Content Warning! This List Contains Spoilers For Season 3 of The Boys!
Rivaling the superhero stories from Marvel and DC, Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys just finished up its fantastic and thrilling third season. The show continues to entertain fans with its epic battles and gore. Plus, it’s still never lacking in the deeply emotional and compelling storylines, especially in this latest season which amped it all up.
The Boys has already been renewed for a fourth season, so fans should expect to see all the heroes they love to hate like Homelander, Starlight, and Soldier Boy again. This season finale certainly left viewers excited and nervous, with many sharing their reactions on Twitter.
A Masterpiece
The first two seasons set a very high bar, which made some people tepid about if the third season could live up to the hype. It did that and more. From the first episode on, fans easily called it the best season yet – and others went further to claim that The Boys is the best superhero project ever.
That’s in part due to just how real it feels, despite how unreal it is. This season featured changing dynamics from the previous with the creation of Temp-V, granting normal humans temporary powers, and the arrival of a fantastic new character in Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy.
That Ending Though...
There were plenty of theories and predictions going into the season finale, and whether they came true or not, the episode was still quite thrilling. Some people did expect a bigger body count, but it seems they have more plans for characters like Soldier Boy and Queen Maeve. The same could be said for Ryan, Homelander’s son.
He is introduced to the public and watches as his father brutally murders a Starlight er, exploding his head with his eye-lasers. What made this moment horrifically unlike anything seen yet in the show was the crowd's cheers at the murder and Ryan’s devilish smirk. Though Butcher abandoned him, he still cares deeply for Ryan, so this development will be interesting to watch.
An All-Starr Performance
Antony Starr performed exceptionally well as Homelander in the first two seasons, but this season was a complete tour de force. Each episode showcased Homelander as he became more and more unhinged. It was terrifying to watch, but impossible to stop watching. The season finale is no exception.
It’s exciting to see such superb performances in a show like this. Of course, Starr is not alone in deserving praise. Karl Urban, Jensen Ackles, Laz Alonso, Erin Moriarty, and Karen Fukuhara have all given exceptional performances this season. The series has already been nominated for an Outstanding Drama Series Emmy, but this year, several cast deserve their own acting nominations.
No One Else Like Homelander
Starr’s embodiment coupled with the fantastic work of the writers and creators has assuredly codified Homelander as one of the best villains of all time. The competition is steep with the likes of Thanos or Killmonger in the MCU and of course, Heath Ledger’s Joker in DC. But Homelander has evolved beyond being the pastiche of Superman gone bad to become something far more terrifying.
While it's been long established that Homelander needs to be loved and feared at the same time, this season showed a somewhat softer side in his relationship with Ryan. He even learns that Soldier Boy is his father, and he was ready to put everything aside and become a family. Going into season 4, Homelander is now more powerful than ever with a pack of sycophants behind him, he could just decide to rule the world, and that’s scary.
Jensen Ackles, MVP
What helped make Homelander such a great villain this year was the choice to introduce someone who could rival or even beat him. In this case, it was Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy. As befits the character deemed Homelander’s predecessor, he is just as cruel and dangerous.
The Supernatural actor proved himself to be a fantastic addition to the series and it seems like he was born to play the role. Though Homelander was the season’s target, Soldier Boy became the one everyone teamed up on. Though fake-out deaths are exceptionally popular, fans are slightly relieved that Soldier Boy could return one day to The Boys.
Starlight, Star Bright
With Soldier Boy’s destructive powers, there are very few who could go up against him and survive. Starlight proved she is one of them. After spending a season fighting over Temp-V and Hughies’ incessant need to protect her even though she’s the supe, in the finale, he finally made the right choice. Rather than taking Temp-V and sacrificing himself to save her one last time, he found a way to make her even more powerful.
After helping to stop Soldier Boy, Annie has abandoned her life as Starlight and officially ed the Boys. She’ll continue to be a central figure in taking down Homelander – especially since this and her social media actions show how she is actually his greatest enemy – and now Victoria Neuman.
Queen Maeve Hive
Like Annie, Maeve is one of the few good supes who could actually be called a hero. She was missing for a while, which unfortunately led to fans thinking she’d been killed, but she was shown again, in Vought’s custody. She saw her chance to escape and took it, ing up with the Boys to take down Soldier Boy and Homelander – and not missing a beat in classically roasting Hughie.
When it came to the final showdown, it really looked like she had died, sacrificing herself to kill Soldier Boy. However, she is revealed to be alive but depowered. Perhaps this could mean that a character could actually get a happy ending on The Boys. Ashley even knows that she survived and erased any data to protect Maeve and allow her to finally live her life.
RIP Black Noir
The one death that does last in the season finale is Black Noir’s. He got a very interesting focus this season – which led to some funny memes – and many questions surrounding him were answered. Unlike in the comics, Black Noir is not a clone of Homelander, but actually, a man named Irving.
He was on Payback with Soldier Boy, who tortured him relentlessly. Though Black Noir was instrumental in guiding Homelander when he started as a “hero”, Homelander didn’t hesitate to kill Black Noir when he learned that he knew about his parentage. This season, especially with his moment with his cartoon friends, allowed audiences to connect more with Black Noir, and many were distraught to see him go.
The Real Villain
While Homelander, Soldier Boy, Victoria Newman, Stan Edgar – the list goes on and on- are all presented as ruthless and vindictive antagonists, they didn’t actually receive as much hatred and derision as Todd. He is Mother’s Milk’s ex-wife’s new boyfriend, who has become a sycophant for Homelander. This led to an intense argument between him and MM after Todd took MM’s daughter Janine to a Homelander rally.
It gets even worse in the season’s final moments when he is the one who starts cheering after Homelander murders the Starlight er. This tweet compares him to Jason Carver from the latest season of Stranger Things, as they're both incredibly unlikable and generally terrible people.
The Wait Begins
As ever, fans are eager for more. Interestingly, this season really ends in a largely inconsequential way. Only Black Noir is dead. Maeve is depowered and living in secret far away from the public’s eye. Soldier Boy is also publicly dead, but in Grace Mallory’s custody. Homelander is still at large, but now he is ed by Ryan and his mass of devotees.
There are some loose ends that still need tying, such as Stan Edgar’s fate. They did establish who season four’s main target is now: Victoria Neuman. She's ing Dakota Bob’s presidential ticket as his running mate – after the Deep killed her predecessor. The wait might be excruciatingly long, but after three stellar seasons, fans should feel safe that The Boys season 4 will deliver just as well.