The Boys Cast Season 2 Villain Stormfront Before Season 1 Even Released

Aya Cash, who portrayed the villainous Stormfront on The Boys season 2, revealed she had been cast before season 1 was even released. The Boys is an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ and Darick Robertson’s comic book series of the same name. The first season dropped on Amazon Prime in 2019 to critical acclaim. The Boys season 2 premiered in Fall 2020, leading to even more critical praise while also serving as a ratings juggernaut for Amazon – with The Boys season 2 premiere actually drawing in a bigger audience than the season 2 premiere of The Mandalorian. 

Cash portrayed Stormfront – who joined the Seven after Translucent’s death during season 1. Initially, she appeared like a breath of fresh air – rejecting Vought’s commercialism and serving as a sort of mentor figure to Starlight. However, one of the season’s biggest twists came with the reveal that Stormfront was actually decades older than she appeared – and was also a former Nazi. The story shifted and Stormfront took over the role as the main villain for the remaining episodes – using her popularity and large social media following to radicalize people against superheroes.

Speaking to Collider, Cash revealed that she was actually cast as Stormfront before The Boys season 1 had even premiered. Cash stated that she auditioned several months before season 1 premiered, and before the show had even been picked up for season 2. Cash cited the need to create a custom suit around the actor as the reason for casting Stormfront before the show had released a single episode. While she was apprehensive about portraying the complicated character – especially before she even got to see the show – her conversations with showrunner Eric Kripke reassured her that the project would be quality. Check out Cash’s full comment below:

“It was a few months before Season 1 came out. They hadn’t even been picked up for Season 2, but they had to hire someone to play this role because they needed to build the suit on the body that was gonna wear it. So they had not picked up for Season 2, but I got hired. I went in, I auditioned, I did a 20-minute talk with Eric about the role, because I had been told already going into the audition, ‘Look, the sides don’t really say this, but this is gonna be a complicated role.’ And I have no problem playing deeply unlikable people or villains, but obviously this was gonna be something that needed to be handled with intelligence and was not going to be glorifying this character in a way that I disagreed with, but it would be in service to something. So after talking to Eric, I felt in very, very good hands.”

Stormfront’s fate was left ambiguous in The Boys season 2 finale. She was nearly killed by Homelander’s son, left burnt and almost-unconscious after their confrontation. However, Kripke did confirm that Stormfront is still alive, though her potential future on The Boys is up in the air. Cash herself was unsure if Stormfront would return for season 3, speculating that she likely wouldn’t since production for the new season had already begun and her contract was only for one year.

While Stormfront’s time on The Boys may be up, both the character and Cash’s performance will likely remain one of the highlights throughout its entire run. Cash’s portrayal was consistently praised throughout the season’s airing, and the twist involving Stormfront sent shockwaves around the internet. Cash’s decision to portray such a complicated character before even watching The Boys was certainly a brave one – and it more than paid off in the end.

Source: Collider

About The Author