The Boys: Season 3's dramatic ending explained and unanswered questions for season 4

If you haven’t watched the season 3 finale of The Boys yet, brace yourself for an explosive, surprising and bloody ending to the latest chapter in Prime Video’s smash hit superhero satire.

Seasons 1 and 2 of the bloody and brilliant drama series became one of Prime Video's most-watched shows of all time, breaking all sorts of records as fans devoured the hilarious and outrageous antics of Billy the Butcher, Hughie and the notorious supes.

Season 3 was no different, and the dramatic finale - available from Friday 8 July - only left us craving a fourth season of The Boys. Here's what happened in the final episode.

The Boys season 3 ending explained

*WARNING: Spoilers ahead*

So it was almost the blood and bone, ‘scorched earf’ fight Homelander and Butcher wanted but instead of just them, everyone piled in and loyalties seemed to switch in the blink of an eye - unfortunately Maeve’s eye.

The overarching theme to the season and the whole series was family. With Soldier Boy revealed as Homelander’s biological father in the penultimate episode, no one was sure how the final meeting would go. But it turned out Soldier Boy was just like his mean father, telling an emotional Homelander he was “a f*****g disappointment to him”. When Soldier Boy turned on surprise guest and newly unveiled grandson Ryan, it cemented the fact that Soldier Boy, not Homelander, was going down.

In a supreme act of bravery Maeve forgot her fight with Homelander and hurled herself and Soldier Boy out of the window before he could blow up everyone and take down the whole of Vought Tower.

Having seen both Maeve and Soldier boy survive, the only real casualty of season 3 - if we don’t count Timothy the octopus (RIP) - was Black Noir. As one of the original members of Payback and instigator of Soldier Boy’s internment, albeit under Stan Edgar’s orders, he was the main target for Soldier Boy's revenge.

But ironically it was Homelander, who he’d come to stand with against Soldier Boy, who killed him in a literally gut-wrenching scene.

Although there was a triumphant feeling at the end of the episode with Soldier Boy back under wraps, we were left almost at the beginning with Homeland still alive and perhaps even more dangerous. The last scene was a frightening show of what’s to come: with the far-right behind him, he can do no wrong, even when that wrong is lasering a man’s head in two. Even little innocent Ryan seemed to approve. 

Unanswered questions for season 4

Season 3 may have come to a close, but it has left behind a lot of questions we’d like to see answered in season 4:

The fight for Ryan’s soul begins now. Butcher is at a huge disadvantage with not being his biological father and Ryan seemingly happy by Homelander’s side. Can Ryan be saved before it's too late? And will he make any more Lego videos?

The favour that Victoria Neuman asked Homelander in episode 7 turned out to be the assassination of favourite VP candidate Lamar Bishop. With him out of the way Neuman is now Vice President under campaigning presidential candidate Bob Singer. So if it was in doubt at the start of the season, we now know Neuman is definitely a bad apple. But where will Neuman's political ambitions lead her?

A-Train has literally had a change of heart, wanting or trying to do good in the community. But after being turned away by his brother, we see him back at Vought Tower. So which way will A-Train go in season 4?

The Deep ploughed new depths this season, making for some of the most outrageous but memorable moments in the show. At the end of the final episode we see that his wife has exposed his bad behaviour in a tell-all book. But he’s now Homelander’s right hand man and having off-ed Bishop, has The Deep proved his loyalty to the Seven or is it all about the Two now?

Is Ashley Barrett, CEO of Vought, a potential ally having deleted the footage of The Boys rescuing Maeve?

Maeve, believed dead by the media, is now powerless but happy and off to live the quiet life with her girlfriend. Is this the last we’ll see of Queen Maeve?

Due to his Temp-V intake we learn Butcher has months to live, but at 12 maybe 18 months, that should be enough for another season at least. Will we see Butcher get a cure or will his condition deteriorate?

Hughie, having taken Temp-V, seems to have got away with just a little light ear bleeding. But could he still be at risk?

Will little Nina be back to torture Frenchie?

What is to become of Stan Edgar? Did Neuman really betray him or is this all part of a master plan?

How is MM going to deal with his daughter’s Homelander-obsessed step-father?

Is Soldier Boy in the deep freeze for good?

We have seen a lot this season, from the first eye opening episode to the cute cartoon antics of Black Noir’s imagination. Can the series get any more weirder and outrageous?

When will The Boys season 4 arrive?

The biggest unanswered question of all is when will the Supes return to Prime Video? 

