Eric Kripke Shakes Up ‘The Boys’ with Bold Takes on Masculinity and Women’s Roles

Season four of ‘The Boys’ hit screens on June 13, 2024, and it’s stirring up a mix of reactions with its fresh episodes. Certified Fresh, the season isn’t just another run; it’s filled with more political angles which aren’t landing well with everyone. In a recent chat with Variety, showrunner Eric Kripke got real about what the new season is bringing to the table.

Kripke, who often shares insights on social media, opened up about the deeper messages behind the show. He believes ‘The Boys’ does a good job of tearing down the idea of ‘toxic masculinity’. He points out that the show portrays this concept as pointless and harmful. Kripke also touched on the idea of ‘bad fans’—those who cheer for the villains knowing their actions are wrong. He finds it hard to imagine many fans seeing the character Homelander as a hero, especially given his less than heroic acts and vulnerable nature. Kripke hopes most viewers see the satire aimed at both political right’s madness and the left’s performative wokeness.

Here’s his original quote from Variety:

“The Boys” is a show that examines, and very much damns, toxic masculinity. There’s a theory of the “bad fan” — people who root for villains just because they like the bad things that they do. Do you ever think about The Boys’ fandom and wonder about the ratio of bad fans?

I have to believe that the “bad fans” are a very small minority. Because I don’t know how you root for Homelander. When the guy is slurping up breast milk, and being the weakest character in the show over and over and over again and being like — he’s not even particularly macho. He’s weird. He’s weird and thin-skinned, and I don’t know how you look at that guy and you’re like, “That’s my guy.”

The show’s not subtle. It wears its politics on its sleeve. And it’s funny to rip on the madness on the right, and we get some shots in on the left of all the performative wokeness and everything. So I’m hoping that that’s the vast majority?

The point of view in the “The Boys” comic books is pretty geared toward the male characters. And from the very beginning, the women on The Boys have been really full, in-depth characters. Was that something you came into the series saying you were going to?

Yeah, very much so. I mean, the comic is, as you say, very, very male oriented. And I mean, part of it just comes from the practical considerations of, hey, I want a really big tent, and I don’t want to do some edgelord thing. I don’t want to make edgelord material for incels, or whatever. I want something for everybody. And so I was like, we really need to muscle up the female characters.

It worked, and it gave us a fresher perspective to see what a woman’s point of view in this world is, this sort of toxic, macho world. So then we just kept doing more of it. Also, the pilot begins with a sexual assault.

That’s right.

And it’s handled a little glibly in the comic. And we always said, well, if we’re going to handle it, we have to really be responsible, and dive into it.

Switching focus to the women of ‘The Boys’, Kripke shared how the series diverges from its comic book origins. Originally more male-focused, the show has shifted to provide a richer and deeper portrayal of female characters. This was a deliberate move from the start to make the series inclusive and avoid catering to a niche audience. The shift is also evident from the show’s pilot, which deals with a sexual assault—a topic treated lightly in the comics but approached with the seriousness it demands in the series.

Kripke’s approach seems to be about opening up the tent to everyone, offering a variety of viewpoints and making sure everyone feels included. This season promises to keep pushing the boundaries, ensuring ‘The Boys’ remains as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

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