Everything we know so far about The Boys season 4

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke put it in his Twitter bio for all to see: "Look, we're writing Season 4 as fast as we can, lay off, jeez." So instead, bother us! We'll be hoarding as much information on the next phase of the R-rated superhero satire as more developments come about.

The series — set in a world where superheroes are real and are actually huge a--holes — comes from humble beginnings: supe sex parties and rectal pipe bombs. But it's since grown to be one of Amazon's biggest shows, complete with a few Emmy nominations. And each season, with a constant finger on the cultural and political pulse of the real world, only seems to be getting more provocative and poignant.

Here's what we can expect from The Boys season 4… so far.

When did The Boys season 4 start filming?

Kripke told EW in July 2022 that production on The Boys would return to Toronto the following August. Star Karl Urban separately mentioned Aug. 22 in an interview with Collider. Kripke confirmed that date to be the start of production with a photo of the first episode's script and the announcement that "Day One" had officially begun.

Some of the actors, including Jack Quaid and Antony Starr, also helped mark the occasion on social media.

"Today we start work on season 4," Quaid tweeted, along with an image of him and his costars on set for the first day of filming season 1. "I feel so lucky and grateful that I get to start this journey all over again with my @TheBoysTV family," he added. "Let's do this!!!!"

Starr too shared some throwback photos from season 1's production. "Long time ago we Began….now, Season four," he wrote on Instagram. "Holy cow juice. Long way we've come and the world went insane through the middle of it. (Arguably still is). But here we are. 4. So grateful to be part of this team and to you fans for your support. We'll keep pushing to make the best show we can for ya. Now, off to work."

Previously, the cast shared photos of their travel to Toronto, where the show routinely shoots every season. Urban had posted a photo to Instagram of him and Quaid grabbing a beer with the caption, "Start as you mean to go on! Season 4. Let's go !!!'

Others, including Laz Alonso and Karen Fukuhara, had posted photos of themselves en route in various airplanes.

"Travel time… Wonder what that means…" Starr teased.

Filming officially wrapped in April 2023, according to announcements made by the cast over social media.

When will The Boys season 4 premiere?

A premiere date hasn't yet been set for season 4, but Amazon has confirmed it will be sometime in 2024.

Who's in the cast?

Expect the mainstay stars to all make returns. That goes for Urban, Quaid, Starr, Fukuhara, Alonso, Erin Moriarty, Tomer Capone, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Chace Crawford, and Nathan Mitchell. That also presumably goes for Colby Minifie, Laila Robins, Giancarlo Esposito, and Claudia Doumit.

Yes, Mitchell's Black Noir was killed in the season 3 finale, but Kripke told EW that the plan is for the actor to return as a new variation of Noir. The showrunner explained: "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. But we have Nathan playing a really interesting and hilarious character who wears the suit next season."

The first season 4 casting announcement from Amazon confirmed that Cameron Crovetti, who plays Ryan Butcher, will be taking a more active role on The Boys as a series regular.

The newcomers so far include Valorie Curry and Susan Heyward, both playing supes. Curry will appear as Firecracker, while Heyward will appear as Sister Sage. "These new Supes are some of the best & craziest ever written for #TheBoys," Kripke teased on Twitter. "You are going to love them. And by love, I mean be absolutely horrified & a tiny bit nauseous."

First look images of these characters confirm Firecracker's thing is guns, while there's the suggestion that Sister Sage can see the future as Amazon teased she's "already a thousand steps ahead of you." Further details on these supes won't be revealed until new episodes arrive on Prime Video.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a veteran of Supernatural who's been chatting with Kripke about getting a role on The Boys since the top of 2020, has now officially fulfilled his destiny in joining the season 4 cast. It's not known yet who Morgan will be playing, but we know he will be a recurring guest star. (Learn more about the saga to cast Morgan here.)

Urban teased Morgan's role with a photo he shared after filming wrapped in April 2023.

"I'm not allowed to post any photos from set…soooo here's a snap of [Jeffrey Dean Morgan] & moi on the set of a Cadillac commercial…" Urban wrote, followed by a sarcastic winking and smirking emoji face.

Will Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy return for The Boys season 4? It's hard to say. The character was placed back into cryogenic slumber under the watchful eye of Grace Mallory (Robins). Kripke confirmed that he's "100 percent" leaving the door open for more Soldier Boy. It just might not be as soon as season 4.

