Cue up some Dropkick Murphys, because The Boys are back! A teaser trailer was recently dropped for season four of the “super” popular Prime Video series, The Boys. From the looks of things, this looks to be the show’s most brutal yet. But what all are Boys fans hoping to see in season four?

(Warning: the trailer is very much NSFW)

Note: the rest of this article contains spoilers for both The Boys as well as its spinoff series Gen V. If you’re not caught up with either show yet, you’ve been warned.

Since its premiere in mid-2019, The Boys has gained a massive following with its unrelenting portrayal of hero worship at its most literal. The show’s dark, sinister tone and morbid narrative themes is a refreshing change of pace for many who’ve grown tired of glossy, overly-polished Marvel media crowding the zeitgeist.

Of course, that’s not to say the show is completely humorless. With its many hilarious jabs at celebrity culture, partisan politics, social media, and traditional superhero tropes, no one is safe from The Boys’ biting satire.

But the show would be nothing without its cadre of deeply-flawed, yet endlessly entertaining characters.  The superheroes (or “supes” as they’re often called in the show proper) often range from foolishly inept at best, to outright genocidal at worst. The worst of them is Homelander, who looks to be completely mask-off in his villainy for season four.

Then there’s the eponymous group of supe-hunters known as “The Boys”, featuring Hughie Campbell, Mother’s Milk, Frenchie, supes Kimiko and Starlight, and of course the infamous Billy Butcher. Butcher’s hatred for supes is certainly no secret, with the bulk of his vitriol aimed at Homelander in particular.

The show has been a slow burn of sorts, with nearly every supe and civilian alike diving deeper into mania and bloodlust. Season four looks to be absolutely bonkers in all the best ways, but right now let’s take a look at some questions we’re hoping get answered in the upcoming season of The Boys.

This is also your final warning for spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

• How Far Will Homelander Go?

  Season three ended on a horrifying note, with Homelander lasering a protestor to death in broad daylight. Rather than terrified screams or hateful scorn, the crowd of supe-supporters instead react to the cold-blooded murder with thunderous cheers and applause.

  The look of relief and euphoria on Homelander’s face in that moment is the stuff of nightmares, as he’s now fully unhinged. He realizes he is now free to be as openly evil as he had always been behind closed doors.

  What’s more, with Stan Edgar being ousted as Vought’s CEO in the middle of season three, Homelander is now in firm control of the corporate side of the company while also serving as the face of the brand.

  So if everything we’ve seen of Homelander so far has been him reined in, what is a fully untethered Homelander going to look like in season four? Does his psychopathy know no bounds? His blood-soaked face and monstrous pre-flight roar in the trailer seems to suggest it won’t be a pleasant experience for those under his thumb.

• Will Butcher Die?

  Season three introduced Temp-V, a condensed version of Vought’s Compound-V which grants its host with a variety of super powers for short bursts of time. Butcher was seen frequently shooting up with the drug in an attempt to fight fire with fire, or in this case fight laser eyes with laser eyes.

  Sadly, as we come to find out much later in the season, repeated usage of Temp-V brings about a litany of debilitating side effects. And in the season three finale a doctor tells Butcher that he only has months left to live.

  If there’s one lesson that we learn in The Boys, it’s that actions ALWAYS have consequences. But is the show really bold enough to kill off arguably its most popular character? Will the team somehow find a MacGuffin miracle cure just in time to save him? Is this the last season we’ll ever hear Butcher call everything with a pulse the C-word? The suspense is killing me!

• How Will The Events Of Gen V Factor In?

  To hold over Boys fans during the long two-year wait between seasons three and four, Prime Video released the spinoff show Gen V earlier this fall. Set in the same universe, Gen V follows a group of intrepid young supes at Godolkin University.

  The school is ostensibly a safe space for super-abled teens to explore and enhance their powers (and hone their social media game, obvs), but beneath the surface lies a more sinister operation. At the end of the season it’s revealed that the school is a front for scientists to conduct cruel experiments on students, all for the purpose of waging biological warfare on supes around the world.

  The operation is brought to light as the school descends into utter chaos, with most of the show’s protagonists imprisoned in a doorless facility, leaving fans with more questions than answers to end the season.

  What ramifications, if any, will these events have for the rest of the main show? It’s hard to believe that they’d introduce a new batch of characters (one of whom has the exact same blood-bending powers as one of the central antagonists) with zero intention of incorporating them into the series.

  Will Marie Moreau break out of the confinement and assist the Boys in bringing down Vought? Is Sam Riordan the new Black Noir? Are the escaped prisoners from the Woods running rampant across the country now?

• Which Pop Culture Moments Will Be Parodied?

  As I mentioned earlier, The Boys has a history of skewering some of the more ridiculous moments in pop culture throughout the years. Whether it’s A-Train’s hilariously tone deaf Turbo Rush ad echoing the Kendall Jenner Pepsi fiasco, or The Deep pulling a Gal Gadot by leading an ensemble of celebrities singing “Imagine” in a phony attempt to show solidarity. Truly no one is safe from their merciless mockery.

  This past year has seen many ludicrous moments since the end of season three, and no doubt more absurd moments will come before season four’s premiere in 2024. Which moments can we expect to see parodied in the new season of The Boys?

  Will we see an official Vought submarine implode due to shoddy oversight? Will The Deep purchase Twitter and run it into the ground? Will creative projects on the Vought+ streaming service be put on hold due to writer and actor strikes?

• Why Is Mother's Milk?

  I genuinely can not believe that we’re approaching four full seasons of this show, and not once have they even come close to explaining why Boys member Marvin goes by Mother’s Milk. It’s joked about lightly in the 2nd episode of the series and then never brought up again. Since then the meaning of the nickname has hung like an albatross over my head with every rewatch.

  I understand that there are bigger things at stake for the crew this upcoming season, but damn it I want answers! Why, M.M.? Just why?

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