The Boys | |
---|---|
Season 4 | |
![]() Promotional poster | |
Showrunner | Eric Kripke |
Starring | |
No. of episodes | 5 |
Release | |
Original network | Amazon Prime Video |
Original release | June 13, 2024 present | –
Season chronology | |
The fourth season of the American satirical superhero television series The Boys, the first series in the franchise based on the comic book series of the same name written by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was developed for television by American writer and television producer Eric Kripke. The season is produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kripke Enterprises, Kickstart Entertainment and KFL Nightsky Productions.
The show's fourth season stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Cameron Crovetti returning from prior seasons, with Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan joining the cast. Taking place six months after the events of the previous season, Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the control of Homelander, who is consolidating his power. With only months to live, Billy Butcher must find a way to work with The Boys, who are fed up with his lies, if they want to save the world before it's too late.
The season was announced following the third season premiere. Its first three episodes were released on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on June 13, 2024, after which episodes are slated to be released on a weekly basis. The season has received critical acclaim for its action sequences, character development, dark humor, emotional depth, storyline, blend of political commentary and surrealism, and performances (particularly Urban and Starr); [1] [2] [3] though audience response has been divisive. [4]
On May 14, 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth season. Kripke announced that the fifth season would serve as the series' final season on June 11, two days before season four premiered. [5] [6] [7]
No. overall |
No. in season | Title [8] | Directed by | Written by [8] | Original release date [9] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
25 | 1 | "Department of Dirty Tricks" | Phil Sgriccia | David Reed | June 13, 2024 | |
The
CIA tasks The Boys to eliminate Neuman, but the mission goes awry when they are discovered by Neuman's daughter, Zoe, who attacks the group and kills two CIA agents. Ryan learns
Butcher has approximately six months to live. At CIA headquarters, Butcher meets Kessler, an old friend, who tries to recruit him to take down the Supes.
Homelander, obsessed with his aging and fed up with his sycophant group, recruits Sister Sage (known for being the smartest person on the planet) to join The Seven. He and Sage have three supporters killed, including Todd, Janine's former stepfather. Sage initiates a
riot outside the courthouse when Homelander is found not guilty; A-Train dumps the bodies of Homelander's supporters into the riot, ensuring the Starlighters are blamed. Butcher arranges a meeting with Neuman for the Red River files, but changes his mind at the last second after having a hallucination of Becca.
Hughie learns his father has suffered a
stroke and reunites with his mother. | ||||||
26 | 2 | "Life Among the Septics" | Karen Gaviola | Jessica Chou | June 13, 2024 | |
Butcher tells The Boys his remaining time to live and is kicked out. However, Butcher tracks them and helps them to spy on Sage, who is recruiting
alt-right Supe Firecracker at TruthCon. Billy and
M.M. have a fight, causing the former to leave. Their plan is thwarted when Sage, Firecracker, and Splinter intervene. A fight ensues in which Butcher returns and results in the killing of Splinter; Firecracker escapes in the aftermath. Guilty over his actions, A-Train gives Hughie and
Annie files regarding Starlighters accused of murder. Homelander and Sage organize Ryan's first public mission, a scripted rescue. The mission ends awfully when Homelander appears off-script and forces Ryan to kill the stuntman disguised as the criminal. Butcher opens up to M.M. into returning to The Boys, to no success. | ||||||
