The Boys season 4

The Boys
Season 4
Promotional poster
Showrunner	Eric Kripke
Starring	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 Cameron Crovetti Susan Heyward Valorie Curry Jeffrey Dean Morgan
No. of episodes	8
Release
Original network	Amazon Prime Video
Original release	June 13 (2024-06-13) – July 18, 2024 (2024-07-18)
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, The Boys work with the CIA to assassinate Victoria Neuman (Doumit) in an effort to stop her from taking over the government. Concurrently, Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander (Starr), who is consolidating his power. With only months to live, Butcher (Urban) has lost his position as leader of The Boys, who are fed up with his lies, and must find a way to work with them if they want to save the world before it's too late. The season shares continuity with the spinoff series Gen V and is set after the conclusion of its first season (2023).

The fourth 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 were released on a weekly basis. The season received positive reviews with praise towards its action sequences, character development, emotional depth, storyline, blend of political commentary and surrealism, unique combination of violence, humor and social commentary, and performances (particularly Urban, Quaid, Starr, and Moriarty), lauding its bold approach to tackling complex themes and pushing narrative boundaries. However, multiple critics and publications have considered it the most polarizing and darkest season yet.

On May 14, 2024, the series was renewed for a fifth season. On June 11, two days before the fourth season premiered, Kripke announced that the fifth season would serve as the final season.

