The Boys returns for its fourth season on June 13, promising a summer season complete of new Supes, a lot of violence, and the return of 1 of the most terrifying villains on Television. From a Judy Garland-inspired musical quantity to the infamous “Herogasm” episode, Season 3 had a lot of standout moments, but with so a lot of moving components, it can be complicated to recall exactly where we left off at the finish of the season. In Season 3, the Boys temporarily go their separate techniques as they disagree more than what course of action to take relating to Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) killing Homelander (Antony Starr), but regroup in the finale, adding a new member to the group in Starlight/Annie (Erin Moriarty). Since Season 3 dropped in 2022, a new spin-off series was released, Gen V, which will also tie into the events of the forthcoming season. Here’s what you need to have to recall going into what is certain to be an explosive Season 4 of The Boys.

The Boys

A group of vigilantes set out to take down corrupt superheroes who abuse their superpowers.

Release Date

July 26, 2019

Creator

Eric Kripke

Seasons

4

Studio

Amazon Studios

Homelander Is More Terrifying Than Ever

Though Homelander has generally been evil, in the initially two seasons he attempted to hold up a heroic facade to the basic public, but Season 3 sees him go even additional off the deep finish. After Starlight exposes him through livestream in Episode 6 and then once again in Episode 8, Homelander begins publicly pushing risky conspiracies about Starlight becoming a human trafficker. Finding out his father is Soldier Boy only adds to Homelander’s bloodlust, and by the finish of Season 3, he’s even persuaded his son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) to join him, hoping to have the connection with Ryan that he by no means got to have with Soldier Boy.

In the final scene of The Boys Season 3, Homelander introduces Ryan to a crowd of his supporters outdoors Vought Tower. When a pro-Starlight protester hits Ryan with a soda can, Homelander makes use of his heat vision to kill him on the spot. After a lengthy silence, his supporters erupt into cheers, which Kripke later confirmed was a reference to former President Trump’s 2016 claim he could shoot an individual in broad daylight and not shed any votes. Homelander’s reaction, which has develop into a defining moment of the series so far, shows him realizing he can drop the facade and publicly embrace his correct murderous self, since his supporters will cheer him on regardless. We also see Ryan gradually break into a smile, suggesting Season 4 may possibly see him comply with in his father’s destructive footsteps.

Victoria Neuman’s Villain Arc

Season 2 introduced Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), a young, anti-Vought politician inspired by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but Season 3 saw her totally evolve into an additional big antagonist whose head-popping skills pose an even higher threat as she gains additional energy. Season 3 supplied Neuman’s backstory, such as her time at the Vought-owned Red River Institute — the similar orphanage exactly where Gen V’s Marie Moreau(Jaz Sinclair) would later invest her childhood — till she was adopted by former Vought CEO Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito). Despite publicly advocating for the regulation of Supe activities with the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, Neuman is secretly a Supe herself, with the energy of blood manipulation. It’s Hughie that initially discovers this, when, unbeknownst to her, he witnesses Neuman explode someone’s head in an alley.

In the penultimate episode of Season 3, “Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed,” Neuman delivers to inform Homelander exactly where Ryan is becoming hidden in exchange for killing 1 of her political rivals. Homelander outsources Neuman’s request, instructing The Deep to kill Presidential candidate Robert Singer’s (Jim Beaver) operating mate, permitting Neuman to step in. With Homelander’s endorsement, Singer/Neuman’s path to victory is clear, and the presidential race will make for an fascinating backdrop to the upcoming season. If they win, Neuman would be just 1 exploded head away from the presidency. Another crucial detail to recall is that Neuman has also been injecting her daughter Zoe (Olivia Morandin) with Compound V, and it really is been confirmed that Zoe will play a higher function in the upcoming season. It’s nonetheless unclear what specifically her powers are, but she does seem briefly in the Season 4 trailer with 4 tentacles coming out of her mouth.

Three Major Characters Were Killed off (Sort Of)

By the finish of Season 3, The Seven have totally fallen apart. Starlight renounced her spot on the group, but Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) and Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) weren’t as fortunate. Black Noir, who has a lengthy history with and deep hatred for Soldier Boy, returns to Vought Tower to join forces with Homelander and ultimately kill him. But Homelander has a modify of heart just after locating out Black Noir knew Soldier Boy was his father all along, and kills him in cold blood alternatively.

Though this version of Black Noir is undoubtedly dead, his reappearance in the Season 4 teaser trailer was surprising. Luckily for Vought, a silent, faceless hero like Black Noir is uncomplicated to replace without having the public being aware of any distinct, and according to Kripke, Mitchell will return to play “a different character who wears the Black Noir suit.” Mitchell has been the man behind the inscrutable black mask for the initially 3 seasons, but his face has by no means basically been shown in The Boys (Fritzy-Klevans Destine plays young Black Noir when he’s briefly unmasked in Season 3, Episode 3). So, even though Mitchell will return, he will be playing a distinct version of Black Noir going forward.