27 | 3 | "We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here" | Fred Toye | Ellie Monahan | June 13, 2024 | |
Homelander introduces Sage and Firecracker as new members of The Seven and appoints Sage as the new
CEO in Ashley's place. Butcher meets a friend, Joe Kessler, and they come up with a plan to kidnap Ryan. The former arranges a meeting with Ryan, with the intent of drugging him, but they instead spend time bonding together. M.M. recruits A-Train as a spy, who reluctantly accepts. Frenchie and Kimiko go on a mission to destroy a Shining Light Liberation Army cell. During the mission, a drugged Frenchie hallucinates about his past, while Kimiko is confronted by an old acquaintance. Annie confronts Firecracker, who reveals that she holds a grudge against her because of a rumor she spread that ruined her career. Hughie and M.M. infiltrate a meeting between Homelander, Neuman, and Sage to assassinate Robert Singer, which goes awry when Homelander detects Hughie; A-Train rescues him. Hughie's mother, Daphne, reveals that
depression and a failed
suicide attempt led to her departure. Ryan returns to his room only to be confronted by Homelander for visiting Butcher, causing Homelander to have a mental breakdown. | ||||||
28 | 4 | "Wisdom of the Ages" | Phil Sgriccia | Geoff Aull | June 20, 2024 | |
Homelander returns to the laboratory where he was raised to torment and slaughter the staff, except for its director Barbara Findley. Daphne intends to take Hugh Sr. off
life support, much to Hughie's anger. Annie meets with Singer to assist him if he promises to take down Vought. Hughie and Kimiko meet with A-Train for Compound V, which is intended for his father. The two are then ambushed by the Shining Light but they fight them off. M.M. brings Butcher back in The Boys and they attempt to blackmail Firecracker into revealing Sage's plan but fail. Firecracker delivers a public talk organized by Sage to discredit Annie and reveal her
abortion. Outraged, Annie brutally beats her during the broadcast, souring her reputation, and Singer cuts ties with her. Frenchie investigates Firecracker's trailer but is attacked by Ezekiel. Butcher intervenes before blacking out, only to find Ezekiel dead. He later follows Hughie while he receives the V from A-Train. Butcher confesses to having taken V to cure his illness, to no avail. Frenchie confesses to Colin about killing his family, resulting in the latter beating him. Hughie visits his father to find the V is already administered, waking him up from his coma. Homelander leaves Barbara locked in a room with her dead colleagues. | ||||||
29 | 5 | "Beware the Jabberwock, My Son" | Shana Stein | Judalina Neira | June 27, 2024 | |
After Hugh Sr. wakes up from his coma, Daphne reveals it was she who administered the Compound V. Butcher reveals to The Boys a virus that kills Supes,
[a] which is in Neuman's possession. He and M.M. visit Stan Edgar in prison to help them obtain the virus in exchange for exonerating him. The Boys go to a farmhouse where they discover Compound V and the virus has been experimented on several animals. The group searches for scientist Dr. Sameer Shah, father of Zoe, but is ambushed by the mutated animals; they manage to find Sameer and kill the animals with the last dose of the virus. M.M. has Stan returned to prison due to the lack of the virus only for Neuman to free Stan. At the hospital, an empowered and confused Hugh Sr. murders several patients after failing to control his powers; Hughie calms him long enough to administer a
lethal injection to end him peacefully. Homelander tells The Seven,
Tek Knight,
Cate Dunlap, and
Sam Riordan that they will now be "wrathful gods" and that they must be cruel and ruthless for the greater good. Vought news anchor Cameron Coleman is framed by Ashley for leaking the video footage and is beaten up by them. Frenchie turns himself into the police for his past murders. Butcher reveals to Joe that he has kidnapped Sameer and plans to use him to replicate the virus. | ||||||
30 | 6 | "Dirty Business" | TBA | Anslem Richardson | July 4, 2024 | |
31 | 7 | "The Insider" | TBA | Paul Grellong | July 11, 2024 | |
