Erin Moriarty stars as the superhero Annie January/Starlight in the superhero satire/drama The Boys, Moriarty recently revealed that in the show’s upcoming fourth season, she will humanize some of the characters who were previously portrayed as antagonists.
Moriarty said that, as in previous seasons, The Boys would delve deeper into some of its characters. However, in The Boys season 4 will shed light on characters previously seen as villains and give them a more nuanced portrayal. Still, Moriarty didn’t provide any specific details about which characters would undergo this treatment.
Related: Record of Ragnarok Season 2 Part 2 Review
Speaking with Collider about The Boys season 4 Moriarty revealed some new information. Moriarty said, Every season, we get a little deeper with each character. Who you think of as the villain, you start to learn more about them. It’s not that they’re good guys, but it’s always like that. There are intricate details you’d never anticipate, which keeps you from putting that character in a box. However, The Boys have established an antithesis that humanizes their villains like Homelander. They also said that his heroes like Billy the Butcher are not entirely good.
Giancarlo Esposito’s character, Stan Edgar, was fired by Vought after a cover-up scandal. He is one of those characters who is not humanised. Victoria Newman is also a secret superhero who has been manipulating people’s minds. In Edgar’s case, The Boys portrayed him as a completely ruthless businessman in response to Homelander’s threats. He didn’t show much of his human side, but now that the image has changed, that can be changed. As for Newman, she is portrayed extensively as a mother in the show, which details her life, but has focused on her reasoning for killing people to further her political career.
Or maybe they’ll humanize some of the show’s most brutal characters besides Soldier Boy, like Homelander or Billy the Butcher, even more. The Boys season 3 did a great job slowly revealing why his original team, Payback, hated him despite his bravery. However, by the end of the third season, it provided an even more amusing background when it was revealed that her problems were due to her father’s growing problems. Since his father never gave Soldier Boy the satisfaction he wanted, he took his anger out on his comrades, which grew to such an extent that he made Homelander realize that Homelander was his biological son.
Although he has indeed humanized some of his characters, he has also made it clear that despite his sympathetic background, he should be allowed to roam freely like a matriarch without question. The audience should be saddened that Watt’s primary caregiver was so cruelly neglected as he was by no parent or guardian as he grew up. Nevertheless, he realizes how low he really is because he has harmed many people because of his social status. He becomes a captivating villain, but he remains a villain nonetheless.
