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The Boys: Eric Kripke Shares Big Season 4 Update; Gen V Timeline

With the SAG-AFTRA strike now ended, The Boys Showrunner Eric Kripke offered a big update on where things stand with production on Season 4.

So Cate (Maddie Phillips) & Sam (Asa Germann) are now the VNN-anointed "Guardians of Godolkin" – and possibly, future members of The Seven. Meanwhile, Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Andre (Chance Perdomo), Jordan (Derek Luh & London Thor), and Emma (Lizze Broadway) are somewhere – being painted as the "big bads," but not before a particularly nasty encounter with Homelander (Antony Starr). Meanwhile, Butcher (Karl Urban) went to check out what remained of the Woods – and it's definitely gotten his attention. That's where things stood as the end credits rolled on Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters' Gen V. Now, it's time to see where the story goes from here – and Eric Kripke's The Boys began teasing just that with our first key art posters for the fourth season (which you can check out below). With the SAG-AFTRA strike officially over (pending final ratification), Kripke is sharing an update on where things stand: "Here's the update. Editing: done. VFX: halfway done. Music & sound: quarter done. Now that the SAG strike is over (yay), the actors can record additional dialogue. No airdate yet, but will be worth the wait. It could be our best season. For sure, our craziest," Kripke wrote.

Here's a look at Kripke's tweet updating the production status on the fourth season:

In addition, some important bullet points were shared to get everyone up-to-speed on the timelines and where certain things stand storyline-wise. For example, The Boys Season 4 will be set approximately a month after the Gen V season finale events (with the fourth season's events leading into the second season of the spinoff). As we've seen in previous "meta" posts (see below), Homelander is standing trial for killing that protestor during the third season finale (with Vought starting the #HomeFree hashtag campaign). As for that end credits scene, it's important to know that Butcher knows about the virus. So there's that…

And here's the official press release from Butcher (released by his "mate,' Hughie), making sure everyone knew that they're back – followed by a look back at The Boys & Gen V connections from the latter's season finale:

Homelander's Not Happy with Marie: Yup, Starr's leader of The Seven shows up – and let's just say he's not too thrilled with Marie attacking other supes. After asking her what kind of "animal" she is, a shocked Marie is blasted by Homelander's laser vision. For some reason, we have a feeling that Ashley (Colby Minifie) won't be going to Homelander anytime soon to admit that she urged Marie and the others to take down Sam & Cate – and what was offered if they do.

But Homelander Seems Happy at the End: As Homelander watches a VNN news broadcast with a satisfied smile/smirk, we learn that Sam & Cate are being sold as the "New Guardians of Godolkin." Meanwhile, a still-alive Marie – along with Andre, Jordan, and Emma – find themselves locked inside a doorless hospital facility (never a good sign).

Butcher Comes A'Callin During End Credits: Once Mallory (Laila Robins) learned from Dean Shetty (Shelley Conn) that a supes virus had been created, we knew she wasn't going to just sit on the information. And that brought Urban's Butcher back into our lives to survey the damage of what went down at the Woods – and check for "what" might've been left behind. Unfortunately, Congresswoman Neuman (Claudia Doumit) has possession of what Butcher's after – meaning another reason for these two to face off during the fourth season.

Eric Kripke Offers "The Boys" Season 4 Update: "Most of the editing is done; we're now deep into the music and visual effects. Marketing is starting to taxi their planes on the runway. There's a lot happening behind the scenes of 'The Boys' Season 4, I can say that."

The Boys Showrunner/EP Eric Kripke Discusses Season 4 & Beyond

In July 2022, Kripke covered a ton of topics in his interview with Variety (check out the complete interview with a ton of other details here), with highlights focused on Butcher (Urban), Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Soldier Boy (Ackles), and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell):

So Should We Be Expecting Ryan to Go "Brightburn"? "Ryan is a really important piece of the story because he's half Becca, half Homelander. If Butcher can figure out how to get his shit together and get the kid back, that could be the single best weapon they have against Homelander. But vice versa. If Homelander wins the kid over, that's apocalyptic because then there's two Homelanders. It's like a child drama with apocalyptic stakes. It's like 'Kramer vs. Kramer' meets 'Avengers: Endgame.' So that will be a really rich story moving forward."

How Will Butcher React to Knowing He's on a "Crazy Ticking Clock"? "He's got so much to do that he hasn't done. And everything that he's tried to do up to this point has exploded in the most horrible way. What we find fascinating about the question we're asking about Butcher is, is he self-aware enough to realize that he's causing his own misfortune? Is he self-aware enough to actually see if he can change? Those are some of the interesting conversations we're starting to have for Season 4."

Maeve's Leaving Will Make Things Tougher for Starlight… at Least Until She Returns? "I don't think 'The Boys' will end without Maeve showing up again… We needed a way to sort of gracefully get Maeve out of the show, let her head for the exit. Obviously, we didn't want to kill her and fall into the tropes of gay characters and bisexual characters in shows getting killed. We wanted to do the opposite of that and send her off and give her a happy ending with Elena. The best way to do that was, well, take away her powers, and she's not useful in the fight anymore. And we did that because Annie can't really grow into her own until all the characters that are around to protect her are gone. It was important for her next step for her mentor characters and her protector characters to go away. And so it's only up to Annie. There's no one left but Annie. So what is she going to do?"

Black Noir Is Dead! Long Live Black Noir! "Without spoiling anything, I will just say this: When you have a silent character in a mask, he's reasonably easy to recast… If you notice in the flashbacks of this season, it was a different actor [Fritzy-Klevans Destine], and perhaps the reason we did that is so that if we were to recast Noir, we could recast him with Nathan [Mitchell, the original Black Noir actor].

Just Because Soldier Boy's on Ice Doesn't Mean He Can't Return… Right? "The old TV adage is like, never kill anyone unless you really, really have to. Never close a door, open a window. We'll all have to wait and see, but I can't imagine the series ending without Soldier Boy making another appearance."

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