The Boys season 4: Everything we know about the Amazon Prime Video show’s return
The Boys season 4 has been confirmed – and production will be starting sooner than you think. The Amazon Prime Video show garnered an early renewal just a few episodes into The Boys season 3. Now, the cast and creators have been teasing that the series will begin filming later this summer.
And there's plenty to be excited about in the new season after the huge reveals in The Boys season 3 ending. These left us with more than a few questions to be answered, including if we've seen the last or certain Supes and what the future holds for Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and the team. Showrunner Eric Kripke has also been dropping a few teases about the show's future as well, including Homelander and Butcher's clash and Maeve's potential return. There's also a brand-new college spin-off series on its way too, which could feed into the show as well.
Ahead of its return, we've compiled a comprehensive guide to The Boys season 4. Read on for all you need to know about the potential release date, returning cast members, and where the plot will be going next. But, be warned – this article contains MAJOR spoilers for The Boys season 3 episode 8!
The Boys season 4 release date
There’s no official release date for The Boys season 4 yet. The show was only recommissioned in June 2022, with the season 3 finale airing on July 8, 2022. It’s likely we could be waiting a little while for new episodes.
While we don’t have anything concrete, we’ve taken a deep dive into previous seasons to try and work out when the show will be making its return. There was a gap of a year and one month between seasons 1 and 2 of the show, before a bigger jump of a year and eight months between the second and third, though that was elongated by the Coronavirus pandemic. If season 4 follows the same pattern, then it could be released anywhere between July 2023 and March 2024.
Karl Urban, who plays Butcher, suggested production on the show will get underway later this summer. Speaking to Collider, he said: "We're starting I think August 22, we're going to be starting season four. So I'm getting back, getting my Butcher back on, and I can't wait."
Kripke confirmed this to Variety, adding in July: "We start shooting in late August. I’m starting to look at some early drafts of the first couple. We’re still early, I think right now we’re in the middle of breaking Episode 3 and I’m reading a draft of Episode 1. And even in that stage, it’s early with some heavy rewriting and we’re still in there figuring it all out. "
Given this news, it seems likely we could see new episodes of The Boys in late 2023. Of course, this is just an estimate for now. As soon as anything official is announced, we’ll keep you updated.
One thing that seems likely is that ahead of season 4, we’ll get to see The Boys spin-off show first. This is called Gen V, and the cast were confirmed in a special video on the official The Boys social media account. While no release date has been announced yet, it's expected to land on Prime Video in 2023. The spin-off follows college-age Supes tested in The Hunger Games-style challenges in a Vought-run university.
Kripke has also teased that this might have some overlap with The Boys main series. Speaking to Deadline, he said: "There's definitely crossover, and we're doing our best to design a universe that sees some of the issues and storylines in Season 3 hand off to the first season. Like there's a presidential campaign happening in the background of that season, and there are certain things that are happening at that school that are both in reaction to Season 3 of The Boys. There's Soldier Boy, etcetera, but also some new storylines that are happening in that season of the spin-off that we have to pick up and take into Season 4 of the show."
The Boys season 4 plot
No plot details have been confirmed yet for The Boys season 4, but the season 3 finale does give us a pretty good idea about what will happen next.
The Boys are now back together and more focused than ever on their plan to take down the Supes. However, it seems like their major enemy has shifted to Victoria Neuman. After making a deal with Homelander, she landed the Vice President ticket in the season finale thanks to The Deep drowning her opposition. This puts her in the running to become the most powerful Supe ever, at least in the political sphere.
But they’ll have a bit of help this time around thanks to Starlight. After trying to change things from the inside, she’s now firmly on team Butcher as a fully-fledged member of the team. And he might need all the help he can get after he was left struggling to deal with the aftermath of Temp V. He’s been told he’s on borrowed time due to the impact of the drug on his body so Billy will be in serious danger in the new season.
Speaking about this twist to Variety, Kripke teased that they'll be going after Neuman while Butcher only has months left to live. "They’re up against the DeSantis ticket," the creator said. "That’s part of the fun of getting into Season 4, which we’re just figuring out for this, but he’s got a crazy ticking clock. He’s got so much to do that he hasn’t done."