Episodes

See also: List of The Boys episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
25	1	"Department of Dirty Tricks"	Phil Sgriccia	David Reed	June 13, 2024 (2024-06-13)
The CIA tasks The Boys to assassinate Victoria Neuman, but the mission goes awry when they are discovered by her superpowered daughter, Zoe, who attacks the group. Ryan learns that Butcher has approximately six months to live. At CIA headquarters, Butcher reunites with Joe Kessler, an old friend, who attempts 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 beaten to death by the Deep and Black Noir II, including Monique's ex-boyfriend Todd. Sage instigates a riot outside the courthouse when Homelander is found "not guilty"; A-Train dumps the corpses 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 his deceased wife, 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 (2024-06-13)
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. Butcher and M.M. fight, causing the former to leave. Their plan is thwarted when Sage, Firecracker, and Splinter intervene; Sage leaves and a fight ensues. Butcher returns and kills Splinter, and Firecracker flees in the aftermath. Guilty over his actions, A-Train gives Hughie and Annie files exonerating the 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 shocks Ryan into killing the stuntman disguised as the criminal. Butcher opens up to M.M. in an attempt to rejoin The Boys, to no avail.
27	3	"We'll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here"	Fred Toye	Ellie Monahan	June 13, 2024 (2024-06-13)
Homelander introduces Sage and Firecracker as new members of The Seven and appoints Sage as the new CEO, replacing Ashley, who is reduced to "mascot" status. Butcher meets with Kessler, and they devise 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 an old acquaintance confronts Kimiko. 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 President Robert Singer, which goes awry when Homelander detects and attempts to kill Hughie; A-Train rescues him. Hughie's mother, Daphne, reveals that depression and a failed suicide attempt led to her departure. Ryan returns home only to be confronted by Homelander for visiting Butcher, which results in Homelander having a mental breakdown.
28	4	"Wisdom of the Ages"	Phil Sgriccia	Geoff Aull	June 20, 2024 (2024-06-20)
Homelander returns to the Vought lab where he was raised and experimented upon, tormenting the employees before its director, Barbara, intervenes. Daphne's plan to take Hugh Sr. off life support angers Hughie. Annie meets with Singer to strike a deal to take down Vought. Hughie and Kimiko secure Compound V from A-Train for Hughie's father but are ambushed by the Shining Light. M.M. and Butcher fail to blackmail Firecracker, who publicly discredits Annie by revealing her decision to have an abortion months prior, leading to a brutal fight that damages Annie's reputation and ends her alliance with Singer. Frenchie is attacked by Ezekiel while investigating Firecracker. Butcher intervenes only to be choked unconscious; he awakes to find Ezekiel torn to pieces. Butcher tells Hughie that he used V to cure his illness but admits that it failed and accelerated it instead. Frenchie confesses to Colin about killing his family and is brutally beaten by him before threatening his life should he see Frenchie again. Hughie witnesses his father waking up from his coma after receiving Compound V. A blood-soaked Homelander leaves Barbara locked in his former observation room with the dismembered corpses of her colleagues.
29	5	"Beware the Jabberwock, My Son"	Shana Stein	Judalina Neira	June 27, 2024 (2024-06-27)
After Hugh Sr. wakes from his coma, Daphne reveals she administered the V. Butcher informs The Boys about a virus that kills Supes, acquired by Neuman. He and M.M. visit Stan Edgar in prison, seeking help to obtain the virus in exchange for amnesty. The Boys and Edgar discover V and the virus being tested on animals at a farmhouse, where Neuman arrives as well. After being attacked by the mutated farm animals, they locate Dr. Sameer Shah who has the last remaining sample of the virus, but are forced to use it to kill a herd of mutated sheep. Afterward, Sameer goes missing and is presumed dead. M.M. returns Edgar to prison, but Neuman frees him. Empowered and mentally confused, Hugh Sr. kills patients at the hospital but soon returns to his sense; Hughie ends his life peacefully. Homelander declares The Seven will now be "wrathful gods" for the "greater good". In the presence of Robert Vernon / Tek Knight, Cate Dunlap, and Sam Riordan, VNN anchor Cameron Coleman is framed as the leak by Ashley and killed by The Seven. Wracked with guilt, Frenchie surrenders to the police. Butcher reveals to Kessler that Sameer is alive and he has kidnapped him to replicate the virus.
30	6	"Dirty Business"	Karen Gaviola	Anslem Richardson	July 4, 2024 (2024-07-04)
The Boys learn that Tek Knight is hosting a party at his mansion with Neuman and The Seven in attendance; they infiltrate the party by disguising Hughie as the Supe Webweaver. When Tek Knight discovers Hughie's identity and attempts to torture him, they enter the mansion to rescue Hughie. M.M. shoots Sage in the head right before he has a panic attack; A-Train saves M.M., rushing him to the hospital, and Sage survives. Annie and Kimiko save Hughie and restrain Tek Knight. The three antagonize Tek Knight until he reveals that Homelander and Sage plan to use his prisons as internment camps before he is killed by his butler Elijah. Homelander and Neuman convince the senators to rally against Singer. Firecracker tells Homelander about her encounter with Annie, realizing that the leak is still alive. Meanwhile, Butcher forces Sameer to replicate and make the virus strong enough to kill Homelander. When Sameer reveals that enhancing the virus could potentially eradicate every Supe on Earth, Butcher is pressured by Kessler to continue but discovers he is a hallucination, as the real Joe Kessler died years ago.
31	7	"The Insider"	Catriona McKenzie	Paul Grellong	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
Butcher bails Frenchie out of jail to assist Sameer with the virus. M.M. gives up leadership of The Boys, passes the baton back to Butcher again, and considers leaving with Monique and Janine; A-Train convinces him not to leave. The Boys discover a plan to assassinate Singer that will be carried out by an unidentified Supe shapeshifter. Homelander kills Webweaver, believing he is the leak. Hughie goes to Neuman's house to convince her to stop everything, to no avail. Homelander sends The Deep and Black Noir II to kill The Boys, starting a fight with Butcher and Annie, who are saved by A-Train and M.M. Infuriated, Homelander fires Sage from The Seven for hiding A-Train, who has fled the country with his family, as the leak. Tired of being used by Vought and Homelander's manipulation, Ryan gets fed up, interrupts a live show to give a speech, and leaves. Frenchie and Kimiko reconcile by telling each other what they blame themselves for before Sameer injects Kimiko with the dose of the virus he has prepared and escapes; Frenchie saws off her leg so the virus doesn't spread. Butcher passes out in a bar and Annie wakes up to find herself shackled in a room somewhere, realizing that she has been impersonated and replaced by the shapeshifter.
32	8	"Season Four Finale" "Assassination Run"	Eric Kripke	Jessica Chou & David Reed	July 18, 2024 (2024-07-18)
While Butcher recovers, Mallory and Ryan visit him, where the latter is told of Homelander's crimes and that he must kill him. However, Ryan refuses, accidentally kills Mallory, and leaves, causing Butcher to embrace his dark side of Kessler. Homelander tasks the remaining Seven with killing everyone at Vought who has incriminating evidence against them; a targeted Ashley injects herself with V. While Frenchie develops the virus, The Boys monitor Singer in a bunker where they discover Annie is the shapeshifter and a fight ensues; the real Annie arrives and kills the shapeshifter. When Homelander reveals that Neuman is a Supe on air live, she calls on Hughie to protect her and Zoe in exchange for help. When The Boys and Neuman meet, Butcher arrives, kills Neuman with his new superpowers, and steals the virus. Sage reveals to Homelander that his plan has been a success when Singer is arrested for conspiring with The Boys to kill Neuman. Speaker of the House Steven Calhoun becomes the new President of the United States, swears allegiance to Homelander and declares martial law, deputizing Homelander and his army of superhumans. The rest of The Boys are ambushed and captured by Vought troops, led by multiple Supes, but Annie regains her powers and manages to escape; Butcher drives off with the virus. In the mid-credits scene, Calhoun shows Homelander where Soldier Boy is being confined.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of The Boys characters

