The following contains spoilers for The Boys season 4 finale, now streaming on Prime Video
Summary
The Boysseason 4 finale takes a clear shot at Warner Bros. over the studio’s decision to cancel the largely completedBatgirlmovie. Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah with a script by Christina Hodson,Batgirlwas set to star Leslie Grace, J.K. Simmons, Jacob Scipio, Brendan Fraser, Ivory Aquino, and Michael Keaton. However, in 2022, Warner Bros. decided against releasing the film at all, announcing the movie would instead be shelved as a cost-cutting measure. It remains a controversial decision within the film industry, andThe Boysclearly hasn’t forgotten about it.
While it’s a small part of a much larger episode primarily focused onHomelander and Sister Sage’s planscoming to fruition while Butcher gives into his dark impulses,the reference toBatgirlfits perfectly into the show’s overarching views of corporate America. It also finds a way to slip the jab into the overall story arc of A-Train, allowing the beat to fit naturally into the overarching storyline of the season. Here’s howThe Boysrecreates one of Warner Bros. most controversial recent decisions as their latestparody of Marvel and DC.
I Can’t Believe How The Boys Handled Soldier Boy In Season 4
The Boys season 4 brings its story to a satisfying close during its finale, but the way the show handles Soldier Boy is a bit disappointing.
The Boys Season 4’s Finale Criticized Warner Bros. Over Those Unreleased Movies
A-Train’s Movie Gets TheBatgirlTreatment
The Boys' season 4 finale slipped in some sly digs at Warner Bros. and their habit of unreleased movies, continuing the show’s sardonic approach to Marvel and DC superheroes. After A-Train revealed himself to be the mole within Vought, he was forced to go on the run. This prompted Vought to shift gears on their plans to use A-Train in their mass media, includingTraining A-Train, the in-universe origin movie for the hero that featuredWill Ferrell’sThe Boyscameo. However, the company is able to make a profit out of the situation by revealing they’ll receive a tax write-off by not releasing the finished film.
This is similar to an infamous practice taken by Warner Bros. in recent years. There’s some inherent criticism baked into the reference to the real-life business practice, asThe Boyshas always used the heartless decisions of Vought to call out elements of corporate Americathat the show’s creatives find distasteful. The acknowledgment that A-Train’s movie is ready to be released but they’d rather just accept the money that comes from shelving it highlights the company’s lack of concern for people beyond the capital they can bring in to the company.
Why Warner Bros Has Scrapped So Many Near-Finished Movies
Cost Cutting Resulted In Three Nearly Completed Films Being Shelved
Warner Bros. has infamously scrapped multiple filmsthat were largely completed, with little warning to the filmmakers before deciding to do it. As explained byNPR, the economics of the Hollywood studios business has been complicated by external factors like failing stock prices and redirected ad markets. As a result, studios have been forced to cut costs however they can. As a means of reducing the cost of releasing finished films and promoting them, Warner Bros. decided to shelve a handful of completed films and simply take the tax write-off instead.
While this saved the studio money in the short-term and is technically legal since they own the films, it’s also publicly drawn the ire of filmmakers from across the industry.The completed films included the superhero adaptationBatgirl, as well as the animatedScoob! Holiday Hauntand the Looney Tunes live-action/animation hybridCoyote v Acme. The satire inThe Boyshas always been particularly focused on the superhero corner of the entertainment industry, giving the comment about A-Train’s movie being shelved for a lucrative tax write-off an extra comedic edge beyond fitting into the show’s narrative.
Finally! The Boys Season 4’s Ending Pays Off Amazon’s Forgotten Supe Tease
One character’s surprise return in The Boys season 4 finale sets her up to be a major player in season 5’s overarching storyline.
The Boys Season 4 Has Been The Most Ruthless Yet For Marvel & DC
The BoysHas Been Merciless In Season 4
The Boyshas been poking plenty of fun at Marvel and DC archetypes for years, but season 4 took the parody even further with some very harsh digs at their respective franchises. Characters like Web Weaver and Tek-Knight were harsh takedowns of Spider-Man and Batman, reimagining the two classic heroes as corrupt parts of Vought’s armada of superheroes. Their Vought convention was a clear dig at the presentations held at events like Comic-Con, highlighting the ways companies can try to use overarching movie releases to try and win over skeptical fans.
This latest dig at Warner Bros. is a subtle one fromThe Boys, but an effective one nevertheless. It’s another reminder that canceling the work of hundreds of people for a financial benefit is par for the course for big companies,drawing a direct parallel between Warner Bros. and Vought’s business practices. WithThe Boysupcoming fifth and final season poised to be a more apocalyptic situation given the rise of Homelander, there may be less room for these kinds of corporate digs in the show. If that’s the case, thenThe Boysgot one more good shot in at the industry it’s always been interested in parodying.
The Boys
Cast
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.
