Antony Starr Discusses The Boys Season 4 Finale, Compares Heroes to Star Wars’ Empire

Antony Starr recently broke down his final scene in The Boys Season 4 finale, and likened he and his superhero friends to another not-so-great group.

Speaking to Vulture following the finale of The Boys Season 4 — which premiered today on Prime Video — Starr was asked about his final scene. In it, Starr’s Homelander has come out victorious, and is essentially running the United States via a martial law enacted by the President.

In a speech, Homelander promises a safer world, and to use himself and his army of superheroes hunt down any people who he deemed as “traitors” to the government. According to Starr, the moment was actually thought up on set, with Starr originally intended to not say anything.

“Originally, I was just standing in the background saying nothing,” said Starr. “I’m guessing the camera would have pushed past Calhoun onto me just smiling with satisfaction. But my instinct was Calhoun is a bought-and-paid-for puppet, and Homelander’s ego is gonna demand that he is front and center. I said to Eric, ‘Mate, it’s so in character for Homie to shuffle that guy out of the way and go, ‘Here’s what’s really going to happen.’’ Eric absolutely ran with that. Even if we didn’t hear much of what he said, just the physicality of coming in, interrupting, and moving him out of the way says it all.”

The actor went on to say that the moment felt almost like the second act of a movie, and set up a big final season where the heroes will have to go up against a group he likened to Star Wars’ Empire.

“It’s almost like the end of the second act in a movie, where the heroes are down and out and it looks like they’ve failed,” said Starr. “I needed to project that Homelander the fascist, the narcissist, the villain of the peace, is winning, has won. It’s a setup for the Boys to claw back and fight as we go into season five. The show is ultimately about vigilantes trying to take down the evil — what is it in Star Wars? Who are they?…Right, they’re trying to take down the empire.”

The Boys Season 4 is now available to stream on Prime Video in its entirety.

Anthony Nash

Anthony Nash has been writing about games and the gaming industry for nearly a decade. When he’s not writing about games, he’s usually playing them. You can find him on Twitter talking about games or sports at @_anthonynash.