32 | 8 | "Assassination Run" | Eric Kripke [11] | Jessica Chou & David Reed | July 18, 2024 |
In "Life Among the Septics", Will Ferrell portrays a fictionalized version of himself playing Richard Brinkerhoff (better known as "Brink"), during the filming of Training A-Train, a role previously portrayed by Clancy Brown in two episodes of The Boys spin-off series Gen V (2023–present). [31] [32] [33] Shoshana Bean, Andrew Rannells, and James Monroe Iglehart provide the singing voices of the figure skaters, portraying Queen Maeve, Homelander and Jesus, respectively, during the "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas" rehearsal musical sequence in "We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here". [34] [35] [36]
On June 10, 2022, Amazon Prime Video renewed the series for a fourth season. [37]
According to showrunner Eric Kripke, figuring out a way to save Ryan's soul is a key priority for Butcher in season four, with Kripke saying it's like Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) combined with Avengers: Endgame (2019). [38] On December 4, 2023, Kripke hinted that a scene from season four might include "the batshit craziest thing" ever filmed for the series and expressed his own surprise that he "got away with it". [39] He also teased how each episode this season will play out, saying: "I think every episode has at least one totally fucking bananas moment. I love the ones in episode five. Episode six makes me cover my mouth with my hands every time I watch it. So, I think there's lots of good stuff going on." [40]
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Kripke described the inspirations of Valorie Curry's character, Misty Tucker Gray / Firecracker, stating: "I think it's like [politicians] Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert. When we were writing her, [South Dakota Gov.] Kristi Noem wasn't in our heads, but then she comes out and she's shooting puppies and then it's like, 'There's Firecracker! She's literally shooting puppies!'" [40] Kripke also spoke with Variety about the development of the character, saying: "Firecracker came from like, 'Hey, isn't Marjorie Taylor Greene scary?' And just that type of personality. Like, you had [Donald] Trump, but now you have these Trump spawn that are trying to outdo each other for how outrageous and sexualized and gun-toting and slavishly obedient they can be. And just that idea — it wouldn't just start and end with Homelander, he would start to create these spores that would grow into these other characters, and she's a version of that." [41] Kripke also revealed that Susan Heyward's character, Jessica "Sage" Bradley / Sister Sage, was conceived out of a conversation about one of Homelander's big weaknesses, stating: "He's generally surrounded by idiots. And so if we gave him someone truly brilliant, that makes him much more formidable. It turns out that that's a really hard character to write! Because you have to write things that the smartest person in the world would think of and we're not the smartest people in the world, so that's really difficult. And then Sage became a really interesting character, so that's really difficult." [41]
On July 8, 2022, it was announced Nathan Mitchell (who portrayed the masked Black Noir in the first three seasons), despite his character's death in the third season finale, would continue to portray Black Noir but as a new entity of the character ( Black Noir II) in a main capacity in the fourth season. [12] On August 1, it was reported that Cameron Crovetti had been promoted as a series regular, while Curry and Heyward were cast as new series regulars for the fourth season. [13] On August 25, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was cast as a recurring guest star for the fourth season. [16] On December 1, Rob Benedict and Elliot Knight joined the cast in undisclosed capacities for the fourth season, alongside Rosemarie DeWitt who was revealed to play Hughie's mother, Daphne. [42] [43] [44] After the three-episode premiere, it was revealed that Benedict and Knight were portraying Splinter [23] and Colin, [19] respectively.
