Of all the new TV shows I'm looking forward to, Amazon's The Boys is near the very top of my list. And now, a week before the gritty superhero series even debuts, the streamer has renewed the show for a second season. I suppose that bodes well for its prospects.

Based on the bestselling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys is described as a fun and irreverent take on what happens when superheroes -- who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as Gods -- abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It’s finds the powerless battle back against the super powerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about The Seven, as well as Vought, the multi-billion dollar conglomerate that manages these superheroes and covers up all of their dirty secrets.

The Boys are Hughie (Jack Quaid), Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capon) and The Female (Karen Fukuhara), while The Supes of The Seven are led by Homelander (Antony Starr), who's joined by Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), The Deep (Chace Crawford) and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell). Meanwhile, Oscar-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue co-stars as Madelyn Stillwell, Vought's senior VP of Hero Management, and Simon Pegg will guest star as Hughie's father.

In other news, Amazon announced that You're the Worst star Aya Cash will be joined the show in its second season as Stormfront, who was originally a bigoted male character in the comics, as well as one of the most powerful superheroes in the world. This is quite the role for Cash, and marks a fairly major departure from her work on her FX series, though both shows trade in the currency of dark comedy.

The Boys was developed by showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural), who also serves as writer and executive producer. Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) directed the pilot episode, while Kripke directed the season finale. The series is also executive produced by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver of Point Grey Pictures and Original Film's Neal H. Moritz, as well as Pavun Shetty, Ori Marmur, Ken Levin and Jason Netter. Ennis and Robertson also serve as co-executive producers.

I've heard this series is pretty crazy from those who have seen it, and I can't wait to get a look at the over-the-top comic book violence for myself on July 26. One more week...