Warning – spoilers for the finale of season three of The Boys lie ahead.
Season three of The Boys ended with a bang.
Now that Soldier Boy is out of the way, we’re back to where we were at the end of season two, with the same two big villains still lurking.
However, events have intensified as not only is Homelander more mad with power, we have Victoria Neuman, whose elevation to Vice President candidate will only add further unchecked power for The Seven’s leader going forward.
So, with the head popper likely heading to the White House, is the next season going to give Butcher and co. their biggest challenge to date? Here are our predictions of what to expect from season four.
Homelander Gets More Trump
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The writers have made it no secret that Homelander is supposed to be a Donald Trump-esque figure, but it looks like the next season will step that up a notch – perfect timing for the show’s satire, considering the former President is eyeing another run at the Oval Office.
Just like Trump during his first Presidential run, Homelander has realised throughout season three that transgressing social norms might not make him popular with the majority of the public, but it will earn him a dedicated fanbase.
In the final moments of the concluding episode, this is taken to its logical conclusion, with Homelander killing a protester to rapturous applause from witnesses (the vast majority of whom are far-right sycophants).
As with Trump, Homelander has now got a reliable fanbase to defend him no matter how obviously morally wrong or illegal his actions are.
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With this in mind, the fourth season may finally see the video of him and Queen Maeve on the flight leaked to the public – with his fans saying Maeve was actually the one in the wrong for leaving, knowing she’s no longer around to defend herself.
Earlier this season, Homelander suggested leaking that video would be a freeing experience, allowing him to reveal his true self and rule with unchecked power.
You just have to look at how dedicated his fanbase remains, even after Starlight secretly filmed him speaking about his evil intentions at length, a development that has had little effect on his overall standing.
With a Supe who is terrified of him on the Presidential ticket, it’s a perfect storm for Homelander’s mask to finally slip off in public. The consequences will be brutal.
Keeping It In The Family
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This isn’t the only Homelander arc we can expect, with the very last scene in the finale showing his son Ryan appearing to embrace the dark side after witnessing his father’s bloody attack.
We’ve seen the “evil child with superpowers” story many times before in pop culture (anybody remember 2019’s Brightburn), but we expect the writers of The Boys to come up with a dark new twist here.
In the comics, this character doesn’t exist. Butcher’s wife Becky died during childbirth because of the sheer force of the baby’s powers, with Billy immediately killing the superpowered fetus – yes, many of the more extreme events from the comics haven’t translated onto the small screen.
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Also in the comics, it’s eventually revealed that Black Noir (and not Homelander) was the father of this child, but as he was disguised as Homelander to attack Becky, this is why Butcher vowed to get revenge on him specifically.
It’s unclear how the series could pull off a similarly dark twist considering Ryan has inherited his father’s powers, but if there’s one thing that could send Homelander into a rampage, it’s discovering that his son isn’t actually his.
The Race To The White House
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The breaking news bulletin at the end of the season reveals that Victoria Neuman has taken over the VP slot after The Deep followed Homelander’s treasonous orders to kill the previous candidate.
Homelander has already spoken at a rally for her running mate, with his fingerprints all over the race to ensure he can continue causing chaos and destruction with unchecked power.
As Neuman’s identity as the “head popper” has managed to be kept under wraps, Butcher’s attempts to stop her could be their deadliest mission to date.
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It’s one thing getting a superhero to kill a VP candidate, it’s another to kill one after they’ve been elected and have Secret Service protection, in addition to superpowers and the ever-watchful eye of Homelander.
After the initial run of episodes, Neuman became more of a background player this time around than the season two finale initially hinted. The season three finale ensures that Homelander now has his most meticulously conceived plan for domination in place.
A release date for season four is yet to be unveiled, but we hope it can reach our screens in 2023.
