[Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Boys and Gen V]
While we have just been treated to a first look at David Corenswet in costume for James Gunn’s hotly anticipated Superman, which is slated for release next year and will co-star Canada’s own beloved thespian Nathan Fillion, there’s no getting around discussing the first full-length trailer for The Boys’ fourth season, which dropped over the weekend. There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s get into it.
One of the first things apparent from the trailer is that it noticeably leans into spinoff show Gen V, referencing the virus that kills supes only, which Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) had discovered in a juicy post-credits cameo at the end of Gen V. Clearly the virus will be at the centre of The Boys’ fourth season, as newcomer to the show and legendary actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, in a yet unknown role, tells a likeminded Butcher, “The whole world is about to burn. We need someone like you, Billy. Before the supes start rounding us up and dumpin’ us off in camps.” However, the virus is not the only connection to Gen V found in the trailer, as two of the show’s central characters, Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) and Sam Riordan (Asa Germann) briefly appear behind A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) in what is clearly The Seven’s headquarters in Vought Tower, hinting that we will learn of what happened to Cate, Sam, and perhaps others after the finale of Gen V’s freshman season.
The Boys has only continued to expand on its satirical elements, and what’s also readily apparent from the trailer is that the show’s creator and showrunner, Eric Kripke, and his writers have doubled down on its depiction of a politically fractured U.S. that, while exaggerated, is not unlike the division we see south of the Canadian border today. And it’s certainly been no secret that the show’s central villain, Homelander (Anthony Starr), is an allegorical depiction of Donald Trump, with Kripke confirming as much in a Rolling Stone interview, where he outright states, “[Homelander’s] always been a Trump analogue for me….We’re angrier and more scared as the years go on, so that is just being reflected in our writing.” It’s hard not to hear the parallels as the voiceover of Homelander, without a hint of irony, pontificates that the “country is corrupt beyond repair. So we gotta save it. It’s not gonna be easy. We’ll have to do some terrible things. For the greater good.”
Speaking of satirical elements, we get an even better look at one of the newest additions to the show’s cast of characters, Firecracker (Valorie Curry), who is a Bible-thumping zealot and an unwavering fan of the U.S. constitution’s Second Amendment. She is very clearly a reference to incendiary pundits and talking heads like Candace Owens and Tomi Lahren, who seek to fan the flames of political discord through hateful and misleading rhetoric, rather than unite the people. And this is exactly what she is seen doing in the trailer, declaring a “biblical war….on Starlighters” on Fox Ne…I mean, Vought News.
However, we have heard little from the other new addition to The Seven, Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), whose overriding motivations are still a mystery as she, like Firecracker, has been created specifically for the show, offering no point of reference in the comics. With that being said, her voiceover in the original teaser trailer, speaking with Homelander, she compares the U.S. to failed democracies of the past specifically Rome and Greece, before advising, “the people will tear [democracy] apart themselves. You just gotta nudge ’em a little. Then you get to swoop in. Be the one saving it.” Probably not the most moral addition to the supposed superhero team, then.
Perhaps what the trailer makes most clear is that the concept of power will be the core theme of the upcoming season, with those aligned with Homelander believing that “Violence is power”, while those on The Boys’ side will reconcile that “Violence isn’t brave”, and instead (try to) embrace their humanity in the face of monsters.
This is all without mentioning the new Black Noir…in his old costume, hinting that Vought will hide the death of the original Noir at the hands of Homelander, as well as the return of the stretchy supe and problematic pastor Ezekiel, who has not been seen since season one. Then, there’s the farm full of animals injected with Compound V that ranges from an invulnerable, chest-bursting chicken to a blood-soaked flying sheep, so typical fare for The Boys. We won’t have to wait long for all its bloody glory either, as the first episode of The Boys’ fourth season will air on June 13th.