On April 29, 2023, it was reported that Dan Mousseau will be portraying Webweaver, a parody of Spider-Man. [30] [45] [46] A first-look image of the character was shared during the V52 Expo, a fictional convention put on by Vought that parodies Disney's D23 Expo. [46] [47] [48]
On May 3, 2024, the official trailer revealed Maddie Phillips and Asa Germann would appear in the fourth season, reprising their roles from Gen V as Cate Dunlap and Sam Riordan, respectively; Derek Wilson also reprises his role as Robert Vernon / Tek Knight from Gen V. [28] [27] [49]
The fourth season includes an original song, written by series composer Christopher Lennertz, titled "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas". The song is featured in the third episode ("We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here"), which was performed by Shoshana Bean, James Monroe Iglehart, Andrew Rannells and the cast of the fictional "Vought on Ice" figure skating performers. [35] On June 14, 2024, the music video was released on YouTube. [50] An official website for "Vought on Ice" was also created. [51] "Vought on Ice" serves a similar narrative purpose to Rogers: The Musical, an in-universe Broadway musical in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, based on the events of 2012 film The Avengers, first featured in the miniseries Hawkeye (2021). [35]
As Lennertz delved into composing the song, he immersed himself in a marathon of ice capade shows, including " Disney on Ice", "Frozen on Ice" and others, seeking inspiration for the dance's final form. "I knew sleigh bells were essential and the tempo had to be lively," he reflected. Then, the essence of Vought, a hallmark of Kripke's storytelling, began to permeate his work. While Lennertz matched high notes to laser sounds, his longtime friend shared articles about the latest uproars over anti-Christmas sentiments. One notable moment was Candace Cameron Bure's stance against LGBTQ+ representation in Hallmark Channel's Christmas movies, which Lennertz found to be a telling source of exasperated satire. [35] [52] [53]
The fourth season commenced filming on August 22, 2022. [54] Simon Pegg concluded filming his scenes on January 18, 2023. [55] Filming on the finale began on February 12, [56] with Starr concluding filming his scenes on April 4. [57] Filming on the fourth season officially wrapped on April 12, 2023. [58]
On June 28, 2023, Kripke confirmed that he was withholding release of the new season until the WGA strike was resolved. [59] The following year, the season premiered its first three episodes on June 13, 2024, while the rest of the episodes are set to be released on a weekly basis until July 18. [9]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth season holds an approval rating of 93%, based on 97 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Boxing in the political arena with a bloodied smile, The Boys' fourth season is grim and even a little glum while holding up a cracked mirror towards modern society." [60] On Metacritic, the season holds a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [61]
Following its three-episode premiere, the season received a mixed response among audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Users have mainly criticized the season leaning toward more left-wing political commentary, compared to both left- and right-wing commentary from prior seasons; [62] due to this, critics have attributed the audience response as review bombing. [4] Numerous journalists, fans, and critics have theorized and noted 45th President Donald Trump inspired the series character development of Homelander, [63] a theory which has been confirmed by Kripke. [64] During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kripke described the series as a "story about the intersection of celebrity and authoritarianism and how social media and entertainment are used to sell fascism". [65]
On June 22, 2024, in response to the review bombing, the Vought International X account and YouTube channel addressed the controversy head-on by uploading a promotional video that introduced BROWSER, promoting internet privacy while still allowing users to "review bomb" woke television shows; the video was presented by character Ashley Barrett ( Colby Minifie). [66] [67] [68]
Garth Ennis, co-creator of the comic book series, addressed his thoughts about the right-wing fans and their reaction to the series' satire, claiming that this a world where "both ends of the political spectrum can claim they are the Jedi and the other guys are the Sith" and that "we're through the looking glass". He also pointed out that the contrast from certain fans comes from the fact that "people are choosing what to believe" in regards to series. [69] Conversely, one element of the season fans have praised is Starr's performance, particularly in the fourth episode ("Wisdom of the Ages"). Following the aforementioned episode's release, many users on social media campaigned for Starr to win a Primetime Emmy Award, expressing how deserving he is of such an honor, [70] a sentiment that critics have previously concurred with on multiple occasions; [71] Kripke himself also agreed. [72]
According to Amazon, the first three episodes of the season received a 21% increase in total viewers compared to season three in the first four days since launch. Season four is now among the Top 5 most-viewed TV seasons on Amazon Prime Video through its first four days, according to the streamer. It was also reported that season four tallied the second most viewers of any returning season on Prime Video through its first four days, behind only the second season of Reacher. Furthermore, Amazon reported that The Boys has now grown in global viewership per season. [73]
Ryan is a really important piece of the story because he's half Becca, half Homelander. If Butcher can figure out how to get his shit together and get the kid back, that could be the single best weapon they have against Homelander. But vice versa. If Homelander wins the kid over, that's apocalyptic because then there's two Homelanders. It's like a child drama with apocalyptic stakes. It's like Kramer vs. Kramer meets Avengers: Endgame. So that will be a really rich story moving forward.
Give that guy an Emmy already. I don't understand why it hasn't happened yet.
