There’s never been a secret to the satire of The Boys . From the beginning, the bywords have been bigger , broader , and bloodier . Since it started airing in 2019, the series has sent up and torn down American cultural cornerstones—capitalism, the media, and, most obviously, superheroes—by dialing up their darkness to a ridiculous degree.
The show’s sharpness, wit, and, most of all, audacity have made it a delight. Just because the satire is unsubtle doesn’t mean it’s unsatisfying. In Season 4, which launched with a three-part premiere on Thursday, the satire sticks to the formula.
Mostly, it still works. There are few sacred cows the series won’t tackle—at one point, even an actual cow gets torn apart. (OK, a bull, but it’s cattle—close enough.
) But consider how the series trains its sights on its first target: the superhero-industrial complex. It seems almost unsporting for The Boys to kick Marvel and Hollywood when they’re down, but in Episode 5—perhaps this season’s strongest—a presenter at a Vought event stands in front of a backdrop studded with dozens of logos for upcoming projects and hypes up a crowd by teasing “Phases 7 through 19 ..
. which we’ll be sharing with you all today in exhaustive detail.” Another superpowered star announces, “It’s been a whole year since my last movie, so I’d say we’re due for a reboot.
” And then there’s the bragging about Vought’s diversity campaign—insensitively dubbed “Black at It”�.