Main

• Karl Urban as William "Billy" Butcher
• Jack Quaid as Hugh "Hughie" Campbell Jr.
• Antony Starr as John Gillman / Homelander
• Erin Moriarty as Annie January / Starlight
  • Moriarty also plays a variation of the Shapeshifter Supe
• Jessie T. Usher as Reggie Franklin / A-Train
• Laz Alonso as Marvin T. "Mother's" Milk / M.M.
• Chace Crawford as Kevin Moskowitz / The Deep
• Tomer Capone as Serge / Frenchie
• Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro / The Female
• Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir II
• Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
• Claudia Doumit as Nadia Khayat / Victoria Neuman
• Cameron Crovetti as Ryan Butcher
• Susan Heyward as Jessica "Sage" Bradley / Sister Sage
• Valorie Curry as Misty Tucker Gray / Firecracker
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler

Recurring

• Laila Robins as Grace Mallory
• Simon Pegg as Hugh Campbell Sr.
• Rosemarie DeWitt as Daphne Campbell
• Derek Wilson as Robert Vernon / Tek Knight
• Jim Beaver as Robert "Dakota Bob" Singer
• Matthew Edison as Cameron Coleman
• Shantel VanSanten as Becca Butcher
• Will Ferrell as himself portraying Coach Brink
• Tilda Swinton as Ambrosius (voice)
• Christian Keyes as Nathan Franklin
• Maddie Phillips as Cate Dunlap
• Asa Germann as Sam Riordan
• Elliot Knight as Colin Hauser
• David Reale as Evan Lambert
• Erika Prevost as Tala
• Frances Turner as Monique
• P. J. Byrne as Adam Bourke
• Kimberly-Sue Murray as Kiara
• Sabrina Saudin as Also Ashley
• Dan Mousseau as Webweaver
• Olivia Morandin as Zoe Neuman
• Omid Abtahi as Dr. Sameer Shah
• David Andrews as Senator Calhoun

Guest

• Giancarlo Esposito as Stan Edgar
• Matthew Gorman as Todd
• Ana Sani as Anika
• Jordana Lajoie as Cherie
• Rob Benedict as Splinter
• Malcolm Barrett as Seth Reed
• Katia Winter as Little Nina
• Shaun Benson as Ezekiel
• Murray Furrow as Marty
• Mark Cowling as Frank
• Nancy Lenehan as Barbara
• Liyou Abere as Janine
• Tyrone Benskin as Elijah
• Ann Cusack as Donna January
• Ess Hödlmoser as Cindy
• Derek Johns as Love Sausage
• Jensen Ackles as Ben / Soldier Boy

Cameos

In the season premiere, "Department of Dirty Tricks", Rafia Iqbal, Zach McGowan, and Jasper Morris appear in separate photographs as Hyperion, Dogknott and Wrangler, respectively, during Ashley's presentation of twenty-five potential new candidates to join The Seven. Shoshana Bean, James Monroe Iglehart, and Andrew Rannells provide the singing voices of the uncredited figure skaters portraying Queen Maeve, Jesus, and Homelander, respectively, during the "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas" rehearsal musical sequence in the third episode.

