Blood, guts and headless bodies: The Boys is back this week for its much-anticipated fourth season.
There’s certainly plenty to look forward to. The trailer, which dropped last month, teases an all-out war between The Boys and The Seven, the group of superheroes headed up by the ruthless and psychopathic Homelander.
Who are the power players as our heroes do battle with the nefarious ‘supes’? Here’s the run-down.
Billy Butcher, played by Karl Urban
Butcher is the leader of The Boys, a vigilante group of non-powered people seeking revenge on superheroes for various misdeeds. Foul-mouthed and prone to violence. He took a lot of Compound V – the serum that gives people superpowers – during the events of season three, which he’s been told will soon kill him.
Karl Urban is a New Zealand born actor who was born in Wellington. Over the years, he’s forged a career in fantasy and sci-fi shows, appearing in The Lord of the Rings and Star Trek (as Dr Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy), and as Judge Dredd in the 2012 film Dredd. He also appeared as an assassin in The Bourne Supremacy.
Hughie Campbell, played by Jack Quaid
Hughie is just your average guy, until his girlfriend is killed by a superhero and he joins The Boys to seek justice. Mild mannered, with a sense of morality that becomes increasingly greyer as the series goes on.
Quaid is the son of Hollywood superstars Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid. Born in 1992, his first-ever acting role was as the antagonist Marvel in The Hunger Games, before appearing in a series of independent films.
Since starring in The Boys, he’s also appeared in Christopher Nolan’s epic Oppenheimer, as physicist Richard Feynman.
Homelander, played by Antony Starr
Homelander is the unhinged leader of The Seven. Born and raised in a lab, he has no sense of empathy and an increasingly loose grip on sanity. Basically Superman, he can fly, shoot lasers out of his eyes and has super-strength. “Sometimes it’s as simple as, well, what would Superman do? And do the opposite,” Starr told GQ about the role.
“I really love being able to turn that on its head and explore the messiness of what is arguably a more realistic take on superheroes.”
Starr is another New Zealander. Born in 1975, his first acting roles were in Kiwi soap Shortland Street and in Xena: Warrior Princess. He also played the dual roles of Jethro and Van West in the series Outrageous Fortune, which ran until 2010.
Victoria Neuman, played by Claudia Doumit
The secret villain of the second season, and a growing threat in season three. A supe with the power to pop peoples’ heads like pinatas, Neuman is a senator who’s running to become the vice-president, while also secretly trying to concoct a supe-killing virus. Eek.
Doumit, who plays Neuman, is an Australian actor. Born in 1992 in Sydney, she has appeared in various Australian soaps, but is probably best known for portraying the character of Farah Karim in the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Starlight, played by Erin Moriarty
A new addition to The Seven, with light-based powers. Initially idealistic, she rapidly turns traitor and begins working on exposing Vought’s various misdeeds – and by the time season four starts, she’s quit The Seven entirely.
Moriarty is an American actor. Born in 1994 in New York, her first role was as Annie in a community theatre production. Over the years, she has appeared in the first series of True Detective (in which she played the teenage Audrey Hart), in Marvel series Jessica Jones and TV drama Red Widow.
The Deep, played by Chace Crawford
A superhero who is kicked out of The Boys after being exposed as a sexual abuser on live television. He seeks a path to redemption by joining a religious cult in season two.
Crawford is an American actor who is best known for playing Nate in the hit CW series Gossip Girl – a role he played until the show finally ended in 2012. Since then, he has also appeared in 2006 film The Covenant, 2009 film The Haunting of Molly Hartley and in 2020 film Nighthawks.
Queen Maeve, played by Dominique McElligott
Homelander’s deputy in season one. She also has superhuman strength, but becomes disillusioned and burned out by working for Vought. She had her powers removed by Soldier Boy at the end of season three and has since retired.
McElligott herself is an Irish actor who comes from Dublin. Aside from appearing in The Boys, she also played Hannah Conway, the wife of the Republican presidential nominee, in the fourth and fifth seasons of the Netflix show House of Cards.
A-Train, played by Jessie T Usher
The super-speedy member of The Seven who begins the series addicted to Compound V, a chemical manufactured by Vought that increases superhero powers.
Usher has been working in the industry for years. His interest in acting was sparked by a TV commercial his sister appeared in when he was five; after that, the family moved to Los Angeles from Maryland to try and get a break in the industry.
He’s appeared as Lyle in the TV series Level Up, as Cam Calloway in Survivor’s Remorse and in 2020 starred opposite Camila Mendes in Netflix film Dangerous Lies.
Mother’s Milk (MM), played by Laz Alonso
A member of The Boys who has a bone to pick with superheroes: one of them killed his whole family when he was young. Now, after Butcher’s demotion, he’s heading up the squad.
Alonso was born and raised in Washington DC, to Cuban immigrant parents. First an investment banker for Merrill Lynch, he then made his way into acting and has appeared in the Fast and Furious series (as the main antagonist in the fourth film), as the Na’vi Tsu’tey in James Cameron’s Avatar, and as Detective Billy Soto in NBC series The Mysteries of Laura.
Frenchie, played by Tomer Capone
An international arms trafficker turned member of The Boys. Capone, who plays him, comes from Israel and, after Gal Gadot, is seen as the most successful Israeli actor currently working outside the country. He’s starred in popular Israeli shows such as Hostages and Fauda, and in 2020 starred as Moti, the protagonist of series One on One.
Kimiko, played by Karen Fukuhara
A mute supe who becomes part of The Boys in season one. Fukuhara herself was born in Los Angeles to Japanese parents – her first language was Japanese, and she attended Japanese language school on Saturdays for 11 years. She made her film debut in 2016 as Katana in the Suicide Squad film, and in 2023 voiced Haru in the stop motion series Pokemon Concierge.
