The Boys landed five years ago like a freight train and still goes hard with every consecutive season. The superhero-stomping series continually manages to walk on the edge of the envelope and always go too far but never veer off course, and that’s to the credit of Eric Kripke and his team of creatives knowing exactly how to steer Garth Ennis’ source material.
When was the last time you voluntarily fired up a DCEU or MCU movie on streaming? Exactly. Satire might be largely dead in the real world, but this show knows how to work it in this much-needed context. Homelander will soon turn even more nightmarish, and Billy Butcher is now sacrificing everything in an effort to take him out. That rivalry never grows old, and Butcher might not either, considering what he’s done to himself. With that said, the perfectly paced series has delivered precisely the quantity needed while still maintaining the (highly distasteful) quality at every turn.
Before too terribly long, The Boys: Mexico will add itself to the equation after Gen V kept the brand strong and Diabolical filled in (animated) backstory. Without further bollocks (as Butcher might say), let’s get down to bloody business on the fourth season.
Plot
First off, do you need to watch Gen V before returning to the main attraction? Only if you love yourself. The newest spin off is recommended viewing, but you won’t be completely lost if you only know about the Homelander and Butcher’s season finale cameos, including this gem of a moment:
Viewers will recall that Homelander lasered Marie into unconsciousness. She woke up in a medical facility with most of the other Supes-in-training, and they are likely relegated to The Woods. Whereas Kate and Sam were crowned the “Guardians of Godolkin” and will surface in this season of The Boys while Homelander officially turns the rest of The Seven into “wrathful gods” rather than celebrities in spandex. And joining The Seven (to replace the defected Starlight and “dead”/retired Queen Maeve) will be Firecracker, who will somehow be worse than Stormfront, and Sister Sage, who appears to have powers of persuasion, perhaps to the ultimate detriment of Homelander?
We shall see.
Butcher, for his part, must persuade The Boys to trust him again and will use what he learned (in the Gen V credits scene) about the creation of a Supe-killing virus against Vought International. He intends, presumably, to annihilate The Seven, and of course, he has a long-running (and well justified) vendetta against Homelander. Becca’s son, Ryan, is now fully on his bio dad’s side, so Butcher might still be treading carefully on that front. Perhaps Ryan, in turn, will be Butcher’s Achilles’ heel in another showdown.
No matter what, expect plenty of mayhem (more exploding heads, please), gore, and dongs. The show’s lead VFX wizard, Stephan Fleet, promised to deliver: “I’m excited for the cast of @TheBoysTV to see the crazy sh*t I’m cooking up in VFX! They really put a lot of trust in me.” Get ready, and remember, Homelander can still do whatever the f*ck he pleases although, yes, he will go on trial with the show picking up about a month after the events of Gen V. To get tidy about the plot, let’s peek at the synopsis:
[T]he world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power. Butcher, with only months to live, has lost Becca’s son and his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late.
Cast
We can expect most of the usual suspects to come back. Sadly, that does not include Dominique McElligott, although you gotta be happy for Queen Maeve finally being free to pursue a lesbian retirement on a nice farm somewhere. Jensen Ackles has given no inkling that he will return as Soldier Boy, but that’s always possible in the future with him “on ice,” so to speak.
A major new draw this season is Jeffrey Dean Morgan (wish-listed by fans due to his Supernatural run with Kripke), who squeezed in his mysterious role — which still feels like Tek Knight, although Gen V has already given us a Tek Knight (Derek Wilson) in this universe — between The Walking Dead: Dead City shoots. As well, two new Supes, Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) and Firecracker (Valorie Curry) will be around to help bring Homelander’s “wrathful” vision to life, and Ryan Butcher will still be portrayed by Cameron Crovetti.
Those who will return on the Supe side include Antony Starr as Homelander, Chace Crawford as The Deep, Jessie T. Usher as A-Train, and Nathan Mitchell apparently as a new Black Noir. The vigilantes now include Erin Moriarty as Annie January/Starlight, Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, Jack Quaid as Hughie, Laz Alonso as Mother’s Milk, Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko, and Tomer Capone as Frenchie.
On the peripheral, Claudia Doumit (now established as a bloodbender) is Victoria Neuman, who is growing closer to ruling the “free” world. And in the middle of everything will be Colby Minifie as Ashley.
Release Date
June 13 will be when the magic happens. Expect three episodes to drop that day followed by weekly installments to take the world to July 18, and as lead “Supebuster” Billy Butcher has declared, “Oi, we’re f*ckin’ back.” From there, the wait will begin for the second Gen V season, although filming has been pushed back a few months for script rewrites due to Chance Perdomo’s death.
Don’t forget, though, The Boys: Mexico is also in the works.
Trailer
Have at it, and “you’re f*cking welcome,” according to Billy Butcher.
The wait for The Boys is almost over, praise Vought!