The Boys was officially renewed for a fourth season just a week after the premiere of season 3 in June 2022, and Karl Urban, who plays Butcher, said in an interview with Collider that filming would begin on 22 August 2022.

Given that previous seasons of The Boys have involved up to six months' worth of shooting and lengthy post-production, we think the earliest we'll get to find out what happens next is in the Autumn of 2023. 

Watch this space for updates.

The Boys season 3 full trailer revealed

Warning: Contains scenes and language not suitable for younger viewers

The final full official trailer for The Boys season 3 has dropped today (May 16) and features yet more explosions, blood and shocking moments that suggest the new episodes are going to be the best yet.

Homelander is losing the plot (and milking cows), Hughie and Billy have a potential secret weapon to take down the Supes (but at what cost?) and we also get a first look at how Jensen Ackles new character Soldier Boy will be unleased into the world of The Boys. With less than a month to wait for season 3, our excitment levels are through the roof.

When is The Boys season 3 released on Prime Video?

The Boys season 3 premiered on Prime Video on 3 June, 2022, with a new episode released every week ahead of the season finale on Friday 8 July.

Who is in The Boys season 3 cast?

The Boys are:

• Billy the Butcher (Karl Urban)
• Hughie  (Jack Quaid)
• Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso)
• Frenchie (Tomer Capon)
• Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara)

Vought's Supes of the Seven are:

• Homelander (Antony Starr)
• Starlight (Erin Moriarty)
• Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott)
• A-Train (Jessie T. Usher)
• The Deep (Chace Crawford)
• Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell)
• Stormfront (Aya Cash)

New for season 3 are:

• Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) - The Boys take on Captain America, Soldier Boy is known as the original superhero and is the leader of the group Payback
• Little Nina (Katia Winter) - An infamous character from the comic, Nina is a Russian gang leader who works for Vought and has a fondess for sex toys. It will be interesting to see if she meets the same fate as in the comics - if you know, you know.
• Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) - The Boys take on Marvel's Scarlet Witch
• Supersonic (Miles Gaston Villanueva) - A member of Soldier Boy's Payback group, who is an ex-boyfriend of Starlight
• Blue Hawk (Nick Weschler) - A member of Payback
• Gunpowder (Sean Patrick Flannery) - A member of Payback

Recurring cast in season 2 included: 

• Goran Visnijc as Alistair Adana
• Claudia Doumit as Victoria Neuman
• Malcolm Barrett as Seth Reed
• Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
• Shantel VanSanten as Becca Butcher
• Cameron Crovetti as Ryan Butcher
• PJ Byrne as Adam Bourke
• Laila Robbins as Grace Mallory
• Giancarlo Esposito as Vought boss Stan Edgar.

First look at Supernatural star Jensen Ackles in The Boys season 3

Supernatural star Jensen Ackles is the most highly-anticipated new addition to the show for season 3, playing the original Supe, Soldier Boy.

Soldier Boy’s Super Suit was designed by Laura Jean Shannon and concept artist Greg Hopwood. 

When designing the Soldier Boy Super Suit, Shannon noted: “Soldier Boy is the original bad ass. Our goal was to highlight a bygone era of overt masculinity and grit. With that pedigree we dove headfirst into baking in an all-American quality grounded in a military soldier’s practicality with a heavy dose of old school cowboy swagger.

“We knew that the actor had to have Steve McQueen looks and chops with a John Wayne attitude, luckily Jensen Ackles embodies all of that.”

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke said: "When I cast Jensen as Soldier Boy, the first thing I said was, ‘I’m most excited for you, because of the amazing process you’ll go through with LJ, our Super Suit designer’.  It took six months but the experience surpassed Jensen’s expectations. 

“LJ has made a work of art that tips its hat to the WWII Soldier Boy from the comics, while taking it in a sleek new direction.  And if you think the photos are cool, just wait till you see Jensen in action.  It’s one of my very favourite suits.  Also, now you can quit clogging my Twitter notifications with demands to see it.”

What storylines can fans expect in season 3?

The Boys has departed in numerous ways from the comic series, so it's impossible to predict where the TV show is going to end up in season 3.

Some characters (Victoria Neuman) are going in a very different direction and some major twists - one involving Homelander and Black Noir - look like they're being swerved.

However, one storyline which is coming in season 3 is the infamous 'Herogasm'.

If you thought The Boys has pushed Amazon to the limit with outrageous R-rated antics in season 1 and 2, think again.

