The Boys Season 4: Release date, cast, plot & more
AmazonThe Boys Season 4 release date is finally here. So, with these crazy superheroes on the loose again, here’s all we know about the cast, plot, and more.
The most hilarious and brutal superhero TV show is back, and it’s bloodier than ever. Even better, we got the first three episodes of The Boys Season 4 in one swoop, so there’s plenty to get stuck into already.
The Boys is the gift that keeps on giving these days. Not only is it based on some of the best graphic novels around, but there’s also the spinoff show, Gen V, to dive into.
There’s a while to wait for Gen V Season 2, though. But, luckily, The Boys Season 4 release date is here and it’ll keep us occupied for quite some time.
The Boys Season 4 release date
The Boys Season 4 premiered with three episodes on Thursday, June 13, 2024.
Its renewal was first reported by Deadline on June 10, 2022, a week after Season 3 hit Prime Video. In figures shared by the platform, The Boys’ global viewership has increased 17% from Season 1, and an incredible 234% from Season 2.
Vernon Sanders, head of global television at Amazon Studios, said: “From our first conversation with Eric Kripke and the creative team about Season 3 of The Boys, we knew the show was continuing to get even bolder — an impressive feat considering the wild success of the Emmy-nominated second season.”
Showrunner Eric Kripke added: “We’re thrilled to continue Butcher and The Boys’ fight against Homelander and The Seven, as well as comment on the insane world we’re living in. Also, this is the first time in history that exploding genitalia has led to further success.”
Filming for The Boys Season 4 reportedly wrapped filming back in April 2023. In an April 9, 2024 tweet, Kripke shared that the episodes were “completely, totally, absolutely DONE” and ready for release.
Is there a trailer?
Yes, a new trailer for The Boys Season 4 dropped on May 3, 2024. Check it out below:
There was also a fake campaign announcement that teases the upcoming plot of Season 4, which you can watch below:
The video features Vought CEO Ashley Barrett, who states that Homelander is now on trial due to him murdering a protesting civilian at the very end of last season. She proclaims his innocence, making a satirical joke at the American legal system, and implores viewers to tweet #HomeFree, which will no doubt be a way to drum up hype for Season 4.
The Boys also released a Super Tuesday-themed campaign video from the show’s hopeful VP, Victoria Neuman. In the video, Neuman gives some insights into what the Boys may end up facing this season.
Most interestingly, Neuman says that if she and Robert Singer are elected, they will do more to give Supes a “seat at the table” including creating a special position for them. Could that be hinting at putting Homelander in the US government or even the White House?
Who’s in the cast?
Anthony Starr leads the way as Homelander once more, while Karl Urban reprises his role as Billy Butcher.
They’re joined by other series regulars like Jack Quaid (Hughie), Laz Alonso (MM), Tomer Capone (Frenchie), and Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko). As for the Supes, we’ll see Erin Moriarty (Starlight), Chace Crawford (The Deep), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), and maybe even Dominique McElligott (Queen Maeve), all return.
The big villain for the new season will be Victoria Neuman, with Claudia Doumit reprising her role as the head-popping politician.
We’ll also see two members of the Gen V cast crossover into the main show. Sam and Cate (played by Asa Germann and Maddie Phillips respectively) are standing next to A-Train in the new tease, so they could well be part of The Seven moving forward.
The Boys Season 4 cast:
- Karl Urban as Billy Butcher
- Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell
- Laz Alonso as MM
- Tomer Capone as Frenchie
- Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko
- Erin Moriarty as Annie January/Starlight
- Antony Starr as Homelander
- Chace Crawford as The Deep
- Dominique McElligott as Maggie Shaw/Queen Maeve
- Jessie T. Usher as A-Train
- Cameron Crovetti as Ryan
- Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
- Claudia Doumit as Victoria Neuman
- Asa Germann as Sam
- Maddie Phillips as Cate
- Valorie Curry as Firecracker
- Susan Heywood as Sister Sage
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler
- Simon Pegg as Hugh Campbell Sr.
- Rosemarie DeWitt as Hughie’s mother
- Rob Benedict
- Elliot Knight
We’re also expecting Jensen Ackles to make a return as Soldier Boy. Kripke previously told Entertainment Tonight: “The old TV adage is like, never kill anyone unless you really, really have to. Never close a door, open a window. We’ll all have to wait and see, but I can’t imagine the series ending without Soldier Boy making another appearance.”