The Boys | |
---|---|
Season 4 | |
![]() Promotional poster | |
Showrunner | Eric Kripke |
Starring | |
No. of episodes | 5 |
Release | |
Original network | Amazon Prime Video |
Original release | June 13, 2024 present | –
Season chronology | |
The fourth season of the American satirical superhero television series The Boys, the first series in the franchise based on the comic book series of the same name written by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, was developed for television by American writer and television producer Eric Kripke. The season is produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with Point Grey Pictures, Original Film, Kripke Enterprises, Kickstart Entertainment and KFL Nightsky Productions.
The show's fourth season stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Cameron Crovetti returning from prior seasons, with Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan joining the cast. Taking place six months after the events of the previous season, Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the control of Homelander, who is consolidating his power. With only months to live, Billy Butcher must find a way to work with The Boys, who are fed up with his lies, if they want to save the world before it's too late.
The season was announced following the third season premiere. Its first three episodes were released on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video on June 13, 2024, after which episodes are slated to be released on a weekly basis. The season has received critical acclaim for its action sequences, character development, dark humor, emotional depth, storyline, blend of political commentary and surrealism, and performances (particularly Urban and Starr); [1] [2] [3] though audience response has been divisive. [4]
On May 14, 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth season. Kripke announced that the fifth season would serve as the series' final season on June 11, two days before season four premiered. [5] [6] [7]
No. overall |
No. in season | Title [8] | Directed by | Written by [8] | Original release date [9] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
25 | 1 | "Department of Dirty Tricks" | Phil Sgriccia | David Reed | June 13, 2024 | |
The
CIA tasks The Boys to eliminate Neuman, but the mission goes awry when they are discovered by Neuman's daughter, Zoe, who attacks the group and kills two CIA agents. Ryan learns
Butcher has approximately six months to live. At CIA headquarters, Butcher meets Kessler, an old friend, who tries to recruit him to take down the Supes.
Homelander, obsessed with his aging and fed up with his sycophant group, recruits Sister Sage (known for being the smartest person on the planet) to join The Seven. He and Sage have three supporters killed, including Todd, Janine's former stepfather. Sage initiates a
riot outside the courthouse when Homelander is found not guilty; A-Train dumps the bodies of Homelander's supporters into the riot, ensuring the Starlighters are blamed. Butcher arranges a meeting with Neuman for the Red River files, but changes his mind at the last second after having a hallucination of Becca.
Hughie learns his father has suffered a
stroke and reunites with his mother. | ||||||
26 | 2 | "Life Among the Septics" | Karen Gaviola | Jessica Chou | June 13, 2024 | |
Butcher tells The Boys his remaining time to live and is kicked out. However, Butcher tracks them and helps them to spy on Sage, who is recruiting
alt-right Supe Firecracker at TruthCon. Billy and
M.M. have a fight, causing the former to leave. Their plan is thwarted when Sage, Firecracker, and Splinter intervene. A fight ensues in which Butcher returns and results in the killing of Splinter; Firecracker escapes in the aftermath. Guilty over his actions, A-Train gives Hughie and
Annie files regarding Starlighters accused of murder. Homelander and Sage organize Ryan's first public mission, a scripted rescue. The mission ends awfully when Homelander appears off-script and forces Ryan to kill the stuntman disguised as the criminal. Butcher opens up to M.M. into returning to The Boys, to no success. | ||||||
