Eric Kripke’s purposely deliberate and direct approach to many things in The Boys Season 4 has deeply affected armies of fans who initially worshipped the superhero satire series. With a narrative as loud and clear as it will ever be, the Prime Video show is expected to run out of fuel with its fifth and final season, as confirmed by The Boys’ boss himself (or so he says, at least for now.)
However, before that happens, he’s already architected a long road ahead for fans, at least for those who’ve decided to stick around for more mind-boggling explosions in every way possible. Season 4 has significantly driven a wedge between the Rotten Tomatoes scores graded by the critics and the viewers. While the audience score stands at an all-time low across seasons, with 49%, the critics’ Tomatometer still rises with a “Certified Fresh” 95%.
Kripke acknowledges that stretching the series beyond its originally authentic elasticity will only do more damage than make a point. So, he’s all in to hit the breaks, preventing The Boys from “turning into the thing that we’re parodying.” As for the ongoing installment of the series, there’s no room for ambiguity, especially when the main man behind the show has left no stone unturned in vividly spelling out his character inspirations and the subjects of his creative critique.
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New characters of The Boys 4 and their very real-life-like inspirations
The Boys Season 4 not only opened the door to welcome fan favourites like Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher, Antony Starr’s Homelander, Karen Fukuhara’s Kimiko, Jack Quaid’s Hughie and others, but it also rings the alarm for stellar newcomers, including Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Joe Kessler, Susan Keyward’s Sister Sage and Valorie Curry’s Firecracker.
The “diabolical” writer, whose other notable works include the epic 15-season saga of Supernatural, kicked his formidable political commentary a notch higher this season, especially with characters like Sister Sage and Firecracker on the roster.
Speaking to Variety, he revealed how difficult it was to create a character who is essentially dubbed the “smartest person in the person.” Despite the intellectual insights and burdens carried by Keyward’s Sister Sage, she’s also a character whom everyone renders invisible. Kripke further accentuated his social commentary by making the character an African American woman.
“’Let’s make her an African American woman who nobody listens to. And so here she is, the ability to save all of mankind and everyone just kind of thinks she’s invisible,” Kripke described Sage’s character design.
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On the contrary, Curry’s Firecracker embodies the essence of her character’s name in the most racist ways possible. The Boys’ creator confirmed his inspiration for this volatile persona was the far-right US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. Explaining how the new character came into being, Kripke divulged that he mulled over the question, “Hey, isn’t Marjorie Taylor Greene scary?” and Firecracker’s personality was born.
“Like, you had Trump, but now you have these Trump spawn that are trying to outdo each other for how outrageous and sexualized and gun-toting and slavishly obedient they can be,” Kripke noted. Drawing parallels between the creative fictionality of his show and reality, he positioned Starr’s Homelander as former US President Donald Trump, envisioning how “it wouldn’t just start and end with Homelander, he would start to create these spores that would grow into these other characters, and she’s a version of that.”
While describing her character in another interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Kripke named US Rep. Lauren Boebert as another inspiration. On top of that, Kristi Noem also somehow made it to the list: “When we were writing her, [South Dakota Gov.] Kristi Noem wasn’t in our heads, but then she comes out and she’s shooting puppies and then it’s like, ‘There’s Firecracker! She’s literally shooting puppies!’”
As for the declining favouritism for the show among audiences, with Kripke’s commentary becoming “too political” this season (as claimed by many on social media), he outrightly said that viewers can decide whether they want to watch it or not. Leaning further into how it basically mirrors the source material of the comic it’s based on, Kripke reminded via the interview that the “comic is really political,” too. While the books seek to fictionally mirror a past reality “about the post 9/11 George Bush era,” the TV adaptation serves as an extended metaphor for the contemporary reality, representing the “cross-section of celebrity and authoritarianism.” Kripke also didn’t forget to recount that their team first pitched before Trump was elected.
The Boys’ Season 4 Episode 4, “Wisdom of the Ages,” is scheduled to be released on Thursday, June 20, 2024.
