The Boys’ first three seasons have already been a chaotic mess as the titular team go back-and-forth against The Seven, with the personal animosity between Billy Butcher and Homelander growing more violent over that time. Season four of Amazon’s The Boys looks to ramp up the chaos even more as the U.S., itself, gets sucked into an ideological war that will be as bloody as viewers have come to expect in the latest trailer.
At the core of the trailer is Billy Butcher, who basically confirmed his death sentence as a result of his reckless use of V24 during season three to combat Homelander, Soldier Boy, and other supes. Billy asks the team to help him in what would be his final mission to kill Homelander for everything he’s done before the V24 sickness finally takes his life and he may have just the thing – a virus that only targets supes.
It won’t just be The Boys and The Seven facing off this time around, though, as ideological lines are starting to be drawn across the U.S., with Homelander on one side and Starlight on the other, that looks to get equally violent once the fighting starts. Starlight, herself, also looks to be the target of The Seven and its newest members, including the politically outspoken Firecracker.
The juxtaposition of Billy and Homelander, though, is what gets put on full display as it becomes clear what this personal war between the pair has done to them.
Along with contemplating his own mortality, Billy appears truly remorseful for all the “messes” he’s made during his life that he “ain’t got time to fix.” The trailer really hammers this point home with a brief but emotional shot of Billy looking at Ryan Butcher before Ryan leaves with Homelander, though he appears somewhat hesitant.
By contrast, Homelander appears to be reveling in the chaos as he slowly becomes more unhinged and willing to use his powers with reckless abandon “for the greater good.” It is a sentiment he is trying to instill into the rest of The Seven, as well, telling them to become “wrathful gods” instead of the tabloid-style celebrities they previously were.
A War for Hearts and Minds
The trailer also reminds audiences just how far things have escalated between The Boys and The Seven since Billy and Hughie first met at Hughie’s old job.
As violent as things had gotten in the past, the battle between the two teams had been largely kept away from the public eye during most of the first two seasons. It began to change at the end of season two with The Boys’ recruitment into the Bureau of Superhuman Affairs, the reveal of Stormfront’s Nazi past, and the threat of Homelander’s public image being tarnished by footage of the infamous airplane scene from season one.
By the time the credits rolled on The Boys’ third season, though, all that had gone out the window as the war was clearly about to hit the streets thanks to Homelander riling up his almost-militant fanbase and the destruction caused by Soldier Boy’s return.
The Boys season four premieres on Amazon Prime Video on June 13, 2024.
