The season 3 finale of The Boys gave new insights into various characters including Soldier Boy’s befuddled past and the potential of Homelander’s son Ryan Butcher. Staying true to its craft of satirization of the exponential superhero culture and its real-world associations with the American military-industrial complex, the first episode of The Boys dealt with NSFW Ant-Man and Thanos memes. With that said, what will happen in The Boys season 4, considering the show’s proclivity to bring changes to the source material?
According to VFX supervisor Stephan Fleet, something bad is coming in The Boys season 4. He tweeted in January 2023, “I think I just saw the most disgusting thing I have seen working in this business thus far.” We don’t know what chaos will ensue in the upcoming instalment of The Boys, however, we are certain that it will continue to follow the journey of Hughie ( Jack Quaid) and the Boys, including Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), who will now have to fight with death, owing to its excessive consumption of Temp V in the previous season.
For those unversed, The Boys is based on the titular comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Developed by Eric Kripke, the series encircles a group of seemingly ordinary humans (or The Boys) who battle to expose the corruption and crimes of a megacorporation called Vought International. That being said, here’s a quick rundown of The Boys season 4.
What to expect from The Boys Season 4?
In Season 3, The Seven has only three superheroes remaining, including Homelander (Antony Starr), the Deep (Chace Crawford), and A-Train (Jessie T. Usher). We see that Homelander is reunited with his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), who by the end of the season, discloses a much darker and more disturbing side. When Homelander murders someone in the middle of the street, a smirk materializes on Ryan’s face. What does that mean for season 4?
In a conversation with E! News, showrunner Eric Kripke hinted about the plotline of The Boys season 4. Kripke mentions that season 4 will focus on The Butcher and Homelander’s fight over Ryan, as they draw parallels with the 1980s sitcom My Two Dads.
Additionally, he also mentioned that he perceives the relationship between The Butcher and Homelander as similar to that of Batman and The Joker or Holmes and Moriarty. Kripke also teased that season 4 will revolve around the rise of Victoria Neuman, a morally ambiguous supe in the White House who harbours the potential to kill anyone and pose a problem for both Vought and The Boys.
Who are the cast members of The Boys season 4?
According to the sources, previously, the creators of the show revealed the two costumes of unseen supes. One of them is Firecracker, a redhead with a red white, and blue costume, with a firearm attached to her hip. Collider writes, “Due to The Boys’ previous representation of American nationalism, her colors may hint at questionable morals and a possible alliance with Homelander.”
At the time of writing, the sources haven’t revealed Firecracker’s powers, however, allusions have been drawn to The Fantastic Four’s Human Torch and her physical review leads her to be similar to Scarlett Johansson.
The role of Firecracker will be reprised by Valorie Curry. Curry is popular for her roles in The Twilight Saga as Charlotte and in The Tick as Dot Everest.
The second character that the series revealed is Sister Sage. Donning a gilded vesture with brown fabrics and sunglasses with brown lenses, Sister Sage‘s character is drawn parallel with those in Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings owing to her fingers being anointed with rings. Not only that but similarity is also drawn between her and Marvel’s Runaways character Nico Minoru, who is also referred to as Sister Grimm.
Meet Sage. She’s already a thousand steps ahead of you.
And let's just say Firecracker has a short fuse. pic.twitter.com/Ci3li8j1LJ
— THE BOYS (@TheBoysTV) October 10, 2022
Owing to her textures and color palate, parallels have also been drawn between her and Marvel’s Luke Cage. The role of Sister Sage will reportedly be reprised by Susan Heyward, popular for her role as Tamika Ward in Orange is The New Black.
In regards to these supes, Kripke wrote, “These new Supes are some of the best & craziest ever written for #TheBoys. You are going to love them. And by love, I mean to be absolutely horrified & a tiny bit nauseous.” In addition to that, Amazon also revealed that Crovetti, who plays Ryan, is now upgraded to a series regular.
These new Supes are some of the best & craziest ever written for #TheBoys. You are going to love them. And by love, I mean be absolutely horrified & a tiny bit nauseous. WELCOME TO THE FAMILY YOU GUYS. #TheBoysTV @TheBoysTV @PrimeVideo @SPTV https://t.co/Pa9qMBFqwt
— Eric Kripke (@therealKripke) August 1, 2022
On August 25, Deadline reported that Jeffrey Dean Morgan will now be joining the cast of The Boys as a recurring guest star. Be that as it may, the official streamer did not reveal which character Morgan will play. Besides these new additions, we are expecting Antony Starr, Chace Crawford, Jessie T. Usher, Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Tomer Kapon, Karen Fukuhara, Laz Alonso, Claudia Doumit, and Colby Minifie to reprise their respective roles.
