Following a series of mentions and vague descriptions, actor Shawn Ashmore debuted as Lamplighter, the mysterious former member of The Seven, in Season 2 of Amazon's hit comic book television adaptation, The Boys. The former Vought superhero was seen in the recently released episode "The Bloody Doors Off," showcasing his pyrotechnic powers and revealing his backstory.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ashmore revealed how his time on X2: X-Men United -- specifically his time with costar Aaron Stanford, who played Pyro -- influenced his performance as Lamplighter. The actor explained, "When we were shooting X2, I didn't know Aaron before that, but I feel like I had [learned] a few little lighter things just over the years." He added, "We definitely played around with the lighter together on set for X2."
The recently released Boys episode revealed that, while Lamplighter once wielded a flaming staff during his time with the Seven, he had since adopted a simple lighter in order to perform his duties as the Sage Grove Center's superhuman incinerator. Ashmore explained, "The lighter does represent a bit of who he is in the world. It's not just a random engraving."
In X2, Pyro is shown to require a lighter since, as he explained to Magneto, his mutant ability enables him to control fire but he cannot create it. Compound V-powered Lamplighter appears to possess the same limitations in terms of superpowers.
Amazon Studios' The Boys stars Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, Jack Quaid as Hughie, Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk, Tomer Kapon as Frenchie, Karen Fukuhara as the Female, Erin Moriarty as Annie January, Chace Crawford as the Deep, Antony Starr as Homelander, Aya Cash as Stormfront and Simon Pegg as Hughie's dad. New episodes of Season 2 release Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.