The Boys Season 4’s Latest Episode Is An Absolutely Brutal Watch For Disney & WB

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Boys season 4, episode 5.

Summary

• The Boys
  season 4, episode 5 takes aim at Hollywood, mocking the notion of studios being ”
  woke
  ” and parodying franchises like Marvel and DC.
• The V52 Expo is meant to be like Disney’s D23 Expo, and it pokes fun at Marvel and DC’s multiphase lineups of movies, movie titles, and reshoots.
• Episode 5 proves the Amazon series is still effective as a superhero parody, even as it gets darker and more serious.

The Boys season 4, episode 5 is brutal in multiple ways — but while Hughie killing his own father will make it difficult for most viewers to watch, Disney and Warner Bros. will find it tough to dig into for a totally different reason. The Boys season 4 isn’t pulling its punches, and that’s led to a lot of backlash when it comes to the show’s politics. Comically enough, the latest episode of the Amazon series directly addresses these criticisms. The series mocks the notion of being “woke” by having Vought try to make a buck by appropriating its BIPOC Supes.

This isn’t the only jab in The Boys season 4, episode 5, as Vought’s V52 expo serves as a merciless takedown of Hollywood. Intended as a parody of Disney’s D23 Expo and other Comic-Con-esque events, the exhibition sees Vought announcing its media plans for the future. And The Boys goes especially hard on Marvel and DC, doubling down on its parodies of the Disney- and WB-owned superhero franchises in clever but obvious ways.

The V52 Expo Isn’t Subtle About Its Superhero Jabs

During The Boys season 4, episode 5’s V52 Expo, Vought announces its future plans for movies and shows — and the company’s multiphase lineup is a clear reference to Marvel. Most Marvel fans will recognize the studio’s bracketed schedule of future projects, and The Boys uses a similar image to showcase Vought’s upcoming media slate. Depicting four separate phases, the image features everything from the film Training A-Train teased earlier in season 4 to Firecracker’s A Christmas Wish.

Many of the films listed also play on Marvel and DC titles, like G-Men: Days Past from the Future (referencing X-Men: Days of Future Past) and The Seven Forever (an allusion to Batman Forever). During the expo, there’s mention of a movie called The Tek-Knight, which promises to feature Nirvana songs. Given that Tek-Knight is The Boys’ Batman parody, there’s little doubt this is poking fun at The Batman. Vought also mentions “reshoots of the reshoots,” which is a jab at how often studios like Marvel and DC reshoot their films. Episode 5 goes all in on both franchises, and it’s hilarious.

The Boys Just Proved Its Superhero Parody Hasn’t Lost Its Edge After 4 Seasons

It Still Brings Its A-Game To These Humorous Moments

The Boys season 4’s opening episodes get off to a slower start, but moments like the V52 Expo prove that the series is still effective as a superhero parody. Despite continuing for four seasons, the show still delivers its humor with pinpoint accuracy and plenty of heart. It doesn’t hesitate to punch up — whether it’s aiming at politicians, massive media companies, or the superhero genre in general. And even with The Boys season 4 getting darker and more serious as the show approaches its end, it makes time to return to its roots: parodying beloved superhero stories.

Even with
The Boys
season 4 getting darker and more serious as the show approaches its end, it makes time to return to its roots: parodying beloved superhero stories.

With the characters becoming more and more fleshed out over the course of The Boys, it’s easy to forget that Supes like Homelander and A-Train are meant to be riffs on popular heroes like Superman and The Flash. Bringing new Supes into the fold allows The Boys to get silly with its superhero parodies again. And the V52 Expo showcases another way it can do this. It certainly isn’t subtle, but it does touch on some valid critiques of Marvel and DC — namely that they have way too many sequels, spinoffs, and reboots.

The Boys Season 4’s Marvel & DC Parody Has 1 Glaring Problem

The Boys does a hilarious job of parodying Marvel and DC in season 4, episode 5. However, there’s one glaring problem with the Amazon show’s spoof: it’s following in the footsteps of those superhero franchises. The Boys will always be darker and grittier than Marvel and DC, but it’s still taking advantage of the opportunity to expand into a grander franchise. The show already has two spinoffs — Gen V and The Boys Presents: Diabolical — and a third is on the way with The Boys: Mexico.

Needless to say, The Boys is doing exactly what it’s making fun of Marvel and DC for, just on a much smaller scale. And if Amazon continues to see success with these projects, The Boys could blow up into something as large and unwieldy as other superhero IPs. The fact that The Boys season 5 will end the show is a relief on this front, but it’s possible viewers will see overlap and team-ups in future spinoffs. If that happens, The Boys doesn’t have much business making fun of the MCU or DCU, even if it is pretty funny.