Production

Development

On June 10, 2022, Amazon Prime Video renewed the series for a fourth season. According to showrunner Eric Kripke, figuring out a way to save Ryan's soul is a key priority for Butcher in the fourth season, with Kripke saying it's like Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) combined with Avengers: Endgame (2019). On December 4, 2023, Kripke hinted that a scene from the fourth season might include "the batshit craziest thing" ever filmed for the series and expressed his own surprise that he "got away with it". 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."

Writing

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 Governor] 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!'" 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."

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, saying: "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." Setting up the series' endgame, Kripke commented on the season finale's impact, stating: "There's a sort of seismic change at the end of season four; nothing in the world is going to be the same."

The season finale is dedicated to Larry Kripke, father of Eric Kripke, who died on February 13, 2024.

Casting

The fourth season featured the addition of Susan Heyward (left), Valorie Curry (middle), and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (right) to the cast as Sage, Firecracker and Joe Kessler, respectively.

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 of the fourth season. On August 1, it was announced that Cameron Crovetti had been promoted as a series regular, while Curry and Heyward were cast as new series regulars for the fourth season. On August 25, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was cast as a recurring guest star for the fourth season. 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. After the three-episode premiere, it was revealed that Benedict and Knight were portraying Splinter and Colin, respectively.

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 reprised his role as Robert Vernon / Tek Knight from Gen V.

Dan Mousseau portrayed Webweaver / Patrick Whitehall, a drug-addicted Supe and parody of Spider-Man, in two episodes. A first-look image of the character was shared during the fictional V52 Expo, a convention put on by Vought that parodies Disney's D23 Expo.

Filming

Filming on the fourth season commenced on August 22, 2022. The fight scene in the Flatiron Building, featured in the episode "The Insider", took ten days to film. Elaborating on the filming process, director Catriona McKenzie explained: "Every day there was a fight, every day ... [Stunt coordinator and actor John] Koyama was the stunt coordinator on that — he's amazing. Working with him and adjusting those fights, that was ten days on one scene — that's a movie. Ten days is one episode. It was really big. Often in an episode, you get your coupons for VFX. Like, 'Oh, you've got two and a half coupons, and you've got maybe three coupons for the big stunt work or VFX work or however you want to spend those resources'."

Pegg concluded filming his scenes on January 18, 2023. Filming on the finale began on February 12, with Starr concluding filming his scenes on April 4. Filming on the fourth season officially wrapped on April 12, 2023.

Visual effects

The companies that were in charge of creating the visual effects for the season were ILM, MPC, Untold Studios, DNEG, Spin VFX, Luma Pictures, Pixomondo, Soho VFX, Zoic Studios, Rocket Science VFX, Crafty Apes VFX, Ingenuity Studios, Splice, Incessant Rain Studios, and CNCPT. For the fourth consecutive season, Stephan Fleet served as the visual effects supervisor while Sean Tompkins came on board as the visual effects producer. Fleet described Tompkins being "more like a VFX managerial partner", adding: "While I focused on the creative side, [Sean] handled finance and scheduling. We're a managerial dream team. Everything overlaps, and communication, kindness, listening, discussing, and attacking based on group thought and experience are the keys."

