The Boys season 4: Release date, cast, trailer and latest news
Everything we know about the long-awaited new season.
The Boys season 4 is in full swing, with episode 5 now available to watch on Prime Video – and stepping the action up a notch.
The new instalment, which follows Homelander as he looks to increase his political influence and as Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) attempts to bring him down, sees plenty of familiar faces return.
Season 4 also introduces fans to plenty of new characters, including two new members of the Seven: Sister Sage and Firecracker.
Fans will be thrilled to hear that a fifth season of the main series has already been given the go-ahead, although it's set to be the show's last outing.
Showrunner Eric Kripke confirmed the news in a post on Twitter, which has been rebranded as X: "#TheBoys Season 4 Premiere Week is a good time to announce: Season 5 will be the Final Season!
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"Always my plan, I just had to be cagey till I got the final OK from Vought. Thrilled to bring the story to a gory, epic, moist climax."
He also told Variety that he hopes Gen V and any future spin-offs continue beyond The Boys, explaining: "I think they can and should continue.
"The Boys story is about Butcher and Homelander and these two planets crashing into each other, and this particular story doesn’t work without both of them. And you can only keep that going for so long.
"So what I would say is, this particular story is ending, the Butcher-Homelander is ending. But there can be other stories and other corners of the universe.
"And hopefully it’s vibrant and perverted enough to allow for those stories. So, hopefully Gen V continues, hopefully a couple other things we have in development continue."
As well as The Boys season 5, there's also a second season of spin-off Gen V on the way, meaning there's plenty more on the horizon from the superhero franchise.
But for now, here's everything we know about The Boys season 4 so far.
The Boys season 4 release date
The Boys season 4 released its first three episodes on Thursday 13th June, after which episodes are being released weekly.
In true Billy Butcher fashion, the Prime Video show's release date was confirmed earlier this year with a sweary poster, declaring: "Break out the f***ing confetti."
The season will conclude with its finale on 18th July.
The Boys was officially renewed for a fourth season on Friday 10th June 2022, just one week after season 3 premiered on Prime Video with strong reviews and fan engagement.
Amazon Studios' head of global television, Vernon Sanders, said at the time: "From our first conversation with Eric Kripke and the creative team about season 3 of The Boys, we knew the show was continuing to get even bolder – an impressive feat considering the wild success of the Emmy-nominated second season."
He added: "The Boys continues to push boundaries in storytelling, while also being relentlessly entertaining and threading the needle on social satire that feels all too real.
"This stylised world of the series has incredible global reach, and the viewership for opening weekend is proof of that."
We now know that the show will also be returning for a fifth season, which will be the show's final run. However, spin-off series Gen V is expected to continue, while other spin-offs are reportedly in the works.
How many episodes are in The Boys season 4?
There will be eight episodes in The Boys season 4.
That's exactly what we would have expected, as it's the same length as all three previous seasons.
The show will air in instalments dropping weekly from 13th June until its season finale on 18th July.
The Boys season 4 cast
The returning cast of The Boys is as below:
- Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell
- Karl Urban as Billy Butcher
- Erin Moriarty as Annie/Starlight
- Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk
- Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko
- Tomer Capone as Serge/Frenchie
- Antony Starr as Homelander
- Chace Crawford as The Deep
- Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
- Simon Pegg as Hugh Campbell Snr
- Cameron Crovetti as Ryan
- Olivia Morandin as Zoe Neuman
- Jim Beaver as Robert "Bob" Singe
- Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy
- Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir
We also have some new faces to welcome, including:
- Susan Heyward as Sister Sage
- Valorie Curry as Firecracker
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler
- Rosemarie DeWitt as Daphne Campbell
- Rob Benedict as Splinter
- Elliot Knight as Colin Hauser
Of course, it wouldn't be The Boys without Jack Quaid's Hughie and Karl Urban's Billy Butcher – although Butcher is going to have to do some work to redeem himself when it comes to his old friends.
The trailers have also gave us a sneak peek at Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character, Joe Kessler - and it seems he and Butcher go way back.
We're expecting plenty more familiar faces, too, including Erin Moriarty's Starlight, who we saw back in action in the trailer after she decided to hang up her cape last season. Karen Fukuhara's Kimiko and Tomer Capone's Serge/Frenchie will also be back in business, completing the gang alongside Laz Alonso's Mother's Milk.
