Red River will become a 'bigger and bigger part' of The Boys universe
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Warning: This article contains spoilers from episodes 1 and 2 of The Boys season 3.
The second episode of The Boys' three-episode premiere on Friday gave us an origin story for Claudia Doumit's Victoria Neuman, a.k.a. "head-popper." It all goes back to a place called Red River, and showrunner Eric Kripke confirms big plans are in store for this particular nugget in the plot.
"It is not the last you will see of Red River," Kripke says on EW's On Set, the video series that goes behind the scenes of The Boys season 3. "Red River becomes an interestingly bigger and bigger part of The Boys universe."
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As it's explained in episode 2, the Red River Institute is a group home for supe children owned by a subsidiary of Vought International. Many of these kids came into their abilities too early to learn how to control them. Vicky, born Nadia, was one of them. She accidentally killed her parents by inadvertently channeling her powers through her eyes and blowing up their heads. She was later unofficially adopted by Vought President Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito).
Red River was first made a part of The Boys Presents: Diabolical, specifically in "An Animated Short Where Pissed-Off Supes Kill Their Parents," the second episode of the animated anthology series. The premise: A group of teens were dumped by their parents at Red River due to their abnormal powers. But after learning it was their parents who gave Vought permission to transform them through Compound V, the kids sought revenge.
Kripke says that Diabolical episode isn't technically canon, but he did want a link between that show and The Boys. "We knew that we wanted this idea of a foster home for super-powered kids [in season 3] because it stands to reason that a certain percentage of them would accidentally kill their parents. And so, where do they go?" The Boys writers called this home Red River, a phrase used in the comic books.
Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland was thinking of a similar concept for his episode of Diabolical. "He said, 'I wanna do this group home where all these freaks live,'" Kripke recalls. "We said, 'Well, we actually are doing a pretty similar home in The Boys, so we should have it be the same thing and be a tie-in.'"
We already know one way Red River will play into the larger universe of the show. Jack Quaid's Hughie heads to the home to learn more about Vicky's backstory. Among the files he searches is a profile for Marie M., a 17-year-old supe teen who is played by Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actress Jaz Sinclair and who will be a main character in a new spin-off of The Boys.
Amazon Prime Jaz Sinclair's photo makes a brief appearance in 'The Boys' season 3 ahead of the college-set spin-off.
Sinclair stars in the college-set drama (which is currently filming and still untitled) as one of various teens attending Vought's premiere university for supes. Students learn and train there, and eventually compete against each other come graduation time for the top contracts to protect the biggest cities. Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, and Shelley Conn will also star.
Kripke had previously teased that he has multiple concepts in various stages of development that are being considered for additional spin-off shows. "I don't think we're going to rush it," he said. "I think we want to build it slowly."
Five bucks says Red River is involved in one of them.
Watch EW's On Set video above to learn more behind-the-scenes secrets of The Boys season 3 premiere.
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