Discussing his approach to how the visual effects have evolved from season three to season four, Fleet said: "Each season is a learning curve. Post-Season 3 with all the COVID chaos, I felt the world was off-kilter. Season 4 was about leadership – steering through rough waters. I kept my signature sarcasm, but emphasized my deep care for the team's well-being. 'Life First, Work Second' became my mantra. Happy lives lead to better work. I saw amazing talent bloom this season with minimal drama. For the first time, I felt a balance in life and work." Fleet also went into detail about the new technologies and techniques introduced in season four to enhance the visual effects, explaining: "We introduced fast portable witness cameras using tentacles, syncing timecode from sound for perfect footage alignment. Our backend solution is slick. We use Airtable as our hub, linked through scripting to ShotGrid and an on-set filemaker database I created. My favorite feature is that all onset data is instantly uploaded and organized in Airtable every night. So we can give one very searchable link to vendors of our entire set data for the season." Executing Kripke and the writers' vision for the season's episodes, Fleet understood to keep it within the "grounded world that happens to have superheroes in it", explaining: "Anytime we're going to do anything, be it cloning or an octopus, we always do a lot of research and try to find these nuggets of truth to build from, So, even if we're doing a clone, we'll look at something like cellular mitosis as a concept for it."

Ambrosius (voiced by Tilda Swinton), The Deep's octopus lover who was first introduced in the season three episode "Herogasm", was brought back this season for a romantic arc with The Deep. While Ambrosius has feelings for The Deep, Fleet said the visual effects team had to scale back on any tendency to anthropomorphize the sea creature when designing her. "We had the look and the photo reality stuff down", he said. But when it came to the animal's movements while talking, they had to keep it from looking like a cartoon. Ultimately, the team devised an idea to put a little toy figurine of The Deep in her tank so that she will be able to interact with it while talking to her human counterpart. "If you look very closely, she'll constantly be, like, wrapping her tentacle around the toy. And if she's angry at him, she'll move away from it", Fleet said, adding: "I love the detail of the toy in the tank because it gives the octopus character. It gives it something more than just being a static kind of creature in a small aquarium."

Music

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. On June 14, 2024, the music video was released on YouTube. An official website for "Vought on Ice" was also created and is available to visit. "Vought on Ice" serves a similar narrative purpose to Rogers: The Musical, an in-universe Broadway musical in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), based on the events of the 2012 film The Avengers, first featured in the miniseries Hawkeye (2021).

As Lennertz delved into composing "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas", he immersed himself in a marathon of ice capade shows, including "Disney on Ice" and "Frozen on Ice", 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 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 films, which Lennertz found to be a telling source of exasperated satire.

The soundtrack album was released digitally on July 10, 2024, through Madison Gate Records. Both Lennertz and Matt Bowen composed the original soundtrack. Becoming the co-composer starting with the previous season and though he only co-composed two episodes of that season, Bowen co-composed all episodes of season four with Lennertz. On June 13, 2024, Madison Gate Records released the first song of the season.

The Boys: Season 4 (Prime Video Original Series Soundtrack)

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Game On"		1:52
2.	"Final Audition"		1:26
3.	"Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas"	Shoshana Bean, Andrew Rannells, and James Monroe Iglehart	3:19
4.	"Locker Room Stalk"		1:04
5.	"Bat Mitzvah Rock"		2:56
6.	"Training A-Train"		1:20
7.	"Ol' Dealey Plaza"		1:10
8.	"Virus"		1:33
9.	"See Something Say Something"	Alex Karukas and Baraka May	2:50
10.	"Homelander's Dream"		1:12
11.	"A Better Way"		1:21
12.	"Vought Through the Years"		1:12
13.	"This is So F'd"		1:15
14.	"Family is All You've Got"		1:03
15.	"Baaaaad News"		1:19
16.	"Mirror Mirror"		1:29
17.	"Vought's Funniest Home Videos"		1:01
18.	"To the Rescue"		1:24
19.	"Forgiveness"		1:50
20.	"F It"		2:15
21.	"Handcuffed"		1:34
22.	"This is About Loyalty"		1:24
23.	"Peg the Patriarchy"		3:11
24.	"Vought Video Game"		1:11
25.	"All a Dream"		2:15
Total length:			39:06

Marketing

On October 10, 2022, during production in Toronto, first-look images of new characters Firecracker and Sister Sage were released on Twitter.

