Emmys spotlight: Karl Urban leads ‘The Boys’ to new heights in season 3
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“The Boys” season three continued to be as bloody, brilliant, and bloody brilliant as ever as the Amazon Prime Video series ramped it up another notch with its acclaimed superhero satire.
The show — a provocative, dark take on superheroes — follows Karl Urban‘s Billy Butcher and Jack Quaid‘s Hughie as members of a team hoping to take down the corrupt, evil superheroes and their parent company/creators, Vought International. That company is headed up by a PR-obsessed superhero team called The Seven, led by Anthony Starr‘s Homelander. Since season one, Butcher and co have tried their utmost to reveal the sins of The Seven to the world but, in season three, they went to new extremes to realize their goals and Butcher was pushed to his limit.
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As Butcher, Urban is the gruff, swaggering beating heart of the show. Blood-pumping, testosterone-flying — Urban plays Butcher like Jack Sparrow as a football hooligan. He has the physical prowess and presence to boisterously own the screen in the show’s most kinetic moments. But his self-destructive obsession with Homelander also leads to more vulnerable beats — and Urban handles the tough-guy sensitivities well, as noted by critics.
Nicholas Johnson (Movie Web) proclaimed that Urban was “at the center of ‘The Boys” incredibly acting lineup,” writing: “His gruff British accent is complimented by a fearsome snarl, and Urban delivers every line with vigor and venom. However, it should be noted that in season three, while Urban’s character still had the same sinister charm, fans of the show got to see a softer side of Billy Butcher… Urban expertly navigates the softer sides of Billy Butcher while never losing his tough-guy veneer.”
Sam Stone (CBR) wrote that Urban was one of “the real standouts of the cast this season,” explaining: “Whereas Antony Starr has played a hero constantly on the edge, with endless amounts of rage bubbling under the surface, Urban gets to explore a similar dynamic as Butcher finds himself careening off the rails with his own deep-seated issues betraying his smug demeanor.”
Johnny Loftus (Decider) noted: “Karl Urban, once a blonde Adonis in ‘Xena: The Warrior Princess,’ is so good in ‘The Boys’ as the scowling, glowering one-man wrecking crew William ‘Billy’ Butcher, you almost want the show to just feature him and his team getting their hooks into Supes, stomping them down, and watching them burn.”
But while critics and audiences alike love Urban, the New Zealand actor, who played Eomer in “The Lord of the Rings,” has yet to feel the warm, golden glow of Emmys’ appreciation for his role in “The Boys.” In fact, he’s never received a nomination at all. That could change this year, though, as the third season reached new heights. The season earned its highest-ever grade on Rotten Tomatoes with a near-perfect 98%. It’s this critical acclaim that could propel Urban to an Emmy nomination for Best Drama Actor. Currently, he sits outside our predicted six nominees: Jeff Bridges (“The Old Man”), Brian Cox (“Succession”), Kieran Culkin (“Succession”), Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us”), Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”), and Jeremy Strong (“Succession”).
However, there are a couple of sticking points here. Cox has already been awarded an Emmy (TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor for “Nuremberg” in 2001) and he’s reaped two Best Drama Actor bids for “Succession” already. If voters loved him, they’d have given him a win already, while support for him seems to be waning — his character died in episode three of the latest season so is he really a lead actor this year?
Meanwhile, his co-star, Culkin, has received two Emmy bids for Drama Supporting Actor but is looking to make the step up to lead this season. It remains to be seen whether he can actually do that. And Strong has already won an Emmy for his role in “Succession” (2020 — he was also nominated in 2022), so they’ve already given him his dues.
Plus, no show has ever earned three nominations in this category in the same year. The most a show has ever received in the same year is two bids in the category, which has happened multiple times — including last year when Cox and Strong reaped bids for “Succession” but lost to Lee Jung-jae. The same duo were nominated in 2020, too, with Strong winning. However, Emmys history tells us that one of these three “Succession” stars will likely miss out on a nomination — they’d have to make Emmys history in order for all three to receive bids here.
Meanwhile, Odenkirk is a double Emmy winner (both for
All of this suggests that this category is not as wrapped up as some might think and it could actually mean that there is a crack in the door here for a wildcard to sneak in, like Urban, who has the unparalleled support of critics. Plus, he has actually been on the receiving end of awards applause before — he was nominated for a Critics Choice Super Award in 2021 for his role in “The Boys.” There is some support there after all.
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