The Boys season 2 stars kick ass in EW's digital cover shoot

01 of 10

Starlight, star bright

The Boys digital cover — Direction and Photography by Mark Leibowitz for EW

What's black and white and red all over? The stars of Amazon's The Boys in EW's photo shoot for our latest digital cover. Erin Moriarty brings the heat as super-powered Starlight, who, in season 2, became one of the Boys, the off-the-books team of mercenaries who keep superheroes in line when they get a little too rowdy. And in a world where the majority of supes are secretly deranged sociopaths with little regard for human life, the Boys are always in business.

02 of 10

Go Deep or go home

In season 2, showrunner Eric Kripke wanted to go deeper into the psyche of his characters. For Chace Crawford's The Deep, the Aquaman-esque hero, that meant getting a little high and having a conversation with his gills (voiced by Patton Oswalt).

03 of 10

A wee bit of a fun

As "Wee" Hughie Campbell, a techie who's recruited for the Boys after a speedster accidentally kills his girlfriend, Jack Quaid is used to being covered in fake blood. Now, after his breakthrough performance on the Amazon series, he's getting recruited for the new Scream movie. "I think that I have been type cast at this point as a man who is constantly just covered in gore, and I don't see that pattern stopping anytime soon," he says.

04 of 10

Think fast

Jessie T. Usher's A-Train, the super-fast member of the Seven, is the one that started all the drama on the show in the first place when he ran straight through Hughie's girlfriend. Since then, "A-Train hasn't changed a bit, in my opinion," Usher says. "In fact, I find it to be impressive that he has been able to maneuver the way that he has while making so many enemies and exposing himself to so many people."

05 of 10

Silent but deadly

As the only official supe member of the Boys, Karen Fukuhara's Kimiko has a heart of gold... and also hands that can rip a man's face clean off his skull. "From the beginning, we didn't want her to seem as though she was trained in anything... We wanted to honor the essence of The Female in the comic books where she's very feral," the actress says. "We modeled her after the little girl in Wolverine." X-23 and Kimiko would definitely get along.

06 of 10

The Butcher

As Billy Butcher, Star Trek and Lord of the Rings star Karl Urban is the always balls-to-the-wall leader of the Boys with a mantra that's all about shooting the grenade launcher first and asking questions later. "The thing that I love about Billy Butcher is that he's a character who you always hope is going to do the right thing, but nine times out of 10 he'll do the wrong thing," says Urban.

07 of 10

Bomb voyage!

Tomer Capon sees Frenchie, the bombs expert, as "the troubled teenager" of the Boys family. He comes onto the scene with a lot of emotional baggage and guilt from past mistakes, which are all aired out in season 2. But thanks to finding Kimiko, he's on a better path. "He's getting to know himself through a lot of stuff that is happening this season."

08 of 10

Milk it for all it's worth

Thanks to Mother's Milk's obsession with hand sanitizer in season 2, actor Laz Alonso became the inadvertent hero of the age of the pandemic. "Eric and I were talking about this when COVID hit the fan back in March," he says. "When everything was sold out in stores — wet wipes, hand sanitizer — that's all MM. We were predictive on so many levels this season."

09 of 10

A perfect storm

You're the Worst star Aya Cash plays the absolute worst character on The Boys season 2: Stormfront, a plasma-powered Nazi looking to rile up her alt-right fanbase. Cash couldn't be further opposite of this character. "I am the first 5'2'' Jewish girl to play a 6'4'' Nazi in history," she says with a laugh.

10 of 10

A Starr is born

As Homelander, the egomaniacal leader of the Seven with Superman-like powers, Antony Starr made one of the most vile characters on television one of the most interesting. "I think playing the 'bad guy,' you just get so much more license," he says. "I can take bigger risks and I'm not the vehicle for the audience. I don't have that responsibility on my shoulders, so I can play a lot more."