On November 8, 2023, two teaser posters were released via Twitter, revealing a first-look at the fourth season appearances of Butcher and Homelander, featuring the caption "Let's light this candle". The teaser trailer debuted at comic event CCXP in São Paulo, Brazil, which teased the introduction of characters Sister Sage, Firecracker and Joe Kessler, and subsequently released on Twitter and YouTube, on December 2.

On May 2, 2024, two official posters were unveiled. The following day, the official trailer was released.

Sneak peek images were released on May 29 and June 9. Six character posters were released from June 1 to 6 on Twitter.

A week before the season was released, the first official clip was uploaded on Twitter and YouTube on June 6.

Ahead of the premiere, IGN posted a comedic, heavily censored video of Morgan sharing details about his character, Joe Kessler, on June 9.

Promotional materials for the fourth season also included the quotes "Make America Super Again" and "Supe Lives Matter", a parody of the slogans "Make America Great Again" and "Black Lives Matter", respectively.

Release

On June 28, 2023, Kripke confirmed that he was withholding release of the new season until the WGA strike was resolved. The following year, the season premiered its first three episodes on June 13, 2024, while its remaining episodes were released on a weekly basis up until the season finale on July 18.

Upon the season finale's release, the title of the episode was retitled from "Assassination Run" to "Season Four Finale", following the attempted assassination of Donald Trump five days prior. A "viewer discretion advised" warning was added at the beginning of the episode, with Amazon, Sony Pictures Television and the producers of The Boys opposing real-world political violence and clarifying that "any scene or plotline similarities to these real-world events are coincidental and unintentional". These sentiments were echoed by Kripke, saying: "We are a superhero TV show. We're fictional. Obviously, it's a political show with a point of view so there's gonna be some horrible coincidences. But anything real-world we condemn and are against in the strongest possible terms. We're just making our superhero show."

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the fourth season holds an approval rating of 92%, based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 7.65/10. 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." On Metacritic, the season holds a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Contributing to The Illuminerdi, Kevin Fenix was exceedingly impressed and ecstatic in his review, awarding it 10/10, writing: "Season 4 is a triumph in every sense, blending sharp social commentary with compelling character arcs and breathtaking production value. It is a brilliant exploration of power, corruption, and humanity, told through the lens of a world where superheroes are anything but heroic. With its perfectly packed and balanced stories, characters, themes, and issues, The Boys continues to be one of the most relevant and entertaining series on television ... A must-watch."

Alison Foreman of Empire rated the season 4 out of 5 stars, calling season four the "best yet" and the series "at the top of its game", while also praising its "meaningful" character drama. Paste's Trent Moore gave the season a 9.0 rating, writing: "It's a wild ride, arguably the show's wildest yet, which is saying something ... Season 4 is simply phenomenal ... The Boys has been one of the best shows on television for years now and continues to cement its place in the pantheon with its deft blend of drama, gore, political commentary, and surrealism. The series is a pressure cooker that only gets hotter and tighter as it goes on."

Megan Vick of GameSpot commended its "emotional center", though criticized the "slow start". Grading the season a B+, IndieWire's Ben Travers wrote: "It's mostly impressive how deftly The Boys' dramatic side balances its many arcs, while the black comedy's demented inventiveness helps distract from any lingering deficiencies ... My notes on Season 4 are littered with 'oh god's' and 'hoo boy's,' all of which denote a particularly gnarly set piece or horrific marvel of creature design."

