Image via Amazon MGM Studios.
Since 2019 The Boys have been causing havoc on Prime Video. Disregarding the rules of engagement, cranking up the shock factor and making a mockery of Marvel Studios. Based on a comic book series created by Garth Ennis, Prime Video’s outlandish adaptation has made cult figures of its ensemble cast. Playing fast and loose with censorship boundaries, this epic slice of contemporary satire, has confirmed just how vital a sense of perspective really is when it comes to making anything original.
Image via Amazon MGM Studios.
Three seasons in show runner Eric Kripke still finds a way to throw curveballs into the equation. Sexual perversion is effortlessly combined with human hand grenades and savage satirical segues, making anticipation for Season four unprecedented. With Mr. Edgar behind bars, Black Noir a casualty of Homelander’s capricious nature, and Billy Butcher’s brain cancer things could be better. With Starlight and Vought parting company and new contenders competing for her slot in the Seven, The Boys find themselves with another ally just as Homelander seems to be going off the rails permanently.
Image via Amazon MGM Studios.
In the opening four episodes politics and parental issues come front and centre as two fathers go head-to-head. Karl Urban has owned the role of Billy Butcher since season one and that shows signs of letting up now. This is a role he was destined to play and Urban embraces every element of that repellent persona without breaking sweat. Antony Starr is equally immersed in Homelander, giving this malcontent such complexity that audiences find him to be a truly tragic figure. With whispers of a manufactured virus specifically aimed at eradicating ‘supes’, season four soon becomes about getting the upper hand in this battle between government and everyone else.
Image via Amazon MGM Studios.
The Boys may embrace elements of the X-Men as well as later interpretations including Logan, but this Prime Video benchmark is also its own animal. Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Karen Fukuhara, and Tomer Capone have already carved their own furrow in popular culture. Their legacy is assured, and this season will do nothing to diminish that as Hugh and his cohorts go through the wringer once again. New additions that hit hard and hit home include Firecracker (Valarie Curry), a spandex wearing on-line activist, as well Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), a super intelligent hero who becomes Homelander’s chief adviser.
Image via Amazon MGM Studios.
The Deep, A-Train and the extended Vought family also make an appearance, alongside Butcher’s old friend Joe Kessler (Harry Dean Morgan), but season four no longer trades on shock value or gross out elements. Having been with many of these characters for so long, show runner Eric Kripke is savvy enough to focus on character. These are all broken people carrying the weight of their own worth like a millstone. Loss, tragedy, and a series of bad decisions have brought them together, yet regardless they are still a family. Dysfunctional, destructive and dangerous to know certainly, but guess what, isn’t every family a little bit like that?
The Boys Season 4 is streaming now on Prime Video.