Cameron Crovetti, who plays Homelander's son Ryan will also have more of a role to play in season 4, as he's been promoted to a series regular.
Speaking about where his story will go, Kripke told Variety: "Ryan is a really important piece of the story because he’s half Becca, half Homelander.
"If Butcher can figure out how to get his s**t together and get the kid back, that could be the single best weapon they have against Homelander. But vice versa. If Homelander wins the kid over, that’s apocalyptic, because then there’s two Homelanders."
We'll also see the continuation of Colby Minifie's Ashley Barrett and, while nothing is confirmed, we're not ruling out more appearances from characters introduced in Gen V. Could Hughie cross paths with Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair)? We'd love to see it!
Meanwhile, although Black Noir's story has had quite the twists and turns, we're also set to see original actor Nathan Mitchell back in action!
Kripke has teased that Mitchell will play a new character after the shocking events in the season 3 trailer, and recalled sitting down to tell him, telling EW: "I think I literally said something like, 'OK, so I'm gonna say something and your stomach's gonna drop, but then I'm gonna follow it up with something and you're gonna see that it's okay.'"
Plus, there some new additions to look forward to! We'll be welcoming new supes, including Susan Heyward as Sister Sage and Valorie Curry as Firecracker, while Rosemarie DeWitt is joining as Hughie's mother Daphne.
The Boys season 4 plot
An official synopsis for the new season reads: "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."
So... no pressure.
The trailer also gave us our first glimpse at Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character, saw Starlight back in action after she hung up her cape and featured a chilling shot of Homelander drenched in blood.
The finale of Gen V season 1 has given us some indication as to how things could play out in the upcoming season, with Homelander’s (Antony Starr) cameo giving us our biggest hint at how things might cross over.
Sam and Cate’s heroic actions in the final episode made it clear they’d make great assets to Homelander’s team and, with Marie now out of the picture, fans could see them join the Seven in season 4, while the Gen V post-credits scene saw Billy Butcher roaming the woods...
Creator Eric Kripke previously told RadioTimes.com that the season 3 finale – which left the cast in a pretty dire situation as Butcher (Karl Urban) learned he doesn’t have very long to live – will pave the way for the next instalment.
"The storylines that we have set up need to smash into each other at the end of this season," he explained. "And out of that explosion comes the new threads of the storyline, that then we pick up [in] season 4."
Jessie T Usher, who plays speedster A-Train in the superhero drama, added that the Seven are "worse off than when we began" by the end of season 3, which could mean even more unpredictable behaviour ahead from the remaining members.
The story of The Boys season 4 is likely to be another mix of plot elements from the original comic books and new ideas inspired by real-world headlines.
In July 2022, Karl Urban revealed to Collider that even he wasn't sure exactly what would happen in the next season, but he had no doubt it would be "insane".
"We're about two months away from filming, and I have no idea [what will happen]. So that'll tell you something, but yeah, not too far away... I'm actually going to be seeing Kripke next week and I expect conversations will start to happen about what he's got in store," said Urban.
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"I like to give them the respect of being able to do their writing process and not be harassed by actors going, 'What are we doing?' But I can't wait. They always come up with insane stuff, so yeah, it's going to be fun."
In conversation with RadioTimes.com, showrunner Kripke outlined his belief that each episode of The Boys should be narratively satisfying even when viewed in isolation, so expect a similar plot structure to be present next season.
He explained: "I think every episode should have a story. I'm so endlessly irritated by pretentious streaming showrunners who say, 'Well, really, what we’re making is an eight-episode movie.' It's like, 'Go f**k yourself, man.'
"We're in the television business and it's our job to make episodes of television, there's a reason they're called the episodes. And so, for me, I want every episode [...] to have its own beginning, middle and end. And I need the season to have a beginning, middle and end."
Kripke added: "There's some people who not only have no resolution in their episodes, they have no resolutions in their seasons, and they're expecting you to make an investment of 16 hours before you get to anything – and that's insane to me."
Is there a The Boys season 4 trailer?
Yes! You can watch a teaser trailer below:
A full-length trailer has also been released, which you can check out below:
The Boys season 4 began on Thursday 13th June. Seasons 1-3 are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video – try Amazon Prime Video free for 30 days.
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