27 | 3 | "We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here" | Fred Toye | Ellie Monahan | June 13, 2024 | |
Homelander introduces Sage and Firecracker as new members of The Seven and appoints Sage as the new
CEO in Ashley's place. Butcher meets a friend, Joe Kessler, and they come up with a plan to kidnap Ryan. The former arranges a meeting with Ryan, with the intent of drugging him, but they instead spend time bonding together. M.M. recruits A-Train as a spy, who reluctantly accepts. Frenchie and Kimiko go on a mission to destroy a Shining Light Liberation Army cell. During the mission, a drugged Frenchie hallucinates about his past, while Kimiko is confronted by an old acquaintance. Annie confronts Firecracker, who reveals that she holds a grudge against her because of a rumor she spread that ruined her career. Hughie and M.M. infiltrate a meeting between Homelander, Neuman, and Sage to assassinate Robert Singer, which goes awry when Homelander detects Hughie; A-Train rescues him. Hughie's mother, Daphne, reveals that
depression and a failed
suicide attempt led to her departure. Ryan returns to his room only to be confronted by Homelander for visiting Butcher, causing Homelander to have a mental breakdown. | ||||||
28 | 4 | "Wisdom of the Ages" | Phil Sgriccia | Geoff Aull | June 20, 2024 | |
Homelander returns to the laboratory where he was raised to torment and slaughter the staff, except for its director Barbara Findley. Daphne intends to take Hugh Sr. off
life support, much to Hughie's anger. Annie meets with Singer to assist him if he promises to take down Vought. Hughie and Kimiko meet with A-Train for Compound V, which is intended for his father. The two are then ambushed by the Shining Light but they fight them off. M.M. brings Butcher back in The Boys and they attempt to blackmail Firecracker into revealing Sage's plan but fail. Firecracker delivers a public talk organized by Sage to discredit Annie and reveal her
abortion. Outraged, Annie brutally beats her during the broadcast, souring her reputation, and Singer cuts ties with her. Frenchie investigates Firecracker's trailer but is attacked by Ezekiel. Butcher intervenes before blacking out, only to find Ezekiel dead. He later follows Hughie while he receives the V from A-Train. Butcher confesses to having taken V to cure his illness, to no avail. Frenchie confesses to Colin about killing his family, resulting in the latter beating him. Hughie visits his father to find the V is already administered, waking him up from his coma. Homelander leaves Barbara locked in a room with her dead colleagues. | ||||||
29 | 5 | "Beware the Jabberwock, My Son" | Shana Stein | Judalina Neira | June 27, 2024 | |
After Hugh Sr. wakes up from his coma, Daphne reveals it was she who administered the Compound V. Butcher reveals to The Boys a virus that kills Supes,
[a] which is in Neuman's possession. He and M.M. visit Stan Edgar in prison to help them obtain the virus in exchange for exonerating him. The Boys go to a farmhouse where they discover Compound V and the virus has been experimented on several animals. The group searches for scientist Dr. Sameer Shah, father of Zoe, but is ambushed by the mutated animals; they manage to find Sameer and kill the animals with the last dose of the virus. M.M. has Stan returned to prison due to the lack of the virus only for Neuman to free Stan. At the hospital, an empowered and confused Hugh Sr. murders several patients after failing to control his powers; Hughie calms him long enough to administer a
lethal injection to end him peacefully. Homelander tells The Seven,
Tek Knight,
Cate Dunlap, and
Sam Riordan that they will now be "wrathful gods" and that they must be cruel and ruthless for the greater good. Vought news anchor Cameron Coleman is framed by Ashley for leaking the video footage and is beaten up by them. Frenchie turns himself into the police for his past murders. Butcher reveals to Joe that he has kidnapped Sameer and plans to use him to replicate the virus. | ||||||
30 | 6 | "Dirty Business" | TBA | Anslem Richardson | July 4, 2024 | |
31 | 7 | "The Insider" | TBA | Paul Grellong | July 11, 2024 | |
