Eric Kripke explains how Kevin Feige and the MCU are inspiring 'The Boys' expanded universe

While Amazon's The Boys is about as far removed from the family-friendly comic book content churned out by Marvel Studios as one can possibly get, showrunner/executive producer Eric Kripke knows that there are still plenty of practical lessons to be learned from the wildly successful MCU.

Recently chatting with Rolling Stone, Kripke opened up about how he hopes to emulate the universe-building formula perfected by Marvel mastermind, Kevin Feige, and apply it to the expanding Boys franchise, which includes an upcoming spinoff centered around a Vought-sponsored university for young superheroes (as well as a recent animated anthology series).

"The one lesson I’d certainly taken away from Marvel and what a brilliant job Kevin Feige does is he busts his ass to not repeat himself," Kripke said. "Especially in the early days when there weren’t quite as many [projects] but each and every hero had a totally different-feeling movie. You go from a World War II movie, to a political thriller, to a John Hughes movie. And so, if anything, what we’re trying to do is that. We have an R-rated universe that’s sexually explicit. But what’s a totally different show that could live in that universe? And it’d be an interesting experiment to see if people like it. I love it, but we’ll see if people love it."

The currently-untitled college spinoff, which was officially green-lit last year will "tell a very gritty and real college experience through the metaphor of the superhero lens," Kripke teased. "But we’re not like Undeclared, which was a straight comedy. And we’re not Euphoria either, which got to a level of darkness I don’t think we’re doing. We’re just somewhere in between. We’re really trying to be safely within our world but tell stories that the mothership just simply could not tell. And have new characters that are every bit as appealing, but couldn’t be in the other show."

He also promised a number of guest appearances from established characters we know and love: "Without spoiling anything, I think there will be several very, very cool cameos. Because it’s a Vought-run college, so crossover with Vought characters is inevitable, really."

Oh, quick aside: remember the whole climbing-into-a-urethra sex scene that opens Season 3? Of course you do! Well, we hate to be the ones to tell you this, but the phallic prop (yes, they constructed an actual orifice) was sadly torn down once production had ended. Turns out giant urinary tracts are very expensive things to keep around.

"The production designer called me and said, 'We’re out of stage space. The penis is massive. We have to tear it down,'" Kripke recalled. "And I said, 'No, we have to find a place to store it.' And my producer’s like, 'I’m not spending thousands and thousands of dollars just to store this giant penis for posterity. So unless you want to put it in your backyard, it’s done.' And I would say I went so far as to mention it casually to my wife just to take her temperature. But there was just simply no place to put it. So sadly, it was destroyed.

Episodes 1-5 of The Boys Season 3 are now available to stream on Prime Video. The sixth installment — the highly-anticipated "Herogasm" episode — premieres this coming Friday (June 24). Amazon recently picked up the series for a fourth season. Fans can also check out The Boys Presents: Diabolical, an eight-episode animated anthology.

Looking for more bloody thrills? Check out Season 1 of SYFY and USA’s Chucky on Peacock, with Season 2 set to arrive this fall.