The newly released fourth season finale of The Boys has (at least temporarily) changed its title from “Assassination Run” to “Season Four Finale,” in light of recent events surrounding former president Donald Trump. The episode, which includes the attempted assassinations of both president-elect Robert Singer (Jim Beaver) and vice president-elect Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), has also been precluded with a viewer discretion warning about “fictional political violence”
According to a statement issued by Amazon Prime Video shared by IndieWire, “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. Amazon, Sony Pictures Television, and the producers of The Boys reject, in the strongest terms, real-world violence of any kind.”
Somewhat presciently, showrunner Eric Kripke has been making the rounds over the last few months discussing the series’ overt political overtones, emphasizing that its main antagonist—emotionally disturbed superhero Homelander—is written with the former president specifically in mind. It seems odd the series’ accurately reflecting a real-world political scenario would be regarded as a bridge too far for the series, considering just a few weeks ago, a different episode included a comedic scene of its main character being raped by his childhood hero.
While arguments about whether or not genre entertainment regarding superheroes should be political continues to rage (in certain circles, anyway), this latest move by The Boys seems to indicate that anything goes—as long as it isn’t “too soon.” The Boys has a fifth and final season on the way from Prime Video.
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