The following story contains spoilers through the end of The Boys Season 3.
We've now seen three absolutely off-the-walls seasons of Amazon Prime Video's superhero satire series The Boys, with each zanier than the last. As the show progresses, though, we get to know the characters more and more; that includes heroes like Hughie, Starlight, and Billy Butcher, and villains like Homelander and Soldier Boy.
Still, as the show approaches Season 4—officially announced way back on June 10—you start to wonder if there's an end in sight. The show has done a wonderful job of helping us fall in love with its main players, constantly raising the stakes with each jaw-dropping moment. Showrunner Eric Kripke certainly has a plan, as each season of The Boys does a masterful job at teasing what's to come in the next. We just hope it comes soon.
Coming off a season that included a superhero who exploded a penis from the inside and a giant superhero orgy, you also start to wonder just how far—and how much further—things can go. But we haven't been disappointed by this team yet, so our hopes (and expectations) remain as high as a Homelander cruise through the clouds.
Will there be a Season 4 of The Boys?
There sure will be! Season 4 of The Boys was officially announced way back on June 10, 2022.
When will Season 4 of The Boys come out?
That's up in the air as of now. Star Karl Urban (who plays Butcher) said in a recent interview with Collider that filming for Season 4 would commence in August 2022. That could mean that we get Season 4 as early as Spring of 2023—but we're not crossing our fingers for that to happen. After all, Season 2 aired in Fall 2020, and Season 3 didn't come until Summer 2022. Some time in 2023, however, does feel like a safe guess.
What will Season 4 of The Boys be about?
We know what we've got to work with from the end of Season 3, and that's actually quite a bit. Butcher, having taken far too much Temp-V, has essentially turned his brain into Swiss cheese and has been given 12-18 months to live. When we pick back up with Season 4, who knows how far down that timeline we'll be.
The Boys Volume 1: The Name of the Game: Amazon Edition
The Boys Volume 1: The Name of the Game: Amazon Edition
Perhaps more pressing is the fact that at the end of Season 3, Homelander (in a clear take on Donald Trump's famous "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters" quote from 2016) lasered the head off of a protestor clear off into a million pieces...and his adoring fans only continued to cheer him on. What precedent does this set? Not a good one! Homelander, at this very event, was also joined by his son Ryan, now following his father after the confrontation with Soldier Boy and Butcher. None of this is good.
In The Boys comics, SPOILER!, Black Noir is actually a supercharged clone of Homelander who goes even more mad than Homelander himself—and ultimately his worst crimes get pinned on him. With Ryan's wicked smile at the end of the season, perhaps he could become just as evil as his father? We already know the Black Noir story cannot really go down that same way, so maybe things get mixed up with a blend of the two.
Also not good? Victoria Neumann, who, now having gotten Stan Edgar out of the way and streamlined power for Homelander, is running as Dakota Bob Singer's Vice President (The Deep murdered the previous running mate on Homelander's behalf, clearing the way to make this possible). That could put the head-popper only one head pop away from the most powerful position in the free world. Lots to explore here, folks.
A spin-off of The Boys, titled The Boys: Varsity, will likely come out before Season 4—and will tie-in with the events of Season 3.
A spin-off of The Boys, now titled The Boys Presents: Varsity, or, simply, Varsity, was ordered back in 2020 and is currently filming. Varsity has been described as a college-themed spinoff of The Boys, and the official description says that the show will be set at "Godolkin University School of Crimefighting," a school run by Vought, where the young adult Supes will be tested in Hunger Games-style challenges; the show is also said to have "all the heart, satire, and raunch of The Boys."
In an interview with Deadline, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke made it clear that the two shows will be happening in conjunction with one another.
"There’s definitely crossover, and we’re doing our best to design a universe that sees some of the issues and storylines in Season 3 hand off to the first season in Varsity. Like there’s a presidential campaign happening in the background of that season, and there’s certain things that are happening at that school that are both in reaction to Season 3 of The Boys. There’s Soldier Boy, etcetera, but also some new storylines that are happening in that season of the spinoff that we have to pick up and take into Season 4 of the show."
Who will be in The Boys Season 4 cast?
We can start with the obvious: Karl Urban, Antony Starr, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Jessie T. Usher, Tomer Capone, Colby Minifie, Karen Fukuhara, and, probably, Cameron Crovetti, will all be back.
There are definitely some people that are more up in the air. Soldier Boy was put back on ice, leaving Jensen Ackles saved for a rainy day when the show feels like it needs a wild card back in the mix. Queen Maeve seems to have finally found her ticket out of town—but that could also work against her; Dominique McElligott may or may not return.
Black Noir, we know, is dead. But, as Kripke emphasized in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, someone else could wear that suit. And actor Nathan Mitchell will pick up where...well, Nathan Mitchell left off.
"It's definitely not the last we've seen of Black Noir as a hero. It's just that the guy who was inside [the Noir suit] in season 3, he's gone," he said. "But we have Nathan playing a really interesting and hilarious character who wears the suit next season."