Cameron Crovetti, who plays Homelander’s son Ryan, has been bumped up to a series regular for Season 4. We’ve also got some new Supes with Valorie Curry’s Firecracker and Susan Heyward’s Sister Sage. Neither of these characters have any origins in the comics.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan has also officially joined The Boys Season 4 cast as a recurring guest star. It is thought he will be playing Joe Kessler, also known as Monkey in the comics.
Simon Pegg will return as Hughie’s dad. After appearing in just five episodes of Season 1, he vanished in Season 2, before re-appearing in Season 3. He’ll be joined by Rosemarie DeWitt as Hughie’s mother, a character we’ve yet to meet previously.
Supernatural’s Rob Benedict and Once Upon a Time’s Elliot Knight have also joined the cast in undisclosed roles.
We got a great look at the gang in a tweet from DiscussingFilm (see below), with the six members of The Seven (yes, we know that doesn’t make sense) smiling on stage.
What will it be about?
The Boys Season 4 sees Homelander and Butcher at odds once more, while Victoria Neuman continues her assault on the White House looking for political power.
Prime VideoWe’ve got recaps for Episode 1, Episode 2, and Episode 3 of The Boys Season 4 if you need to get up to speed.
Kripke previously teased what to expect, telling Collider: “Moving forward, Ryan is a really important part of it. Both Butcher and Homelander have very good reasons to fight over Ryan, because the stakes could not be higher.
“If Ryan goes Homelander’s way and then there’s two Homelanders in the world, that’s a nightmare for the planet. If Butcher can get Ryan into the light, then that’s probably the best weapon they have against Homelander. It’s always been a show about family. So much of Season 3 was about fathers, so I think it makes sense that Season 4 is about sons.”
We know Homelander will be on trial for murdering a protesting civilian at the very end of Season 3. However, The Boys theories suggest he could be freed without punishment, and he appears to still be the Captain of the Seven.
Homelander’s Starr promised things are going to get even weirder in the next chapter. Speaking to Variety, he said The Boys “somehow gets weirder and weirder and weirder.” For one scene, he said “I was looking at the person I was opposite, and I said, ‘What are we doing? I can’t believe this! I could have done anything else with my life, but here I am doing this?’ It was truly the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done.”
That seems to be a common theme. In an interview with Collider, Pegg teased: “You know how crazy The Boys is? It’s gonna get crazier. I had so much fun on that show. It was so great to go back and play Hugh Sr. I love Jack [Quaid]. It was great to work with Rosemarie DeWitt, who plays Hughie’s mom, who comes back. It’s going to be great. You’re gonna love it.
“I’m in about four episodes, and it was a joy to be back. It’s a great crew. They are an amazing bunch of people, and that show is sick as fuck!”
Amazon Prime VideoWe also know that The Boys spin-off show Gen V is going to act as a springboard for what’s to come.
“It was great to shoot Gen V because they tee up a lot of stuff that’s going to happen in season 4 for The Boys,” Claudia Doumit said during a pre-strike interview with EW. “Gen V lays a lot of the groundwork and a lot of the foundations that season 4 will be built on for The Boys. So, watch it because it gives you a lot of information.”
In an interview with Variety, Kripke also confirmed the timeline between Gen V and Season 4. “In our minds, it’s only a couple of days after whatever the events of Gen V. We try to keep the timeline super simple… it’s all very modular.
“It’s like there’s Season 3 of The Boys, and then after that Gen V takes place, and then after that The Boys Season 4 takes place. And then after that, Gen V Season 2 takes place. It’s all more like cars on a train than it is a plate of spaghetti.”
What happened in Season 3?
At the end of Season 3, Neuman was revealed as a supe who’d used her powers to explode a whole bunch of heads in Congress. And, we saw Homelander lose his cool in public, murdering a protestor, but getting praised for it by those who support him.
Hughie started off the season working for Neuman, hunting down supes the official way with the embittered help of Butcher, Frenchie and Kimiko.
