Spoilers for the first three episodes of The Boys season four.
The Boys season four is underway and, to quote the great MM, it is truly “the bold and the bats**t.” Butcher and company cannot get along, people are literally fighting on the streets, and Vought’s supes are up to no good. Despite having a ton of superheroes, I’d say no one on this show is truly a hero. But some characters are up to some seriously nefarious activities. Quite a few villains are at play in The Boys season four, so let’s look at how they are shaking up this universe.
Homelander
Of course, the chief antagonist is Homelander. He’s trying to mold Ryan in his own twisted image and is willing to do anything to take down Annie/Starlight and the Boys for good. Homelander is threatening Victoria Neuman, lasering the heads of innocent people, and being an all-around d*ck to most of his Vought family. He’s also unraveling mentally so he could do or say literally anything at any moment. Interestingly, he’s actually not the mastermind of this season’s most heinous acts so far.
Sister Sage
The one who is really calling the evil shots is Sister Sage. Homelander brought her into the fold to help sustain Vought’s power and destroy everything that Starlight has built. And boy is she using her smarts to the wildest extent. She convinces Homelander to have A-Train, Black Noir, and the Deep murder three of Homelander’s biggest fans and pin it on two Starlight supporters. (Her doing this as a Black woman and framing two Black men is exceptionally nasty work.)
She’s also turned the Deep against Ashley, which helped her secure power as Vought’s CEO. And, she brought Firecracker, a dangerous conspiracy theorist with a rabid following, into the fold to tell her lies on a really large platform. Sister Sage may not be killing people directly but she is certainly a villain in The Boys season four.
Firecracker
Being a dangerous “truther” aside, Firecracker is dangerous because of her deep-seated hatred for Starlight. In episode three, we discover Firecracker was shunned from the pageant world after Annie told people she had sex with judges. She’s certainly within her rights to hate Annie’s guts but she’s also putting a lot of innocent people in danger with her lies and twisted propaganda. Homelander’s followers are bad, but her devotees are 10 times worse because they will literally believe anything she says. Sounds familiar, right?
Victoria Neuman
Victoria is also up to no good. She’s only days away from becoming the next Vice President, a position she doesn’t intend on staying in very long. Victoria is working with Homelander and Sister Sage to get Robert Singer out of the way so she can be the President. Once installed, they want Victoria to give supes ultimate power in every city and get rid of any educational platforms/theories that are “anti-supe.” After what happened with Soldier Boy killing MM’s grandfather and Blue Hawk’s murder of an innocent Black man, this certainly isn’t good for society.
Of course, there are other people who aren’t exactly heroic. We are still trying to fully figure out what’s up with Joe Kessler (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and if A-Train is truly going to be #TeamBoys or turn on them once again. And, Hughie’s mom working for Vought is hella suspect, too. We will have to see what other villains emerge and keep our eyes on the Big Four as The Boys season four progresses.