On December 1, a team of new members joining the cast of The Boys was announced. These included Rosemarie DeWitt as Hughie’s mom, along with Rob Benedict and Elliot Knight. Not only that, but Amazon revealed that Simon Pegg will return as Hughie’s dad in the upcoming instalment.
When can we expect The Boys Season 4 to release on Amazon Prime?
Season 3 of The Boys finished streaming on Amazon Original in the summer of 2022, which was followed by a quick renewal of Season 4. Owing to the leaked on-set photos, it was unraveled that the cast was shooting for The Boys season 4 in Toronto in August 2022. Showrunner Kripke also shared a post on Instagram revealing the photo of the script for Episode 401, titled “Department of Dirty Tricks” and captioned it with, “Day One.”
Day One#Season4 #TheBoys #TheBoysTV @TheBoysTV @PrimeVideo @SPTV pic.twitter.com/M66rk8tpR1
— Eric Kripke (@therealKripke) August 22, 2022
According to Collider, “Filming of the highly anticipated season is rumored to wrap in March 2023.” As a result, The Boys season 4 is expected to be on our screens in Fall 2023.
Are there any latest updates on The Boys Season 4?
Well, the rumors are partially true. On April 12, 2023, showrunner Eric Kripke confirmed on Twitter that they had wrapped filming. He shared two photos of himself along with blood-soaked Jack Quaid’s Hughie Campbell and Karen Fukuhara’s Kimiko Miyashiro. He tweeted:
“2am. We’re exhausted. Bloody. But triumphant. My heart is full of love & gratitude to this all-time-great cast & crew. THAT’S A WRAP ON SEASON 4, MOTHERF**KERS.”
2am. We're exhausted. Bloody. But triumphant. My heart is full of love & gratitude to this all-time-great cast & crew. THAT'S A WRAP ON SEASON 4, MOTHERFUCKERS. #TheBoys #TheBoysTV @TheBoysTV @PrimeVideo @SPTV @JackQuaid92 @KarenFukuhara @KarlUrban @lazofficial #ErinMoriarty pic.twitter.com/KO02cU776t
— Eric Kripke (@therealKripke) April 12, 2023
On February 12, 2023, Kripke tweeted about the season 4 finale, writing, “Alright, Toronto. Let’s do this,” and added the hashtag “#Season4Finale.” In addition to this, Kripke also posted that Season 4’s finale will not seal the fate of the season, as he wrote, “I’m here to prep & direct the Season 4 finale…No, not the series finale, there will be more!”
The eighth episode, titled “Assassination Run,” is the season finale and is written by Kripe, Jessica Chou, and David Reed.
Cause you're asking! We've been shooting since late August. I'm here to prep & direct the Season 4 finale. No, not the series finale, there will be more! Most importantly, S4 premieres… at some point in the future in our discernible reality. @PrimeVideo @SPTV https://t.co/UgNBPZKlCT
— Eric Kripke (@therealKripke) February 12, 2023
This gives us two things: Firstly since they are shooting the season 4 finale, we can expect the latest season to arrive by the end of 2023, given they will take time in post-production. Secondly, although season 5 has not been officially renewed, we know that there will be a season 5 based on Kripke’s implicit comment.
Will there be The Boys Season 5?
Kripke also recently shared that there will be a fifth season of The Boys, in conversation with DigitalSpy, saying:
“Cause you’re asking! We’ve been shooting since late August. I’m here to prep & direct the Season 4 finale. No, not the series finale, there will be more!”
He tweeted, “Most importantly, S4 premieres… at some point in the future in our discernible reality.”
Not only that, but Jensen Ackles who featured as Soldier Boy in season three highlights, shared some of his insights on the future of the show. He confirmed that Soldier Boy will undoubtedly appear in spin-off Gen V for a “brief moment” along with “a few cameos from the mothership.”
On a scale of 1-10, how suped are you to stream The Boys season 4 on Amazon Prime? Drop your comments in the comment section below!