The Boys Season 4 Cast, Plot, Teaser Trailer, And More Details
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The Amazon Prime Video series "The Boys" has had quite the journey since its premiere in 2019. What started as an edgy superhero TV show based on a controversial comic book from the early 2000s has become one of the most popular contemporary dramas streaming right now. Its success has even led to spin-off shows like the animated anthology shorts series "The Boys Presents: Diabolical" and the college thriller "Gen V."
It's been quite a while since fans have been able to revisit the terrible (and terribly entertaining) world of "The Boys." Season 3 ended over a year ago, leading the series toward yet another long interval between installments. For the time being, fans have had to settle for playing as Homelander in "Call of Duty" or "Mortal Kombat," but as they become more restless, not even "Gen V" will be able to satisfy their need for a hit of Compound V.
At the risk of getting laser-beamed by those anxious fans, we're here to bring news good and bad. Even if there is a bit of a wait for the upcoming season, there's more information available that you might realize.
When will The Boys Season 4 be released?
"The Boys" Season 4 currently has no release date. We do know it's slated to debut in 2024, but beyond that, details are nonexistent. Showrunner and executive producer Eric Kripke shared on Twitter that there would be no announcement whatsoever until the Writers Guild of America strike was resolved. Though a resolution has been reached, we're still in the dark.
Even with COVID-19 delays, Season 2 managed to premiere just a little over a year after the Season 1 finale. Season 3, however, took nearly two years to land on Amazon Prime Video. Unfortunately, Season 4 may very well arrive closer to that two-year window. It's worth noting that Homelander (Antony Starr's character from the series) is set to arrive as a downloadable character in "Mortal Kombat 1" in Spring 2024. Assuming it's intended to serve as a cross-promotion for Season 4 (similar to how J.K. Simmons' Omni-Man arrived near the release of "Invincible" Season 2), we likely have several months left to wait — at the very least.
What is the plot of The Boys Season 4?
"The Boys" Season 3 leaves a number of plot threads dangling — primarily among them the impending U.S. presidential election, as Democratic candidate Robert "Dakota Bob" Singer (Jim Beaver) has unwittingly chosen a dangerous supe as his running mate in the ruthless Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit). In regards to Homelander, he's won an eerily sustainable relationship with his son (Cameron Crovetti), as well as the unconditional approval of his most loyal supporters. His team is also set to receive two new members: Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) and Firecracker (Valorie Curry). We imagine their arrival will make significant waves in Season 4.
The official plot synopsis confirms all those details will have a major impact on Season 4, as well as the internal turmoil amongst The Boys. As the description puts it, "The 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 as well as 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."
Who will star in The Boys Season 4?
It goes without saying that the five central "Boys" — Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), Frenchie (Tomer Capone), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) — will return for "The Boys" Season 4, as will Vought superheroes Annie/Starlight (Erin Moriarty), A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), The Deep (Chace Crawford), and, of course, Antony Starr's Homelander. On the other hand, it's questionable whether Jensen Ackles (Soldier Boy), Giancarlo Esposito (Stan Edgar), or Dominique McElligot (Queen Maeve) will return as well, given where their characters ended up by the finale of Season 3.
As we stated above, Claudia Doumit seems poised to play a larger role as Victoria Neuman, potentially serving as the season's primary antagonist (a la Stormfront and Soldier Boy). Cameron Crovetti has also been promoted to a series regular, signaling that his character Ryan Butcher will receive more screen time this season as well. And, though Black Noir was killed off in Season 3, actor Nathan Mitchell is confirmed to be returning as a "hilarious" new version of the character. Rounding out the returning cast are Colby Minfie (as impotent Vought CEO Ashley Barrett), Laila Robins (CIA liaison Grace Mallory), Simon Pegg (Hugh Campbell Sr.), and Jim Beaver (presidential candidate Robert "Dakota Bob" Singer).
New additions to the cast include Valorie Curry (Firecracker), Susan Heyward (Sister Sage), Derek Wilson (Tek Knight), Reid Miller (Laddio), Dan Mousseau (Web-Weaver), and Rosemarie DeWitt (Hughie's Mom). Elliot Knight, Rob Benedict, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan will also join the series in undisclosed roles, though Morgan is rumored to be playing a version of Joe "The Monkey" Kessler.