32 | 8 | "Assassination Run" | Eric Kripke [11] | Jessica Chou & David Reed | July 18, 2024 |
In "Life Among the Septics", Will Ferrell portrays a fictionalized version of himself playing Richard Brinkerhoff (better known as "Brink"), during the filming of Training A-Train, a role previously portrayed by Clancy Brown in two episodes of The Boys spin-off series Gen V (2023–present). [31] [32] [33] Shoshana Bean, Andrew Rannells, and James Monroe Iglehart provide the singing voices of the figure skaters, portraying Queen Maeve, Homelander and Jesus, respectively, during the "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas" rehearsal musical sequence in "We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here". [34] [35] [36]
On June 10, 2022, Amazon Prime Video renewed the series for a fourth season. [37]
According to showrunner Eric Kripke, figuring out a way to save Ryan's soul is a key priority for Butcher in season four, with Kripke saying it's like Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) combined with Avengers: Endgame (2019). [38] On December 4, 2023, Kripke hinted that a scene from season four might include "the batshit craziest thing" ever filmed for the series and expressed his own surprise that he "got away with it". [39] He also teased how each episode this season will play out, saying: "I think every episode has at least one totally fucking bananas moment. I love the ones in episode five. Episode six makes me cover my mouth with my hands every time I watch it. So, I think there's lots of good stuff going on." [40]
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Kripke described the inspirations of Valorie Curry's character, Misty Tucker Gray / Firecracker, stating: "I think it's like [politicians] Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert. When we were writing her, [South Dakota Gov.] Kristi Noem wasn't in our heads, but then she comes out and she's shooting puppies and then it's like, 'There's Firecracker! She's literally shooting puppies!'" [40] Kripke also spoke with Variety about the development of the character, saying: "Firecracker came from like, 'Hey, isn't Marjorie Taylor Greene scary?' And just that type of personality. Like, you had [Donald] Trump, but now you have these Trump spawn that are trying to outdo each other for how outrageous and sexualized and gun-toting and slavishly obedient they can be. And just that idea — it wouldn't just start and end with Homelander, he would start to create these spores that would grow into these other characters, and she's a version of that." [41] Kripke also revealed that Susan Heyward's character, Jessica "Sage" Bradley / Sister Sage, was conceived out of a conversation about one of Homelander's big weaknesses, stating: "He's generally surrounded by idiots. And so if we gave him someone truly brilliant, that makes him much more formidable. It turns out that that's a really hard character to write! Because you have to write things that the smartest person in the world would think of and we're not the smartest people in the world, so that's really difficult. And then Sage became a really interesting character, so that's really difficult." [41]
On July 8, 2022, it was announced Nathan Mitchell (who portrayed the masked Black Noir in the first three seasons), despite his character's death in the third season finale, would continue to portray Black Noir but as a new entity of the character ( Black Noir II) in a main capacity in the fourth season. [12] On August 1, it was reported that Cameron Crovetti had been promoted as a series regular, while Curry and Heyward were cast as new series regulars for the fourth season. [13] On August 25, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was cast as a recurring guest star for the fourth season. [16] On December 1, Rob Benedict and Elliot Knight joined the cast in undisclosed capacities for the fourth season, alongside Rosemarie DeWitt who was revealed to play Hughie's mother, Daphne. [42] [43] [44] After the three-episode premiere, it was revealed that Benedict and Knight were portraying Splinter [23] and Colin, [19] respectively.
