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Season three of "The Boys" may be over, but there's plenty more that fans can look forward to when the Prime Video show returns.
The show was renewed for a fourth season in June 2022 and concluded its third season the following month. If you paid attention while watching the latest season, you may have noticed some loose threads and new themes, which will be part of season four.
Here's what we know so far about season four of "The Boys."
Courtesy of Amazon Studios
Since the show's premiere in July 2019, actor Nathan Mitchell has played the mysterious supe. Black Noir's face was finally seen on-screen in season three flashbacks, but it was "Superman & Lois" star Fritzy-Klevans Destine who portrayed the character.
This was an intentional casting choice.
Although Homelander (Antony Starr) murdered Black Noir by ripping his intestines out in the season three finale, showrunner Eric Kripke recently confirmed that Mitchell will return.
"A character who is completely silent and in a black mask can be recast," he told Entertainment Weekly, adding that Mitchell will portray "a different character who wears the Black Noir suit."
"It's definitely not the last we've seen of Black Noir as a hero," he said. "It's just that the guy who was inside [the Noir suit] in season three, he's gone. But we have Nathan playing a really interesting and hilarious character who wears the suit next season."
"We'll explore it as the season goes on, but Nathan plays a whole new character."
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The scene in which the Boys find out that Victoria (Claudia Doumit) has been selected as Dakota Bob's (Jim Beaver) VP pick sets up her arc for season four. Her intentions, beyond perhaps wanting as much power and influence as possible, are still unclear.
Kripke told Business Insider that her storyline was inspired by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comic book series of the same name. Later in the comics, one of the major plots involves Neuman being a VP and conspiring to become president.
"Even though we've taken a roundabout way to get there, we've sort of manipulated those chess pieces into position so we can start telling that story," Kripke said.
"The stakes couldn't possibly be higher because you have this secret supe in the White House with an agenda and is just hungry for power," he said. "A superhero in the Oval Office, I think, would be really destructive for a lot of reasons. The Boys have their work cut out for them next year."
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In the final scene, Homelander murdered a Starlight supporter in broad daylight to the applause of his followers.
"It's a hint of one of our big themes in season four, which is society as a whole is fracturing into these two factions and no one's listening to each other and the threat of violence just gets worse and worse every day," Kripke told Business Insider. "It's an appetizer of what all these superheroes are gonna be doing to society in season four."
Courtesy of Amazon Studios
After the big battle at Vought Tower, Ryan (the son of Homelander and Butcher's late wife Becca) chose Homelander over Karl Urban's Butcher.
In the aforementioned cliffhanger, Homelander introduced Ryan to the world and the child smiled when he saw the positive reaction to his dad killing a Starlight fan.
Butcher has 12 to 18 months to live as a result of his use of V24, but he's going to try to figure out how to honor his promise to Becca about keeping Ryan safe.
"A lot of the season will be a battle over Ryan," Kripke told E! News, "because if Homelander ends up raising and influencing the kids that's basically a second Homelander with apocalyptic stakes."
The showrunner also told Entertainment Weekly that just because Ryan chose Homelander, it doesn't mean that things are far from over.
"He's still Becca's kid and there's still a shot that Butcher can pull him into the light," Kripke said.
"One of the concerns of season four will really be this tug of war over Ryan, as both men really try to get a grip on him," he continued. "So I think, if anything, we're just hinting at the danger of what would happen if Butcher loses that fight."
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It makes sense for Crovetti, who plays Ryan, to become a regular cast member heading into season four given the finale cliffhanger.
In August 2022, Deadline reported that two more actors will join the show as series regulars: Valorie Curry ("The Lost Symbol," "The Tick") as Firecracker and Susan Heyward ("Orange Is the New Black," "Vinyl") as Sister Sage.
Neither of the characters appears in the comics, so it's unclear if these roles were created for the fourth season or if Firecracker and Sister Sage are inspired by the source material at all.
In December, the official X account for "The Boys" revealed that "Titans" star Elliot Knight and "Supernatural" alum Rob Benedict will join the show in undisclosed roles.
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Morgan, who worked with Kripke on "Supernatural," had been vocal about his support of "The Boys" for years.
After Morgan tweeted about his love for the supe series in January 2020, Kripke said that he'd be happy to write a part for the actor for season three. Due to Morgan's schedule, he wasn't able to take part in the third season. However, the star said that he'd figure out a way to "make it work."
Morgan's casting as part of season four was revealed in late August 2022, around the time that production began on the new installment. It's unclear who he'll play, but Amazon confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Morgan will have a recurring role.
Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP; Christopher Smith/Invision/AP
This news was revealed by the official X account for "The Boys" in December 2022.
Hughie's mom, who abandoned the family when he was 6 years old, has been mentioned throughout the show. In season two, Hughie told Annie that he didn't know what happened to his mom or why she left.
Hughie also explained that his love for Billy Joel came from his mom, who used to have dance parties to the singer's music. Then one day she left and never contacted Hughie again.
Amazon Studios
"Gen V" premiered on Prime Video in September, centering on young supes at a Vought-run college called Godolkin University.
Unbeknownst to the public, the dean of God U and a doctor were keeping super-powered youths captive, experimenting on them, and infecting them with a virus that can kill supes in the basement of the school known as The Woods.
Season one of "Gen V" was set after the events of the season three finale of "The Boys" and featured plenty of references to its parent show, along with cameos. Most notably, Homelander appeared on the season one finale after people from The Woods broke out.
In the finale's end-credits scene, Butcher also made a cameo, as he was seen investigating The Woods following a call from Grace Mallory.
Season four of "The Boys" is confirmed to take place about a month after the season one finale of "Gen V." As alluded to in the end-credits scene, the virus will play a role in season four, now that Butcher's aware of this supe-killing virus.
Homelander also won't be let off the hook for lasering a Starlight supporter to death in the season three finale of "The Boys." Instead, he'll stand trial.
The events of season four will also directly set up season two of "Gen V," which is already confirmed to be in the works.
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In April 2023, Kripke revealed on X that filming wrapped.
"It's super interesting and fun and really, really emotionally rich," he told Variety. "Probably as emotionally complicated as we've ever done. So far, that's been my big takeaway. Everyone is really facing their core issues in a way that's pretty exciting, a very character-driven season."
He shared similar comments in an interview with Business Insider, saying that his plan for season four is to continue exploring "the core trauma" that defines each character.
The official release date was announced in February. You can watch the first official teaser trailer for season four below.
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