Trump Assassination Attempt Prompts Changes To The Boys Season 4 Finale

This post contains major spoilers for "The Boys" season 4 and the show's source material.

"The Boys" has always carried aspects of being a political satire that often leans on real-world events to dispatch social commentary — some of it subtle, but others, not so much. The season 4 finale, which was originally titled "Assassination Run" and written more than a year ago, has now been renamed by Amazon following the recent assassination attempt on former U.S. president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump. The title for the season 4 finale has now been simply changed to "Season 4 Finale," and a viewer discretion warning has been added before the episode, stating the following:

"Viewer discretion advised. This episode contains scenes of fictional political violence. Any similarities to recent events are completely coincidental and unintentional. Prime Video, Amazon, MGM Studios, Sony Pictures Television and the producers of 'The Boys' oppose, in the strongest terms, real-world violence of any kind."

The altered episode title and the addition of an episode warning were made due to the unfortunate timing in association with the current political climate in America. Amazon also issued a statement on its official page, further clarifying that any similarities between the series' storyline and the events that unfolded at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania are "coincidental and unintentional":

"The season finale of 'The Boys' contains scenes of fictional political violence, which some viewers may find disturbing, especially in light of the injuries and tragic loss of life sustained during the assassination attempt on former President Trump. 'The Boys' is a fictitious series that was filmed in 2023, and any scene or plotline similarities to these real-world events are coincidental and unintentional."

Season 4, episode 6 of "The Boys" already cemented that Homelander (Antony Starr) attempted to rally supporters in favor of a "Supes-first" America, where he renounces the tenets of democracy for a puppet dictatorship of sorts with the Supes invading every administrative and judicial branch of the country. When Homelander is unable to convince party members in favor of his vision, Vice President-elect Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) steps up and lays out a strategic plan, providing Homelander the political backing required to spring his schemes into motion. The assassination of President-elect Robert Singer (Jim Beaver) is discussed, and the same is attempted in the season finale, with the shapeshifter assassin replacing Starlight/Annie (Erin Moriarty) to infiltrate Singer's protected bunker.

As The Boys were already aware of the probable attempt on Singer's life (as they had bugged Tek Knight's place in episode 6), they rally together to protect Singer, while Hughie (Jack Quaid) realizes a little too late that the "Annie" in the room with them is the shapeshifter they had encountered in the previous episode. While Hughie and MM (Laz Alonso) try to fend off the assassin, who shoots Singer but misses, Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) guides Singer to safety while also fighting the incredibly strong shapeshifter. In the end, the real Annie intervenes and saves the day.

On the flip side, Neuman contacts Hughie after fearing for her daughter's life, and The Boys (sans Butcher) agree to make a deal, with the airborne virus used as leverage against her. However, Butcher (Karl Urban) gives into his worst impulses and tears Neuman apart, snuffing out the only hope against Vought's increasing tyranny that grips the nation. The ending is also incredibly bleak, with most of The Boys taken into Vought custody. 

While "The Boys" is based on Garth Ennis' comic series of the same name, the show has greatly diverged from some of the plot points while creatively recreating the rest. For instance, we never get the grisly "Black Noir is Homelander's clone" twist in the show, which fares much better, as it allows the original Noir to have his own meaningful arc while not absolving Homelander of his heinous crimes. Singer's comic book equivalent is Robert Shaefer/Dakota Bob, who ran for president and opposed Vought-puppet Victor Neuman (whose gender-flipped version in the show is far more compelling) and was fatally injured after a security mishap involving a wolverine pet.

The parallels between the show's season 4 finale storyline and the comics converge in Homelander's coup against acting president Victor Neuman, in which he rallies all Supes to take over the country and kills the man in power. This assassination propels Homelander to face Butcher, which leads to the unsavory Noir reveal, leading Homelander to be torn apart by his clone without remorse. Although the show approaches these ideas very, very differently, the Singer/Neuman storyline is a repackaged version of what happens in the comics, with markedly disastrous stakes and consequences that are in line with the series' worldbuilding.

The Singer/Neuman storyline feels undoubtedly unfortunate in light of the real-world political climate, but it must be reiterated that these are fictitious events that can be traced back to the comic book source material, with no deliberate correlation to recent events.

"The Boys" season 4 finale can now be streamed on Prime Video.