One Supe who additional than probably will not return for Season 4 is Queen Maeve, who sacrifices herself in the Season 3 finale to save New York City from Soldier Boy’s wrath. After a showdown with Homelander, Maeve tackles Soldier Boy, launching them each out of Vought Tower ahead of he lets off a blast that would have killed every person in the vicinity. According to Vought, Maeve’s sacrifice killed them each, but we later see safety camera footage of the Boys coming to Maeve’s help just after the explosion. Though the blast did not kill her, Maeve does shed her powers (and 1 of her eyes), but nonetheless gets anything of a pleased ending. Ashley (Colby Minifie) deletes the safety footage, and the final time we see Maeve, she has reconciled with her girlfriend Elena (Nicola Correia-Damude), and the two of them leave New York to start out a new, quiet life on a farm. Maeve passes the proverbial torch to Starlight in the seemingly by no means-ending quest to ultimately kill Homelander, but her survival at the finish of Season 3 nonetheless leaves the door open for a prospective return in the future.

The season finale also leads us to think that Maeve effectively took Soldier Boy down with her, but a final minute reveal shows he also survived the attack. Soldier Boy is place back into a cryogenic slumber, this time monitored by Grace Mallory (Laila Robins), and Kripke has all but confirmed he will make a return at some point in the future, telling Entertainment Weekly, “I can’t imagine the series ending without Soldier Boy making another appearance.” He’s currently produced a cameo in Episode 6 of Gen V as a projection in Cate’s (Maddie Phillips) thoughts, and time will inform when he ends up producing a return down the line.

The Seven Gets New Members in Season 4 and Crosses Over With ‘Gen V’

The Season 3 finale saw The Seven decreased to just Homelander, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), and The Deep (Chace Crawford). With Queen Maeve “dead” and Starlight declared public enemy quantity 1, Season 4 will introduce two new girls to The Seven — Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) and Firecracker (Valorie Curry). Sister Sage, the initially Black lady in The Seven, has superhuman intelligence, and could be a pretty risky ally for Homelander. Firecracker, according to Kripke, is basically an alt-suitable Supe who, “represents both members of the conspiracy-minded movements and the super-extreme right-wing news media.”

The Season 4 trailer also delivers a glimpse of two Gen V characters, Cate Dunlap and Sam Riordan (Asa Germann), who, primarily based on the Gen V season finale, will be functioning with Homelander going forward. Cate has the energy to manage other folks by touching them, even though Sam has super strength and durability, related to Kimiko’s (Karen Fukuhara) powers. After the attack on Godolkin University, which Vought pins on Marie and her good friends, Cate and Sam are named the new “Guardians of Godolkin.” It’s unclear what roles Cate and Sam will play in Season 4, but their powers undoubtedly pose a big threat.

Related

Chace Crawford Asks “The Deep” Questions in New ‘The Boys’ Season 4 Promo

‘The Boys’ fourth season premieres Thursday, June 13.

Butcher Doesn’t Have Much Time Left

In the Season 3 finale, it really is revealed that Butcher’s days are numbered, not by Supes attempting to murder him, but by the dangerous effects of Temp V. Despite Annie’s warning that Temp V is detrimental to the human brain, Butcher continues to take it, as it really is his most effective bet in facing Homelander. After Soldier Boy’s attack on Vought Tower, Butcher winds up in the hospital, exactly where a medical doctor informs him he has roughly 12–18 months to reside thanks to the harm Temp V did to his brain, raising the stakes even larger for Butcher, who’s nonetheless dead set on killing Homelander. Never 1 to show weakness, Butcher does not inform Hughie (Jack Quaid) or the rest of the Boys about his situation, but appears additional committed than ever to taking Homelander, Vought, and now Victoria Neuman, down.

Starlight Officially Joins The Boys

Starlight, who previously attempted to make constructive alterations from inside Vought, acted as a double agent ahead of totally denouncing The Seven in Season 3, exposing Homelander and Vought at significant. After producing their connection public at the start out of Season 3, Hughie becomes insecure with Starlight, who generally has to be the 1 coming to his rescue. Annie is also strongly against Hughie’s use of Temp V, and they break up just after Herogasm but eventually reconcile by the season finale. Despite resistance from Butcher, who is mistrustful of all Supes, Annie steadily ingratiates herself into the group, bonding with each Kimiko and Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso). After she tosses her Starlight costume down the garbage chute, the Boys unanimously vote to make Annie an official member of the group.

With the fifth season currently confirmed — and a second season of Gen V in production —The Boys and its extended universe are not going anyplace any time quickly. If the previous 3 seasons are any indication, there will be a lot of jaw-dropping moments, horrifyingly inventive deaths, and references to genuine life concerns to appear forward to in the upcoming season.

The Boys is offered to stream on Prime Video in the U.S. with the initially 3 episodes of Season 4 dropping on June 13.

WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO