Hidden Details You Missed About The Halloween Costumes In The Boys Season 2
Contains spoilers for The Boys
As superhero satire, Amazon's hit series The Boys is always looking for ways to poke fun at its cape-wearing characters and the massive (mostly fictional) economy built on them. Sometimes it's obvious — like on season 2, when the show's supergroup the Seven films a terrible action movie about themselves. But other times, the jokes are in the small details, and you can only find them hidden in the props and sets.
Season 2, episode 2 found the Boys in a setting that presented itself as perfect fodder for Easter eggs: a party and costume store. The titular characters are looking for a "super-terrorist" lurking inside the store, when they come across an old enemy of Kimiko's (Karen Fukuhara) — the man who kidnapped her many years ago. In an act of vengeance, Kimiko swiftly kills the man, snapping his head off, then darts to another section of the store to spot the super-terrorist. When she jumps down in front of him and they lock eyes, Kimiko embraces him — he's her long-lost brother, Kenji (Abraham Lim). He spares Kimiko but holds nothing back in attacking the rest of the Boys, destroying the store in the process.
Given how much goes on inside the store, it's easy to miss subtle references and small details sprinkled in each scene. But sharp-eyed fans will remember that before Kenji wrecked the store, there were glimpses of a variety of different Halloween costumes for sale.
Most of the costumes are knock-off versions of The Boys' celeb superheroes
The Party City-esque store had both branded and knock-off costumes alike for the in-universe celebrity-slash-superheroes. There was a "Homedefender" dog costume from a company that couldn't (or didn't bother to) get branding rights to Homelander, the leader of the Seven played by Antony Starr. The pup on the costume packaging looked quite happy in his blue suit and red cape, but luckily for customers who don't have dogs, the store also sold both "Homedefender" paper plates and costumes for humans.
There was also a green-masked costume called "Deep Down," which was clearly a cheap version of the aquatic superhero the Deep (Chace Crawford), who is himself a cheap version of Aquaman. In the background of the tense scene were Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) costumes, a female version of Eagle the Archer (Langston Kerman), and some blue piñatas that said "Atrainer" on them — a cheap nod to the Seven's speedster A-Train (Jessie T. Usher).
Interestingly, the Starlight (Erin Moriarty) "deluxe adult wig" was one of the only costume pieces with no "final sale" sticker on it, perhaps due to the fame and success Starlight has settled into during season 2 with her music career and TV appearances.
Do the other costumes hint at future characters?
Next to all of the Seven merch were some costumes and props that didn't point to any characters currently on the show. Judging solely by the name, the "Starshot" costume sounds like a Starlight knock-off, but the costumes don't really compare: The former is a full silver bodysuit with a blue cape, while the latter is a more revealing outfit in white and gold. It's possible Starshot could be a character totally original to The Boys TV series who may be introduced down the line, as she's not from the comics
Additionally, all throughout the store were army-themed cutouts, costumes, and helmets. The packaging of one costume proclaimed "America's favorite soldier," but the camera cut away before we could see what it looked like. These props could be hinting at a character coming to The Boys season 3: Soldier Boy, to be played by Supernatural actor Jensen Ackles. In the comics, Soldier Boy's costume looked more like Captain America's than the military visages of the party store, but it wouldn't be the first time The Boys has changed a character's outfit.