Binge-worthy: The Boys 4 has superheroes gone wild in a politically charged spectacle

The Boys 4

Prime Video
4 stars

When The Boys debuted in 2019, it was a glimpse of the future. The show’s cynical take on superheroes anticipated a time when movies such as Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (2023) would flop at the global box office because the genre had lost its lustre.

The hit Prime Video series was a jolt to the system, telling fans the fault was not with the genre and that the blame lay with studios Marvel and Disney for the way they were handling it.

In the first season of The Boys, viewers had demi-gods doing what any rational demi-god would do: behaving like spoilt rock stars. As long as their sins did not hurt the bottom line of Vought, the company that created and groomed them, superheroes had carte blanche.

For the first three seasons, these anti-Marvel heroes were debauched and murderous. Rotten, but relatable – if you had their powers, you might do the same.

With the recently ended Season 4, the show had become fiercely political. It has been said that American politics in the age of Donald Trump is beyond parody. The Boys, with its profane, hyperviolent approach, feels like an appropriate response given these extreme times. Sometimes, more is more.

Here are three reasons to catch the fourth season.

1. It makes American politics make sense

The Boys nails the divide in the US, a split that to non-Americans looks hideously wide.

On the Vought News Network, new anchor Firecracker (Valorie Curry) spews hate disguised as patriotic speech. A new member of The Seven superhero team, Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), the smartest person on the planet, is aware of the way her handlers use her blackness to mask their white supremacist agenda.

Democracy dies in darkness, according to the motto of The Washington Post. On the contrary, says The Boys – pump enough disinformation into the ether and millions of citizens will eagerly trample on their freedoms, giving it away to the mass murderer they worship: Homelander (Antony Starr), the leader of The Seven.

2. Memorable new characters

Homelander was creepier in earlier seasons. In Season 4, he is less menacing, more muddle-headed. The most powerful superhero on the planet is dealing with inner turmoil on several fronts, such as coming to terms with ageing and the trauma of a childhood spent in a Vought laboratory.

Taking up the slack is Firecracker. The demagogue who rails at deviants and perverts she says are corrupting America is deeply hateable, not least because her toxic opinions are not her own. Her crew of superhero grifters are actors and entertainers, railing against abortion and gun control because it sells tickets and T-shirts for their masters.

Sister Sage puts her intelligence to devious use, but her cunning is almost admirable. She is a black woman in a white man’s world, so if a few innocents have to die so she can feel more secure, it seems like a fair trade. She is, after all, simply grabbing at the chance to be the girl boss she was never allowed to be.

3. Setting the stage for the fifth and final season

Prime Video will wrap up this story in 2026’s fifth season, but in true Hollywood fashion, that never means the end.

Spin-off series Gen V (2023), set on the campus of a Vought-run superhero college, will premiere its second season in 2025. One more spin-off – Vought Rising, a prequel series set in the 1950s – has been announced. As some have said, this parody of the way superheroes have taken over the culture has become the many-headed hydra it seeks to mock.

Whatever one believes, things look set to come to a head in Season 5. The fourth season’s final episode is a cliffhanger, pointing to a refresh in the line-up of characters next season. A showdown is in the offing, but not in the way fans had anticipated.