Notably, the first episode featured the show’s most gruesome moment to date: Termite (essentially the show’s version of Ant-Man) crawls inside his boyfriend’s penis, sneezes, and causes him to burst open, leaving his entrails drooping off the bed onto the floor.
Maeve has been covertly helping Butcher behind Vought’s back and supplies him with temporary Compound V, granting him superpowers; specifically, laser vision and super-strength. She tells him to investigate the death of Soldier Boy and Payback, as it may lead to a weapon which can kill Homelander.
Amazon StudiosUpon learning that Neuman is a supe — who also betrays Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) and hands control of Vought over to Homelander — Hughie returns to the old team and they head to Russia. There, they discover Soldier Boy alive and not-so-well, who lets off a massive radioactive blast that renders Kimiko powerless.
Oh, and Hughie takes Compound V and gains the ability to teleport. Starlight strongly disapproves and pleads with him to stop, but Hughie keeps taking it, putting their relationship at risk.
Against MM’s wishes — who wants revenge for Soldier Boy killing his grandfather by hurling a car through his apartment — The Boys team up with Soldier Boy to help track down the ex-Payback supes who betrayed him. In exchange, he promises to kill Homelander.
Amazon StudiosMeanwhile, Homelander has been steadily going off the rails since the first episode. After Stormfront was outed as a Nazi, he starts in the middle of a public relations nightmare, which only spirals when Stormfront kills herself by biting her own tongue off just hours before his birthday special.
However, things take a turn for the better: Homelander uses the airtime of his festivities to go on a far-right rant, which sees his ratings go through the roof. There’s also the matter of Starlight, whose high ratings have led to her being forced into a fake relationship with Homelander, sickeningly dubbed “Homelight.”
In Episode 6, the show arrived at the hotly-anticipated Herogasm, a weekend-long orgy for superheroes. Sex stuff aside, it also becomes the site of one of the greatest superhero fights put to screen: Soldier Boy, Butcher, and Hughie vs. Homelander. Amazingly, Homelander loses, but he manages to make a quick escape.
In Episode 7, Starlight is laying low after targeting Homelander in a livestream and publicly resigning from The Seven. She hesitantly helps Kimiko by getting her Compound V from the tower so she can get her powers back after Soldier Boy’s blast.
While Soldier Boy, Butcher, and Hughie hunt down Mindstorm, we learn more about Black Noir’s past. While serving in the Payback team, he suffered severe beatings and abuse from Soldier Boy, with other supes growing resentful of him.
During a mission in Nicaragua — conveyed via a cartoon flashback — we also discover Stan Edgar ordered Black Noir to kill Soldier Boy to make room for Homelander. During the ensuing brawl, Soldier Boy beat him so savagely that it left half his face melted and his skull burst into bits.
The last minutes pack the strongest punch, though: Soldier Boy calls Homelander and reveals he’s his Dad.
In the finale, Homelander visits Ryan and appeals to his loneliness, promising to always look after him. Meanwhile, Soldier Boy wrestles with his recent revelation, while Butcher tries to convince him to still kill Homelander.
Black Noir returns to Vought Tower and reconciles with Homelander, only for Homelander to rip his insides out upon learning he knew about Soldier Boy all along.
Everyone converges at the tower, where a fight ensues between Butcher and Soldier Boy, after Soldier Boy tries to kill Ryan. This marks a brief alliance between Butcher and Homelander, although the latter gets stuck in a brawl with Maeve.
Meanwhile, Starlight joins The Boys after Butcher recovers from using temporary V. The only problem is, he’s informed he has less than a year-and-a-half to live.
As the episode is about to end, Homelander descends upon his supporters and introduces them to Ryan. When a Starlight fan shouts “fascist” at Homelander, he blasts his head off in front of everyone. Instead of being condemned, Homelander’s met with cheers, putting a chilling smile across his face.
How to watch The Boys Season 4
You can only watch The Boys Season 4 through Amazon Prime Video.
Episodes will be released weekly on the streaming service, so you’ll need a full subscription to the platform. All the previous seasons of The Boys are there, too.
That’s all we’ve got on The Boys Season 4, but if you need more supes, we’ve got you covered. Learn about new TV shows streaming this year, like The Penguin TV show, or look ahead to Invincible Season 3.
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