On April 29, 2023, it was reported that Dan Mousseau will be portraying Webweaver, a parody of Spider-Man. [30] [45] [46] A first-look image of the character was shared during the V52 Expo, a fictional convention put on by Vought that parodies Disney's D23 Expo. [46] [47] [48]
On May 3, 2024, the official trailer revealed Maddie Phillips and Asa Germann would appear in the fourth season, reprising their roles from Gen V as Cate Dunlap and Sam Riordan, respectively; Derek Wilson also reprises his role as Robert Vernon / Tek Knight from Gen V. [28] [27] [49]
The fourth season includes an original song, written by series composer Christopher Lennertz, titled "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas". The song is featured in the third episode ("We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here"), which was performed by Shoshana Bean, James Monroe Iglehart, Andrew Rannells and the cast of the fictional "Vought on Ice" figure skating performers. [35] On June 14, 2024, the music video was released on YouTube. [50] An official website for "Vought on Ice" was also created. [51] "Vought on Ice" serves a similar narrative purpose to Rogers: The Musical, an in-universe Broadway musical in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, based on the events of 2012 film The Avengers, first featured in the miniseries Hawkeye (2021). [35]
As Lennertz delved into composing the song, he immersed himself in a marathon of ice capade shows, including " Disney on Ice", "Frozen on Ice" and others, seeking inspiration for the dance's final form. "I knew sleigh bells were essential and the tempo had to be lively," he reflected. Then, the essence of Vought, a hallmark of Kripke's storytelling, began to permeate his work. While Lennertz matched high notes to laser sounds, his longtime friend shared articles about the latest uproars over anti-Christmas sentiments. One notable moment was Candace Cameron Bure's stance against LGBTQ+ representation in Hallmark Channel's Christmas movies, which Lennertz found to be a telling source of exasperated satire. [35] [52] [53]
The fourth season commenced filming on August 22, 2022. [54] Simon Pegg concluded filming his scenes on January 18, 2023. [55] Filming on the finale began on February 12, [56] with Starr concluding filming his scenes on April 4. [57] Filming on the fourth season officially wrapped on April 12, 2023. [58]
On June 28, 2023, Kripke confirmed that he was withholding release of the new season until the WGA strike was resolved. [59] The following year, the season premiered its first three episodes on June 13, 2024, while the rest of the episodes are set to be released on a weekly basis until July 18. [9]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth season holds an approval rating of 93%, based on 97 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Boxing in the political arena with a bloodied smile, The Boys' fourth season is grim and even a little glum while holding up a cracked mirror towards modern society." [60] On Metacritic, the season holds a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [61]
Following its three-episode premiere, the season received a mixed response among audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Users have mainly criticized the season leaning toward more left-wing political commentary, compared to both left- and right-wing commentary from prior seasons; [62] due to this, critics have attributed the audience response as review bombing. [4] Numerous journalists, fans, and critics have theorized and noted 45th President Donald Trump inspired the series character development of Homelander, [63] a theory which has been confirmed by Kripke. [64] During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kripke described the series as a "story about the intersection of celebrity and authoritarianism and how social media and entertainment are used to sell fascism". [65]
On June 22, 2024, in response to the review bombing, the Vought International X account and YouTube channel addressed the controversy head-on by uploading a promotional video that introduced BROWSER, promoting internet privacy while still allowing users to "review bomb" woke television shows; the video was presented by character Ashley Barrett ( Colby Minifie). [66] [67] [68]
Garth Ennis, co-creator of the comic book series, addressed his thoughts about the right-wing fans and their reaction to the series' satire, claiming that this a world where "both ends of the political spectrum can claim they are the Jedi and the other guys are the Sith" and that "we're through the looking glass". He also pointed out that the contrast from certain fans comes from the fact that "people are choosing what to believe" in regards to series. [69] Conversely, one element of the season fans have praised is Starr's performance, particularly in the fourth episode ("Wisdom of the Ages"). Following the aforementioned episode's release, many users on social media campaigned for Starr to win a Primetime Emmy Award, expressing how deserving he is of such an honor, [70] a sentiment that critics have previously concurred with on multiple occasions; [71] Kripke himself also agreed. [72]
According to Amazon, the first three episodes of the season received a 21% increase in total viewers compared to season three in the first four days since launch. Season four is now among the Top 5 most-viewed TV seasons on Amazon Prime Video through its first four days, according to the streamer. It was also reported that season four tallied the second most viewers of any returning season on Prime Video through its first four days, behind only the second season of Reacher. Furthermore, Amazon reported that The Boys has now grown in global viewership per season. [73]
Ryan is a really important piece of the story because he's half Becca, half Homelander. If Butcher can figure out how to get his shit together and get the kid back, that could be the single best weapon they have against Homelander. But vice versa. If Homelander wins the kid over, that's apocalyptic because then there's two Homelanders. It's like a child drama with apocalyptic stakes. It's like Kramer vs. Kramer meets Avengers: Endgame. So that will be a really rich story moving forward.
Give that guy an Emmy already. I don't understand why it hasn't happened yet.