Who is writing The Boys Season 4?
Eric Kripke is confirmed to be continuing his duties as showrunner and executive producer, a role he has performed since he developed the series for Amazon Prime Video in 2019. Before "The Boys," he was best known for creating and running the beloved and long-running CW series "Supernatural."
While Kripke serves as the series' guiding hand, he collaborated with a team of writers to develop the fine points of the Season 4 storylines. Returning from Season 3, David Reed will pen both the Season 4 premiere and the Season 4 finale (having also written the previous finale, "The Instant White-Hot Wild"). The finale will also be written by frequent "The Boys" scribe and writer of Season 3, Episode 6, "Herogasm," Jessica Chou. She will also pen Season 4, Episode 2, "Life Among the Septics."
Also returning to the writers' room are Geoff Aull ("Barbary Coast"), Paul Grelong ("Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed), Ellie Monahan ("We Gotta Go Now"), and Anslem Richardson ("The Bloody Doors Off"). Notably, Season 4 will be the first season of "The Boys" without series stalwart Craig Rosenberg, who wrote five episodes and served as an executive producer for the first three seasons.
Is there a trailer for The Boys Season 4?
The official teaser trailer for "The Boys" promises a politically charged season, with a voiceover narration reminding us that all democracies eventually fall. We watch as the supporters of Homelander and Starlight go to war on the streets, and we see the arrival of several dangerous supes, including one girl who can unleash monstrous worms from her mouth. We also see Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character meet up with Karl Urban's Billy Butcher, who seems to have a parasite crawling around inside his head. With the final shot of the trailer, we see Homelander absolutely caked in gore, promising a season that's going to delve headfirst into a world of campaigning and carnage.
How will The Boys Season 4 connect to Gen V?
"The Boys" spin-off "Gen V" has blown fans away with its entirely new and college-centric tale. It's not just part of "The Boys" universe, though — "Gen V" will be connected to the flagship show in a whole new way.
In conversation with EW, Eric Kripke remarked, "I don't think it's a spoiler to say that, by the end of season 1 of 'Gen V,' there's a handoff to season 4 of 'The Boys.' Then whenever we break season 4 of 'The Boys,' there will be a handoff to the hopeful season 2 of 'Gen V.'" Thus, the two series will be even more tightly bound together. In the wake of the "Gen V" Season 1 finale, Kripke went into greater detail in an interview with Collider, saying, "The intent was to start setting the table for Season 4 of 'The Boys.' It's not a spoiler to say that the virus that was created in 'Gen V' plays a big part of the storyline in Season 4." As anyone who's seen the finale knows, this connection is made especially clear through Billy Butcher's surprising cameo.
Tying these shows together introduces all kinds of interesting story possibilities. As Kripke put it, "One of the things we love most about both shows is that who you look at as the good guys in 'The Boys' flips and are the villains in 'Gen V,' and vice versa." But this bond will never become too complex to follow. Showrunner Michele Fazekas put it best: "Eric and I never wanna make it where the worlds are so interconnected that you really have to watch them both or you're gonna be totally lost."
Where to watch The Boys and Gen V
"The Boys," "Diabolical," and "Gen V" are all available to stream on Amazon's Prime Video streaming platform. All these projects were produced exclusively for Prime Video — so you probably don't have to worry about the series disappearing from the platform, at least in the near future.
If you don't have a Prime account, the only way for you to stream the series is, unfortunately, to pay per episode or per season — at the time of writing, that's $1.99 per episode or $14.99 per season. This option is available through most video-on-demand platforms, including Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, and YouTube. The third and most recent season, however, is not available to purchase and is exclusively available to stream on Amazon Prime Video (though you can still purchase physical DVDs of the season). On the bright side, there seems to be no reason to rush your watch-through of "The Boys," as we wait for any sort of update on when Season 4 will be released. Hopefully, a release date will be announced soon — to keep us hanging is just plain diabolical.