The showrunner added about Butcher's trajectory: "What we find fascinating about the question we’re asking about Butcher is, is he self-aware enough to realize that he’s causing his own misfortune? Is he self-aware enough to actually see if he can change? Those are some of the interesting conversations we’re starting to have for Season 4."
Then there’s Homelander. He’s just as unhinged as ever, and it seems like very little will be able to stop him. The Storm Chasers are just as much in his corner as ever, despite the Supe lasering a bystander and airing his controversial toxic views in a national TV address. He’s now joined by his son Ryan too after he introduced him – and his powers – to the world.
Speaking about this storyline to IGN, Kripke teased where it could go next. "If allowed to raise Ryan, he will raise Ryan to be a second Homelander, which will have apocalyptic stakes. If he stays in that environment, he's on his way to becoming another Homelander," Kripke said. "And so I think it's a hint at what one of the major conflicts in season four will be, which is Butcher and Homelander having this battle over Ryan."
There’s no word yet on if we’ll be getting a new big bad for season 4. Soldier Boy is neutralized – but crucially not dead. So we may see him taken off the ice once again when the series rolls around. However, our money is on Kripke having a new ace up his sleeve for season 4 – as we might finally meet someone who can take down Homelander once and for all.
The Boys season 4 cast
The Boys cast has grown quite a bit in the past few seasons and it seems like almost everyone will be coming back. We expect some casting announcements in the next few months before production picks up on season 4. But in the meantime, we’ve taken a look at who made it out of the season 3 finale alive.
The Boys will likely be coming back. That means we’ll see Jack Quaid as Hughie; Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk; Tomer Capone as Frenchie; Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko; Erin Moriarty as Starlight, and Karl Urban as Billy Butcher.
The numbers of The Seven have been dwindling, but Homelander made it out alive. That means Antony Starr will be back alongside Chase Crawford’s The Deep, Jessie T Usher’s A-Train, and Colby Minifie as Vought suck-up Ashley. Homelander also brought his son Ryan into the limelight at the end of season 3 so Cameron Crovetti will likely return.
Victoria Neuman is set to become Vice President of the United States so we should see Claudia Doumit back. Other recurring characters who could return include Paul Reiser as The Legend and Katy Breieras as The Deep’s now estranged wife Cassandra.
It's unclear whether Giancarlo Esposito will be returning as Vought's disgraced head, Stan Edgar. He was ousted in a pincer movement from Neuman and Homelander and hasn't really been seen since. He may appear in a cameo, or even a bigger role in season 4 – anything's on the cards for him.
We thought that we'd probably seen the last of Nathan Mitchell's Black Noir after he was brutally gutted by Homelander in the season 3 finale. Discussing the character's death, Kripke confirmed that version of Noir was dead, but did reveal he could be recast by Vought. He told Deadline: "Here's what I'll say without spoiling anything, which is that particular individual who is Black Noir is dead. His organs are out all over the place, but when you have a completely silent, completely masked-clad hero, they're reasonably easy to recast."
He elaborated on this to Entertainment Weekly, confirming Mitchell will return as a different version of the character. Kripke explained: "[He will play] a different character who wears the Black Noir suit. It's definitely not the last we've seen of Black Noir as a hero. It's just that the guy who was inside [the Noir suit] in season 3, he's gone. But we have Nathan playing a really interesting and hilarious character who wears the suit next season."
Other characters' fates are in the air after the season 3 finale. We said our goodbyes to Dominique McElligott as Maeve after her character went into hiding with her girlfriend Elena. While Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy was put back on ice by Mallory to neutralize his threat.
Kripke explained that it's likely they'll both return at some point. He said to Deadline: "We definitely won’t reach the end of the series without seeing Maeve again. I’m hoping we see Soldier Boy again." In another interview with Entertainment Weekly, he explained they were "100 per cent" leaving the door open for Soldier Boy to return. Kripke said: "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."
There's a lot up in the air ahead of The Boys season 4, but we’ll keep updating this guide as soon as any news lands. In the meantime, check out our breakdown of The Boys season 3 episodes as well as the mixed response to Black Noir's death in the finale.
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