WARNING: This article contains the author's opinion. It also contains SPOILERS from the show. Reader's discretion is advised.
The Boys Season 4 has not backed away from the series' tradition of looking at the dark side of the superhero world; however, many fans felt that the potential of several key characters had been underutilized. Victoria Neuman was a character established well but was easily torn apart after she seemed to be probably the second most invulnerable in the series.
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She was always a spark on social media, but recently, she's seemed like she's only about the gimmicks. Sure, she's got some fireworks; but was that enough to get her into The Seven? Then there's Tek Knight - supposed to be the tech guy, yet somehow Deep, of all people, comes out as nearly invincible against other Supes. Let's delve into potential power untapped this season:
Victoria Newman’s powers were underutilized in The Boys Season 4
Victoria Neuman is a congresswoman and longtime anti-supe activist who founded the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs. However, she hides a major secret—she’s a supe herself. In The Boys Season 3, it’s revealed that she injected her daughter Zoe with Compound V to make yet another supe.
The showrunners took 3 seasons to establish Neuman as a major power player. Keeping Neuman’s unbelievable powers secret from the world and finally revealing them on live TV only to kill her in the end was anti-climactic. Her telekinetic powers have been demonstrated for a couple of seasons now. Just as fans around the world were expecting a showdown, her underwhelming end did not meet expectations. Also, her power and abilities are not creatively used as they could have been while stopping Homelander/The Seven which feels like a missed opportunity.
A Firecracker vs Starlight showdown was almost on the cards
Firecracker's sparkly powers certainly added a very interesting visual component to the show, but her character development was somewhat lacking. Her powers in The Boys Season 4 could have been shown in more creative and challenging ways across different battles or missions - even a well-deserved showdown against Starlight.
Starlight on the other hand is seen running away from her past, her identity, and her association with her supe abilities. Firecracker's powers at this point are just tiny little fireworks. They could have given her some real powers, even if not full guns blazing. We could have had an epic battle between her and Starlight this season. The two of them facing off, using their powers to their full extent would have been a spectacle. What could have been one of the biggest light shows of this decade ended with Starlight not using her powers and Firecracker having no actual fireworks. What a lost opportunity!
Stan Edgar, the only potential human Super Villian compromised
Stan Edgar, introduced in The Boys Season 1, is the CEO of Vought International. As mundane as he appears in a world with individuals like Homelander, who can tear someone to pieces as easily as saying grace before a meal, Edgar's power and ambition could have made him a very important villain in the show.
An element of surprise did appear with his downfall when an apparent ally came about in Victoria Neuman. Edgar did indeed seem to be holding all the cards, yet a blindside took him out of the game. He was practically the reason we saw such a powerful and secretive Victoria Neuman. Unfortunately, he was removed from being CEO of Vaught and banished by his daughter-like figure, Victoria and hence he was missing almost throughout the show. He is a fugitive and is shown running away from all the action. This, in question, is the man who can stand up to Homelander while being completely human - The Boys missed another with this one.
Homelander avoided using his powers in The Boys Season 4
While Homelander's character remained a dominant force in Season 4, some fans felt that his powers were sparingly used. In previous seasons, his laser vision and super strength were frequently used to create chaos or show dominance. He is usually very direct with his abilities and does not shy away from using them.
However, around half of Season 4, he was babied by Sage and later, by Firecracker. He even ended up losing Ryan's faith in him as a father. He kept summoning Black Noir II and Deep to end things while we all know that he holds the power to do a better job than them if he decides to take it all into his own hands. There were a lot of expectations around the fan base after his character progression in the previous seasons, but yet again, the show failed to release Homelander's true potential as many expected.
A watered-down take on Tek Knight
As a new member of the Seven, the technology of Tek Knight was impressive but felt a little too narrow. The armory of gadgets and weapons attached to his suit could have been explored more according to what we know from the original comics. The supe who could have been showcased as a technical powerhouse with super deductive abilities (especially with the super suit), was merely shown to have just an addiction to the latest k*nk and s*x. According to most of the fans, the show could have been more inventive and strategic because of this supe.
All in all, The Boys Season 4 offered an exciting continuation of the series, but it felt as if the full potential of some of these characters was not explored. With the show's continued popularity, there is hope that future seasons will explore these characters' abilities more innovatively.
All Seasons of The Boys are available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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