Herogasm was a standalone miniseries in the comics, which followed The Boys sneaking into Vought's annual Herogasm party - an event filled with debauchery and drugs in an island resort.

Whatever parts of the story make it through to the the final edit, viewers' jaws are going to hit the floor.

Talking to Deadline about season 3, Eric Kripke said: "I’d say in previous seasons the boogeyman for you to be scared of used to be, 'The terrorists are coming to get you'.

"And now it’s sort of metastasized into, I think, a much more ominous, 'Your neighbor is coming to get you'. And that’s scary to me, how politics are turning us on each other. So, we want to explore what it means to be in America, really."

Black Noir Exclusive interview

We caught up with Black Noir actor Nathan Mitchell to find out about season three, The Boys fan theories and the future for Black Noir after that unfortunate Almond Joy incident…

What is The Boys?

Based on The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys was developed  by  showrunner Eric Kripke (Supernatural) and executive producers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver.

The Boys is one of the smartest, most irreverent and unapologetically badass shows on TV. Poking fun at superheroes, politics, religion, cults, media empires, social media and more, the show is ludicrously funny and a total original.

The Boys season 2 ending explained – a quick plot summary

The conclusion of The Boys season 2 was explosive, head-poppingly exciting and brilliantly wrapped up all the storylines and teased some new ones for season 3.

Stormfront was finally brought to her knees by a combination of Starlight, Queen Maeve and Kimiko.

After being exposed as a Nazi, the trio battled and battered Stormfront. However, it ended up being Homelander’s son Ryan who finished the job.

Ryan discovered his heat vision powers and barbecued Stormfront’s limbs. Tragically, he also blasted his own mother Becca. That boy is going to need some serious therapy sessions.

And then it was Maeve who played the hero as she blackmailed Homelander with the footage of him on the plane from season one.

Homelander has the power to destroy Maeve if she follows through on the threat, but her leverage comes from Homelander’s ego, vanity and the pleasure he needs from being idolised across the world.

Maeve was able to bargain with Homelander to get Starlight, A-Train and herself in The Seven and get Ryan taken into CIA custody for protection.

Butcher gets a job working for Mallory doing what he does best – kicking Supe butt – and Hughie gets a job working for politician Victoria Neuman, who seems determined to bring justice and order back again.

With Hughie and Starlight all loved up, Mother’s Milk reunited with his family and happier days ahead for Frenchie and Kimiko.

So I guess that’s all wrapped up then…oh, there was just one small problem.

It turned out that Neuman wasn’t quite as honourable and principled as we previously believed as it was revealed that she was behind the head-explosions that kept happening in the series.

What is Neuman up to and how did she get those super-powers? Is she working for Vought and Stand Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito)? Or are they working for her?

Her liberal politics and anti-Vought stance meant nobody suspected she was involved in any of the cover-ups or shenanigans with Stormfront.

And talking about Stormfront, have we seen the last of Aya Cash’s vile villain?

She was burned to a crisp and torn apart, but apparently she still lives and has been used by Vought to take the fall for all the Compound V problems. So there is still a chance we could see her return if she is able to regenerate and heal.

What is The Boys spin-off series?

Amazon has confirmed that it is planning a spin-off series of The Boys, set at a college for young adult superheroes.

The series is being billed as “part college show, part Hunger Games” as hormonal Supes push new boundaries in the battle to get the best contracts with Vought International.

The spinoff already has cast members include Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, Shane Paul McGhie, Maddie Phillips and Aimee Carrero.

“Much like Mork & Mindy spun-off from Happy Days - which is an insane and true fact- our spinoff will exist in the Vought Cinematic Universe, yet have a tone and style all its own. It’s our take on a college show, with an ensemble of fascinating, complicated, and sometimes deadly Young Supes," said The Boys’'showrunner and executive producer Eric Kripke.

"Michele and Tara are stone-cold geniuses, we're thrilled to have them steer this ship, and grateful to Sony and Amazon for the opportunity. We love this show and can’t wait for you to see it.

"Also, Baywatch Nights spun-off from Baywatch, and it had vampires. Vampires!"

What is The Boys Presents: Diabolical?

An animated spin-off, The Boys Presents: Diabololical, launched on Prime Video on 4 March 2022.

This series consists of eight very different episodes, each one written and created by a different team and made in a different style of animation, but all set in the universe of The Boys and featuring some of the characters of the live-action series voiced by the original actors.   

Find out more about The Boys Presents: Diabolical

Watch The Boys seasons 1, 2 and 3 on Prime Video now.