The Boys have never been shy about mocking the political climate of the time through its satiric representation of its heroes and their ideologies. Throughout its various seasons, Eric Kripke and the team have cleverly poked fun at pop culture and the world that we live in, and season 4 doubles on how hard it goes with its satire.
Audiences on various political spectrums have had conflicting views on Homelander and whether he is pure evil or a misunderstood man. The new season goes all out with its political satire with the character of Firecracker who goes on a rant about various conspiracy theories about various Hollywood celebrities. While some do not like the show being openly political this season, others point out that it has been there all along.
The Boys’ Satirical Jabs At Tom Hanks And Oprah Winfrey Are Part of Its DNA
Season 2 introduced the neo-Nazi Stormfront and Homelander and her being lovers. Thus, the show has never been shy about its political allegories. With season 4 however, the jabs were very ‘on the nose’ and thus divided people about their feelings about the show and how some audiences are realizing (only now) its hard-edged political satire.
In episode 2 of season 4, Firecracker is introduced in a convention called Truthcon where she talks about a lot of conspiracy theories involving high profile names. Theories (more so hoaxes) about Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey setting up a satanic home delivery service and a p*dophile ring are addressed. This is clearly satirizing alt-right beliefs and hoaxes like 2016’s Pizzagate and the Wayfair conspiracies both involving false child trafficking/p*dophile claims.
However, many fans were irked by the show leaning hard on its political satire more than previous seasons. Others on X have pointed out how the show has always been like this and such direct jabs at a certain kind of belief are expected when one watches the show. Here are some of the reactions,
It took some people 4 seasons to realize The Boys was making fun of them the whole time. https://t.co/o2ifpkCxUy
— Mightykeef (@MightyKeef) June 17, 2024
I think it's pretty damn embarrassing it took you four seasons to realize they were making fun of you 😑
— VDubb (@VDubb722) June 17, 2024
Nothing happened. The show was ALWAYS satire of right wingers.
— Tyler 🏳️🌈 (@Tyler_The_Wise) June 17, 2024
The show has always been a good test to see how thin right wingers' skin is.
— NoDisassemble! (@jscoppe1) June 17, 2024
It was always like this 🤷♂️
— John Demetry (@JohnDemetry) June 16, 2024
Kripke himself has talked about how certain people have not yet realized the arguments that the show is making and how they still idolize Homelander (The Hollywood Reporter). The creator has also addressed criticism of the show being ‘woke’ and instructing those groups of people to watch something else. Clearly, Kripke and the show are not pulling their punches and have no time to deal with haters.
Eric Kripke Teases the Possibility of Jared Padalecki Joining Season 5 of The Boys
Eric Kripke has worked with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jensen Ackles, and Jared Padalecki in the long-running series Supernatural (2006-2020). He has brought on Ackles as Soldier Boy in season 3 of The Boys and Morgan in the show’s latest season. When asked by Screenrant about bringing Padalecki for the final season, Kripke revealed that he would love to have him on the next season.
The series creator stated that he constantly talks to Padalecki and loves bringing his Supernatural family to his new show. While he does not have a character in mind for Padalecki yet, he is trying his best to make their schedules line up so that his entry into the show can happen. Kripke said,
I have been texting with Jared, I would love Jared to come in and do a guest spot on the show. Not just because it’s fun to bring Supernatural characters onto the show. We’re very, very early in season five, so I don’t have a character in mind quite yet. But I’m aiming towards it and I’m just keeping in rough touch with him so that hopefully our schedules do line up.
Seeing Morgan, Ackles, and Padalecki in The Boys would be a great reunion moment and one that Supernatural fans would get a kick out of. The first three episodes of season 4 of The Boys are now streaming on Prime Video, with the remaining 5 episodes dropping weekly.