"The old TV adage is like, never kill anyone unless you really, really have to. Never close a door, open a window," Kripke told EW. "We'll all have to wait and see, but I can't imagine the series ending without Soldier Boy making another appearance."

Ackles did send fans into a tizzy over the August 14 weekend when he responded to one of Urban's Instagram posts about season 4. "Pour me a double... I'm on my way," he wrote in the comments.

What's season 4 about?

Kripke thinks of his season finales as pilots for the following seasons. So we already know quite a bit about what to expect.

We can't imagine there'd be as much of a time jump as we saw between seasons 2 and 3, mainly because of what we know about Billy Butcher (Urban). The season 3 finale revealed that all his messing around with Temp V has screwed him royally and he now has mere months left to live. Then there's the Ryan of it all.

After the battle against Soldier Boy, Ryan decided to leave with his father, Homelander (Starr). The leader of the Seven then introduced his son to a crowd of his alt-right followers, who applauded Homelander as he executed a protestor in public. Ryan saw the reaction his father received and gave a foreboding smirk.

"We really wanted to set up this battle for Ryan's soul," Kripke said. "I don't think the game's over yet. I think [Ryan] saw this one thing and I think we should all be afraid because if he becomes another Homelander, that's obviously really bad for the planet. But he's still Becca's kid and there's still a shot that Butcher can pull him into the light."

The launch of spinoff series Gen V also ties into the events of The Boys season 4. Both Homelander and Butcher made cameo appearances in the season 1 finale. The former has adopted a supe supremacy mentality. "If you analyze the seasons of The Boys as the slow disintegration of Homelander's psyche, he's been heading towards this spot for a long time with this Nietzsche-an/Nazi belief that there's a better species that needs control over the lesser species, but are framing it in terms of patriotism and 'Make America Safe Again,'" Kripke says.

A mid-credits scene involving Butcher reveals the Gen V virus storyline will also spill into The Boys season 4. Godolkin Dean Shetty (Shelley Conn) had Dr. Edison Cardosa (Marco Pigossi) engineer a contagious virus that can kill supes. Both Shetty and Cardosa are now dead, and the virus is in the hands of U.S. Rep. Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), who's running for vice president of the country. "Butcher's aware that this virus is out there," Kripke confirms.

The first episode of season 4 is titled "Department of Dirty Tricks," which is written by David Reed and directed by Phil Sgriccia. Reed previously wrote season 3 episode "The Only Man in the Sky" and the season 3 finale "The Instant White-Hot Wild." The season 4 premiere marks the fifth episode of The Boys helmed by Sgriccia, who previously directed season 1's "Get Some" and the premieres of seasons 2 and 3, and season 3's "The Only Man in the Sky."

On a smaller note — literally — Kripke is obsessed with the idea of bringing the supe hamster Jamie back into the fold after the creature busted out of its Russian cell.

"I have no idea how to get him back into the story, but I do not want this to be the last of Jamie," he said. "Like, there's this superpowered, bloodthirsty hamster loose somewhere in Russia! I'm dying to figure out how to get him back in this story. Gotta do it."

What the cast has said

Quaid thinks season 4 will be the best season of The Boys yet. Then again, he says that about every season.

Before shipping out to the Toronto set in August, Quaid told EW that he's "been loving" the scripts. "The general framework of this season has been told to me, and it's shaping up to be very cool, very timely," he added. "I can't wait to see exactly how it plays out because I don't have every script yet, but this is that special time where I get to just be a fan and see every script as it comes in and have my own reaction to the insane things that we do."

Quaid previously worked with Heyward, who's playing new supe Sister Sage, on the HBO drama Vinyl. He expressed his excitement to be reuniting with her.

"There's so little that I can say publicly about this right now, but just I don't think we're skipping a beat," he said. "I think this could be one of our best seasons yet. I don't know. We're going to have to wait and see, but I'm very, very, very excited for the story."

Kripke took to Twitter in mid October to further tease the insanity coming to screens. "In case you're wondering if #TheBoys Season Four hits that high bar of crazy, I just saw a sequence that's easily a Top 5 moment in terms of absolute bat shit insanity that we spent gobs of money on," he tweeted. "I love my job."

This story will be updated as we dig up more information.

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