It might be safe to go back to Vought Tower, but The Boys season 4 looks to bring even more chaos. And, yes, the Supes will be back, though one of the most powerful appears to be going to court. Oh, and right now our speculation turns to if Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy will come back, since the actor is giving folks hope for a return.
For everyone who finished the finale — our massive The Boys season 3 ending explained guide will help you unpack its events — we have (mostly) good news. The Supe-powered fight is going to continue.
We want to say more right now, right up here, but that would require spoiling things a lot. And after the most chaotic moments of The Boys season 3 episode 1, we don't even want to sneeze the wrong way around Kripke's show.
So, let's break down everything you need to know about what's next for the Prime Video series that reaffirmed why it's one of the best shows on Amazon Prime Video. Of course, consider this your spoiler warning for The Boys season 3:
The Boys season 4 is confirmed
We didn't have to wait long for The Boys season 4's announcement. Prime Video, in a press release issued on June 10, 2022 (a week after season 3's premiere), announced it "officially ordered a fourth season of its hit Emmy-nominated series The Boys, co-produced with Sony Pictures Television, following the explosive premiere of its third season."
At the time of that announcement, the series grew its audience by 17% vs season two. This wasn't the huge jump seen from seasons one to two (+238%), but growth is growth.
The Boys season 4 release date speculation
Hopefully, The Boys season 4 isn't hit by a big production crisis. Its previous season was one of the few to avoid a Covid-19-related delay.
Since season 3 took approximately 6.5 months (February 24 to September 10, 2021) to film, and Karl Urban told Collider that he expected filming to begin on August 22, 2022, we can estimate that they should be done filming around February or March 2023, if this new season requires a similar amount of effort. That date, by the way, was confirmed to be accurate per an August 22 tweet from Antony Starr.
That filming window mostly makes sense, though, because it seems like The Boys season 4 will be similar to season 3. Nothing truly game-changing happened, with everyone ending in the same area, locked in the war between The Boys and Homelander.
That said, it took The Boys season 3 a while — 266 days, to be precise — to get from its final shots to Prime Video. This means we could be waiting until fall or even winter to get the season. The ongoing writer's strike is confirmed to have caused additional delays, and the resulting actor's strike isn't likely to speed things along either.
We had expected The Boys season 4 to arrive in mid-to-late 2023, but until those strikes are resolved there's no guarantee of that.
The Boys season 4 cast: More new faces join the cast
The Boys season 4 cast will expand, offering potential more supes to get killed off. A Deadline report announced that Rosemarie DeWitt, Rob Benedict and Elliot Knight are joining The Boys season 4 cast, with DeWitt playing Hughie's mother. Simon Pegg is also returning.
Earlier, Deadline reported that Eric Kripke will be reuniting with Supernatural star Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Walking Dead) who will be a recurring guest star in The Boys season 4. His role is apparently a secret. Morgan posted the below photo from of his script, sitting under a thermos.
Morgan captioned the photo "Oh OhOh @theboystv. Hope you ready for me… cuz I sure as shit ready for you! Memorizing as I run the fence line. A damn fine day… at least until I find the broken fence."
Also joining The Boys, per Deadline, are Valorie Curry (The Lost Symbol) and Susan Heyward (Orange Is The New Black). That report also notes that Cameron Crovetti, who plays Ryan, is now a series regular.
In terms of the returning cast, it must be great to work at The Boys. Regular cast members had fantastic job security this season, as nearly all of the main characters will be coming back. That starts with The Boys themselves, as Hughie, Butcher, Annie January (who's ditched the Starlight moniker and uniform), Mother's Milk, Frenchie and Kimiko all made it out.
On the other side of the moral coin, Homelander, A-Train, The Deep, Ashley Barrett, Victoria Neuman and Stan Edgar are all still alive too.
Here's the The Boys season 4 cast we expect to return.
- Karl Urban as Billy Butcher
- Jack Quaid as Hughie
- Erin Moriarty as Annie January fka Starlight
- Antony Starr as Homelander
- Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk
- Tomer Capone as Frenchie
- Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko
- Chace Crawford as The Deep
- Jessie T. Usher as A-Train
- Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
- Claudia Doumit as Victoria Neuman
- Giancarlo Esposito as Stan Edgar
- Cameron Crovetti as Ryan (who has been upgraded to a series regular)
- Laila Robins as Grace Mallory
- Jim Beaver as Robert Singer aka Dakota Bob
MM's family, Monique (Frances Turner) and Janine (Liyou Abere) are likely to return, and since he was in the closing frames of the finale, we could also see the return of Todd (Matthew Gorman), Monique's boyfriend. Though we'd be happy to hear he got crushed by a falling statue.
As for characters who are off the board, but still likely to return, you've got Dominique McElligott as Queen Maeve and Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy. Ackles is talking about Solider Boy's return to The Boys, but not specifying if he's going to be in season 4. He's already mentioned a cameo will come in The Boys' Gen V spinoff.
Paul Reiser can easily reprise his role as The Legend, especially if Soldier Boy or any other older Supes come back.
The Boys season 4: Who's dead?
Don't expect to see Black Noir or Lamar Bishop (Graham Gauthier) back this season, as Homelander and The Deep (respectively) offed them in the season 3 finale.
Soldier Boy's former teammates, Crimson Countess (Laurie Holder), Gunpowder (Sean Patrick Flannery), Swatto (Joel Labelle), Mindstorm (Ryan Blakely) and the TNT Twins — Tommy (Jack Doolan) and Tessa (Kristin Booth) all died throughout season 3 en route to the finale.
The Boys season 4 plot: What happens now?
We just learned one big potential plot for the The Boys season 4: Homelander in court! Yes, after the incident that ended The Boys season 3, Homelander will face trial for the murder everyone saw.
Otherwise, The Boys season 4 seems like it will be a lot like The Boys season 3. While we want to think Homelander is too toxic for Vought after he killed a civilian in broad daylight to cheers from his mob, that's probably not happening. The Seven will (again) be looking for new recruits to fill the four gaps in their ranks, and The Boys will be trying to stop Homelander for good.
To that matter, Billy Butcher's life is now seemingly on a timer, as the doctors told him that his Temp-V usage means he only has 18 months left to live. This will probably mean he'll be more desperate to kill Homelander than ever.
Butcher is still likely looking to save Ryan from his dad's embrace, per the promise he made Becca.
In the background, we've also got Victoria Neuman rising to power, as she's the current VP nominee. This will likely give Homelander more cover and power. One expects that Stan Edgar could help The Boys since he's been given the heave-ho by Homelander.
To top it all off the college-focused spin-off Gen V is said to take place concurrently with season 4 — which means we may see some kind of crossover between the two shows.
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