“The Boys” are back in town and on Prime Video for its fourth season. And as we head into the final two episodes, stars Jessie T. Usher and Susan Heyward are getting all the way real about the truly unhinged and chaotic nature of their show.
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The popular series follows the eponymous team of vigilantes as they fight to take down modern “superheroes” — known as “Supes” — who regularly abuse their powers for personal gain and work for an equally evil and all-powerful company that ensures the general public views them as heroes and not the villains they truly are.
Usher stars as A-Train, a Supe who’s the fastest man on the planet and who’s crime in season one spearheaded The Boys’ quest for justice in the first place. Newcomer Heyward’s Sister Sage enters in this new season as the smartest person in the world and is tasked with getting her fellow Supes back in their powerful position.
While many online have mixed feelings about the only Black woman Supe on the show being on the wrong side (she’s quite literally masterminding, aiding and abetting thinly-veiled white supremacist inspired crimes and spewing similar rhetoric herself) and have compared her ways and words to the likes of real-life controversial figures like Candace Owens and Omarosa—for Heyward, she views it as an opportunity to shine a light on a bigger message.
“We see people, especially Black people who sometimes align with white supremacy because they have something in it for them. So, it’s I think it was a really special opportunity to put the mirror up to nature and be like, ‘does this look familiar to anybody?’” Heyward told The Root at the 2024 ESSENCE Festival of Culture.
“And to pose the question. I think that our job is to give you something to think about and have your friends having those conversations. ‘Where do I see this in real life?’ And I think that’s the most important process.”
And while Sister Sage is now wreaking havoc and calling the shots, A-Train on may finally be turning over a new leaf and into the actual hero he initially wanted to be, as is evident in his recent betrayal of his fellow Supes (I won’t spoil it if you’re not caught up yet). But according to Usher, while his character’s forthcoming redemption arc may be underway, it won’t be an easy undoing.
“I always expected him to. Wake up and try to redeem himself. I don’t know if he could ever actually complete the task,” he explained to The Root, later adding:
“When he does have his wake up call, his look back to his past I think will be too much for even him to bear. He, in looking at that kid [in episode six], he realized like, ‘oh my God, I’m not the hero that I would have thought that I would be when I was this kid’s age. ‘You know, ‘when I started the training to get to this place, I was that and now I’m this.’ It’s just a tough look back for him.”
In addition to this show’s close ties to the real-life racism, homophobia, fascism and the like—the other alluring (or disgusting, depending on who you ask) factor of the show lies on the chaotic fight scenes, sex scenes and all around goriness interspersed throughout.
Speaking to how they mentally prepare to engage in the crazy episode after episode, Usher and Heyward admit that it’s mostly fun for them because it’s pretend—but the crazy in real-life is way scarier than anything they could every portray on TV.
“I feel like we live in a world every day that’s unhinged and coming apart at the seams. So I feel like for me, it’s like, how much farther can we go? Because we’re safe. It’s all pretend. It’s all fun and games,” Heyward explained.
Added Usher, “I think sometimes I read something in material and I think like, ‘this is so far fetched. This is insane. Like nobody would do this....let me just see real quick.’ And then you see a real case and you’re like, ‘oh my gosh. This is for real. None of this stuff is made up.”
“Truth is stranger than fiction,” Heyward concluded.
Season four of “The Boys” is streaming now on Prime Video.
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