the gory scene for the renewal. (As if Amazon’s Prime’s most popular show that has already inspired multiple spinoffs wouldn’t get renewed, but we admire his humility!)

“Speaking for the cast and crew, we’re so grateful to Sony, Amazon, and most of all the fans for embracing the show and allowing us to make more,” Kripke said in a statement, via EW. “We’re thrilled to continue Butcher and the Boys’ fight against Homelander and the Seven, as well as comment on the insane world we’re living in. Also, this is the first time in history that exploding genitalia has led to further success.”

Ahead of the season three premiere, Karl Urban, who plays Butcher, said in an interview that there are things about the season “that, once you’ve seen them, you will never unsee them,” but it’s unclear if he was referring to the exploding penis scene or something else altogether. After all, fans still do have the highly-anticipated upcoming “Herogasm” episode to look forward to, so clearly The Boys still has plenty of gross surprises in store.


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Stacey Ritzen
Stacey Ritzen is a Philadelphia-based reporter with 15 years of experience covering pop culture, entertainment, web culture, and news. She has previously worked for outlets including Uproxx, Pajiba, Daily Dot, and more.