The show's fourth season stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Cameron Crovetti returning from prior seasons, with Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan joining the cast.

With only months to live, Butcher (Urban) has lost his position as leader of The Boys, who are fed up with his lies, and must find a way to work with them if they want to save the world before it's too late.

The season received positive reviews with praise towards its action sequences, character development, emotional depth, storyline, blend of political commentary and surrealism, unique combination of violence, humor and social commentary, and performances (particularly Urban, Quaid, Starr, and Moriarty), lauding its bold approach to tackling complex themes and pushing narrative boundaries.

[4][5][6] In the season premiere, "Department of Dirty Tricks", Rafia Iqbal, Zach McGowan, and Jasper Morris appear in separate photographs as Hyperion, Dogknott and Wrangler, respectively, during Ashley's presentation of twenty-five potential new candidates to join The Seven.

[48][49][50] Shoshana Bean, James Monroe Iglehart, and Andrew Rannells provide the singing voices of the uncredited figure skaters portraying Queen Maeve, Jesus, and Homelander, respectively, during the "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas" rehearsal musical sequence in the third episode.

[55] On December 4, 2023, Kripke hinted that a scene from the fourth season might include "the batshit craziest thing" ever filmed for the series and expressed his own surprise that he "got away with it".

"[57] Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Kripke described the inspirations of Valorie Curry's character, Misty Tucker Gray / Firecracker, stating: "I think it's like [politicians] Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert.

[16] On December 1, Rob Benedict and Elliot Knight joined the cast in undisclosed capacities for the fourth season, alongside Rosemarie DeWitt who was revealed to play Hughie's mother, Daphne.

On May 3, 2024, the official trailer revealed Maddie Phillips and Asa Germann would appear in the fourth season, reprising their roles from Gen V as Cate Dunlap and Sam Riordan, respectively.

Derek Wilson also reprised his role as Robert Vernon / Tek Knight from Gen V.[19][28][65] Dan Mousseau portrayed Webweaver / Patrick Whitehall, a drug-addicted Supe and parody of Spider-Man, in two episodes.

While Ambrosius has feelings for The Deep, Fleet said the visual effects team had to scale back on any tendency to anthropomorphize the sea creature when designing her.

Ultimately, the team devised an idea to put a little toy figurine of The Deep in her tank so that she will be able to interact with it while talking to her human counterpart.

"[80] The fourth season includes an original song, written by series composer Christopher Lennertz, titled "Let's Put the Christ Back in Christmas".

One notable moment was Candace Cameron Bure's stance against LGBTQ+ representation in Hallmark Channel's Christmas films, which Lennertz found to be a telling source of exasperated satire.

[93] On November 8, 2023, two teaser posters were released via Twitter, revealing a first-look at the fourth season appearances of Butcher and Homelander, featuring the caption "Let's light this candle".

[94] The teaser trailer debuted at comic event CCXP in São Paulo, Brazil, which teased the introduction of characters Sister Sage, Firecracker and Joe Kessler, and subsequently released on Twitter and YouTube, on December 2.

[104] Ahead of the premiere, IGN posted a comedic, heavily censored video of Morgan sharing details about his character, Joe Kessler, on June 9.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Boxing in the political arena with a bloodied smile, The Boys' fourth season is grim and even a little glum while holding up a cracked mirror towards modern society.

[115] Contributing to The Illuminerdi, Kevin Fenix was exceedingly impressed and ecstatic in his review, awarding it 10/10, writing: "Season 4 is a triumph in every sense, blending sharp social commentary with compelling character arcs and breathtaking production value.

With its perfectly packed and balanced stories, characters, themes, and issues, The Boys continues to be one of the most relevant and entertaining series on television ... A must-watch.

The Boys has been one of the best shows on television for years now and continues to cement its place in the pantheon with its deft blend of drama, gore, political commentary, and surrealism.

[119] Grading the season a B+, IndieWire's Ben Travers wrote: "It's mostly impressive how deftly The Boys' dramatic side balances its many arcs, while the black comedy's demented inventiveness helps distract from any lingering deficiencies ... My notes on Season 4 are littered with 'oh god's' and 'hoo boy's,' all of which denote a particularly gnarly set piece or horrific marvel of creature design.

"[122] GamesRadar+'s Emily Murray, awarding the season 3 out of 5 stars, was also mixed, writing: "The Boys may be back in town, but the cracks are beginning to show ... at least there's plenty here to enjoy from this wildly entertaining latest chapter.

She criticized about the low stakes, shock value, and new characters' lack of charisma, summarizing: "The confrontation with Homelander is clearly dragging on and the writers are running out of ideas.

Using fantastical characters and classic genre conventions, the storytellers held up a mirror to the real-world with a warning about how embracing ugliness, violence, revenge and hatred will only lead to the proliferation of more sadness and suffering.

[127] Multiple journalists, fans, and critics have theorized and noted Trump inspired the series character development of Homelander,[129] a theory which has been confirmed by Kripke.

[130] Days before the premiere of season four, Kripke described the series to The Hollywood Reporter as a "story about the intersection of celebrity and authoritarianism and how social media and entertainment are used to sell fascism".

[131] On June 22, 2024, in response to the review bombing, the Vought International Twitter account and YouTube channel addressed the controversy head-on by uploading a promotional video that introduced BROWSER, promoting internet privacy while still allowing users to "review bomb" woke television series; the video is presented and narrated by character Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie).

Following the aforementioned episode's release, many users on social media campaigned for Starr to win a Primetime Emmy Award, expressing how deserving he is of such an honor,[136] a sentiment that critics have previously concurred with on various occasions;[137] Kripke himself also agreed.

[140] Amidst the launch of the season's first three episodes, The Boys scored 1.19 billion viewing minutes during the week of June 10–16, 2024, according to Nielsen streaming data.