Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Boys season 4 finale!
Summary
The Boysstar Claudia Doumit explains the season 4 ending, when Homelander (Antony Starr) reveals Victoria Neuman’s secret. As Vice President-elect and adopted daughter of former Vought CEO Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), Neuman has been careful about disclosing her background. Throughout the series, Hughie (Jack Quaid) and other characters learned that she was the head-popping Supe, and that her trail to the White House involved Homelander. However, the aggressive and morally corrupt leader of The Seven has grown more unpredictable, and inThe Boysseason 4 finale,Homelander made Neuman’s superpowers public knowledge.
During a recent interview withCollider, Doumit talked about the moment Homelander exposed Neuman to the world. She explained how important that secret was to Neuman butnoted,“It’s so perfect that Homelander did it.”Doumit also revealed how her character might have felt in that instant and the difficulty of trying to work through it. Read more of Doumit’s comments below:
It’s so perfect for the show. It’s so perfect that Homelander did it, and that he did it in that way. He doesn’t even give a s–t. He knows, and he doesn’t care. That’s just so brilliant. It means everything to her. It’s everything that she’s worked so hard to keep from the world and to hide. She’s worked her entire life to keep this secret, and in the span of 10 seconds, it’s all gone. She is just so hilariously tragic because she can’t do anything in that moment. She’s living in such utter shock and disbelief that she has no idea what to do after that. That’s the cost of working with Homelander.
I think in her mind, she was very much scrambling for the next move to make, but there were so few options. I do think that, in that moment, she was scrambling to figure out what to do next, or the damage control of how to fix it and how to proceed. There was no way out. It was a very interesting position to put someone in who relies on strategy and who has a very tight grasp on control because you just saw her squirm. Whenever I see Homelander in a particularly vulnerable moment, like when he’ll damn a whole plane of people to die, and then he’ll have a very vulnerable moment in the mirror with seven versions of himself, you see that human component in him and you sympathize for him.
Homelander Revealing Neuman’s Secret Contributed To Major Consequences For The Boys Season 5
Homelander Gained Even More Control
Homelander, who was already outraged upon discovering that Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) was in contact with Butcher (Karl Urban), shocked Neuman by broadcasting her secret and using laser vision against her. As Doumit explained, there was not much her character could do, and she suddenly became fearful about her own future. This launched the takedown of Robert Singer (Jim Beaver), and as Homelander attempted to use The Seven to forcibly protect his agenda, Neuman turned to Hughie for support. However,Butcher used his power to kill her, completing The Boys’ plan from earlier in the season.
It was revealed that Butcher took Compound V to combat his cancer, and it gave him tentacles that protrude from his chest.
Homelander’s decision to expose Neuman as a Supe would have been tumultuous regardless of her fate. When Hughie informed her of Homelander’s agreement with Tek Knight and potential internment camps, Neuman did appear concerned. After that moment in the season 4 finale, she finally confronted Homelander and realized the distress of being political allies. Had Butcher not attacked her, she could have used her knowledge to help dismantle Vought inThe Boysseason 5. In the end,Neuman’sdeath resulted in Homelander working with President Calhounand members of The Boys being detained.
10 Big Questions After The Boys Season 4’s Ending
The Boys season 4 leaves a number of important questions unanswered, setting up an explosive and dangerous concluding fifth season.
As soon as Homelander threatened Neuman on live TV, she seemed to retaliate by using her power, but nothing happened. This was a major moment inThe Boysseason 4 finale, and it was interesting to see Doumit’s character react by opting out of everything related to Homelander and Vought. If Homelander never revealed her secret, Neuman likely would have gone along with him and become President, although given what Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) said about her making a poor leader, perhaps it was only a matter of time before she was replaced.
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The Boys is a gritty and subversive take on the superhero genre, focusing on a group of vigilantes who confront powerful superheroes abusing their abilities, exploring themes of corruption and moral ambiguity in a world where heroes are not always what they seem.