In a mixed review, Matt Donato of IGN graded the season with a 7/10, writing: "Season 4 can't capitalize on all its competing plotlines, but still delivers the show's signature shock and awe entertainment." Also giving the season a 7/10 and mixed review, Garrett Blaney of Collider wrote: "Season 4 goes wilder than ever before, but even that isn't enough to distract from the formulaic approach the show is taking", adding "No amount of gore or meta-commentary can hide the fact that the story is getting thin." GamesRadar+'s Emily Murray, awarding the season 3 out of 5 stars, was also mixed, writing: "The Boys may be back in town, but the cracks are beginning to show ... at least there's plenty here to enjoy from this wildly entertaining latest chapter." Though praising the season finale, calling it "excellent" and "strong", Erik Kain of Forbes found the rest of the season "mediocre" and considered the season to be "filler, with unsatisfying character development ... and weird side stories that didn't need to take up so much time". Conversely, Startefact's Zoe Wallace gave the overall season an extremely negative review, deeming it the "worst" and "weakest" season so far. She criticized about the low stakes, shock value, and new characters' lack of charisma, summarizing: "The confrontation with Homelander is clearly dragging on and the writers are running out of ideas. Season 4 could have been great if the writers weren't afraid to kill off characters and weren't distracted by secondary storylines – and that's what made Season 4 the worst of all."

Reviewing the season finale and season four as a whole, Comic Book Resources' Joshua M. Patton deemed the finale as "the series' most important episode yet" and the overall season as "powerful" television. He concluded by stating: "After faithfully adapting the comic's most important basics and beats during its earliest episodes, The Boys grew into its own beast. Even better, the series' original story was a much better political commentary and character study of superheroes than its source material ever was. Despite its aggression and edginess, The Boys is arguably one of the strongest appeals to humanity and demolitions of toxic masculinity on air today. While the series is best known for its pitch-black humor and send-up of superhero culture, Season 4 proves that The Boys fits into the mold of superhero storytelling more than it doesn't. Using fantastical characters and classic genre conventions, the storytellers held up a mirror to the real-world with a warning about how embracing ugliness, violence, revenge and hatred will only lead to the proliferation of more sadness and suffering. There hasn't been a superhero story as daring and relevant as The Boys Season 4 in quite some time, and it will be an even longer while before any other superhero story can surpass it."

Audience response

The season was generally criticized and divided by audiences, though the season finale received acclaim.

Following its three-episode premiere, the season received a mixed response among audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Users have mainly criticized the season leaning towards more left-wing political commentary, compared to what was perceived as both left- and right-wing commentary from prior seasons. Due to this, critics have attributed the audience response as review bombing.

Multiple journalists, fans, and critics have theorized and noted Trump inspired the series character development of Homelander, a theory which has been confirmed by Kripke. Days before the premiere of season four, Kripke described the series to The Hollywood Reporter as a "story about the intersection of celebrity and authoritarianism and how social media and entertainment are used to sell fascism". He also said that viewers who think the show is too "woke" should "go watch something else" and expressed surprise to some viewers perceiving Homelander as the series' hero, saying: "What do you say to that? The show's many things. Subtle isn't one of them." Additionally, many social media users mocked others who lamented the anti-Trump undertones of season four.

On June 22, 2024, in response to the review bombing, the Vought International Twitter 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 series; the video is presented and narrated by character Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie).

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 is 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 the series.

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, a sentiment that critics have previously concurred with on numerous occasions; Kripke himself also agreed. For his performance, Starr was named an honorable mention for TVLine's "Performer of the Week" for the week of June 17, 2024. TVLine's Vlada Gelman highly praised Starr's performance, writing: "We thought we'd already seen the scariest and most sadistic side of Homelander on The Boys, but Antony Starr's performance in this week's episode took the character to impressively terrifying new extremes ... which only goes to prove that Starr's instincts as Homelander are not only spot-on, but make the character even more fascinating and frightening."

Audience viewership

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. The fourth season became 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 the fourth season 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 grown in global viewership per season. Amidst the launch of the season's first three episodes, The Boys scored 1.19 billion viewing minutes during the week of June 10–16, 2024, according to Nielsen streaming data. On July 25, Amazon reported that season four overall garnered more than 55 million viewers globally since the season premiere. That figure counts 39 days of viewership after the premiere, ending on July 21, just after the July 18 season finale released. This marks the third-consecutive season of global viewership growth for the satirical superhero series. Season 4 has now become Prime Video's fourth most-viewed television season of all time — behind only The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 1, Fallout season 1, and Reacher season 1.

External links

• Official website
• The Boys at IMDb