‘The Boys’ Jack Quaid Says Season 4 Made Him Gasp Out Loud

[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Season 4 of The Boys.]

The Big Picture

• The Prime Video series ‘The Boys’ returns for Season 4 on June 13th, with new supes, family drama, and crazy moments.
• Jack Quaid calls Season 4 his favorite, with explosive scenes that top even last season.
• Hughie and Annie’s relationship strengthens this season, amidst the chaos of The Boys not being very happy with Billy Butcher.

From showrunner Eric Kripke, the Prime Video series The Boys returns for Season 4 on June 13th, with Homelander (Antony Starr) continuing all manner of supe shenanigans, now with his super-powered teenage son by his side. Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is closer than ever to the Oval Office, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) only has months to live, and The Boys have to get past their feelings if they’re going to save the world. With the addition of Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) and Firecracker (Valorie Curry) to The Seven and a virus that can kill supes now in existence (be sure to check out that backstory in Gen V, if you haven’t already), things will likely be bloodier than ever.

Surprisingly, things seem to be looking up for Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) for a change, now working alongside Annie January (Erin Moriarty), aka Starlight, who he’s closer to than ever. But it’s important to remember that no one is ever safe in the world of The Boys, especially with Vought around. During this one-one-one interview with Collider, Quaid talked about why this is his favorite season so far, how Season 4 will top even the craziest stuff from last season, the visceral reaction he had when reading the scripts, how things are between Hughie and Butcher after being knocked out by him, getting to see some Campbell family chaos with Simon Pegg and Rosemarie DeWitt, and what the two new female supes will be adding. Quaid also said that while the end of Season 4 is “awesome,” he’s often terrified that Hughie would make it out alive each season.

Collider: I’m excited about the new season and I’m bracing myself, as one does with this show.

JACK QUAID: That’s the exact emotion to have, a bracing excitement. I feel the same way.

No Season of ‘The Boys’ Is Ever Just More of the Same

This series has never just been more of the same. How does Season 4 of The Boys compare to previous seasons?

QUAID: Oh, man, you’re right. I think that’s a real testament to the writers. It is never more of the same. They always find a way to somehow find new beats, and they never repeat themselves. It’s been really cool. This is my favorite season that we’ve ever done. The writers have topped themselves. There are those moments that are big and explosive and gross and insane, and there’s stuff that tops even the craziest stuff that we did last season, if you can believe that. And then, every character is so much more well-drawn and the material they’re writing for everybody is just unbelievable. Personally, this is some of my favorite Hughie material that I’ve ever worked with.

What sequence are you most looking forward to fans seeing this season? Did you have a sense that the sequence would be memorable when you read the script, or does it take actually filming to really get a sense of what something will be?

QUAID: Oh, no, you know right away when you read a script. You’re like, “Yeah, this is gonna be nuts.” It’s funny though, there are certain things that I read where you do become accustomed to it. You’re never a thousand percent accustomed to the crazy things that you read, but you’re a part of the show and not a lot surprises you anymore. People are like, “This is such a crazy moment,” and I’m like, “It’s fine.” There are certain moments in this season that, when I initially read them in the script, I gasped out loud, which is very hard to get me to do, after four seasons. But yeah, you know right away when you’re reading it that it’s gonna be pretty crazy. At first, you think of it in a very practical way and you’re like, “That’s gonna take three days.” But when something is so insane that you are just viscerally reacting to words on a page, you know it’s good, and we have a lot of that this season.

Right from the beginning of the season, or do we get a minute before we have to brace ourselves?

QUAID: You need to brace yourselves at all times when watching the show. I don’t think there’s any other way to watch it. We all know the drill at this point. You’re never safe.

What can you say about the dynamic between Hughie and Billy this season? How are things between them at the start of the season, and how much will that change and evolve over the season?

QUAID: Things are relatively good between them, at the top of this season. Butcher did save Hughie’s life, essentially, at the end of last season. He saved him from taking that final fatal dose of Compound V. Albeit he did punch him in the face and knock him out in a gas station bathroom, but that’s how Butcher shows his love. I think that they’re relatively okay, but Butcher’s not really in good with The Boys this season. He’s not the leader anymore. He’s been downgraded, and that puts Hughie in a bit of an awkward position because Hughie is loyal. He’s a puppy dog. He’s loyal to a fault sometimes, and he doesn’t wanna see Butcher kicked out or demoted, but he can also see it from the group’s perspective. He’s very much thrown in the middle of that. But on the other side of the coin, Annie has joined The Boys and left The Seven. I think that’s a really great thing for Hughie because he knows that she’s safe and not living in Vought Tower, feet away from Homelander. I think he loves working with his girlfriend. It’s amazing.

Hughie and Annie’s Relationship is Stronger Than Ever in Season 4 of ‘The Boys’

How is the relationship between Hughie and Annie this season? Are they at odds about anything? Are they finally able to be on the same side now? It’s been quite an up and down journey for them.

QUAID: For sure. This season, they’re the closest they’ve ever been. Last season, it was so tumultuous, and I think it needed to happen. When you go through moments like that and you survive them, you come out so much stronger. So, I think Annie and Hughie are stronger than they’ve ever been this season, which I love seeing. I just love seeing the two of them not having to hide anything from the world and just being themselves around each other, being a full-on couple, happy as one can be in a world like the one we exist in on the show. That was wonderful, just to see them as a truly lived-in couple this season. That was such an interesting dynamic to play because it’s always so fraught, but they’re each other’s rocks this season, for sure.

We know that we’ll get something of a family reunion for Hughie this season. What will we learn about him and his family?

QUAID: We learned in other seasons that Hughie’s mom abandoned him and his dad when Hughie was about six. And this season, she comes back into his life and obviously dredges up a lot of baggage for him. Selfishly, as an actor, I was like, “This is awesome.” I got to actually delve into Hughie’s core trauma and the stuff that makes him the way that he is. Playing those scenes with Rosemarie DeWitt and with Simon Pegg, who’s coming back as Hughie’s dad, that was just a dream come true for me. They’re both legends. They’re both heroes of mine. I learned so much just by watching them. I’m really excited for audiences to see the Campbell family chaos that we get into this season.

Jack Quaid Didn’t See A Lot of the Outrageous Moments in Season 4 of ‘The Boys’ Coming

Did you go into Season 4 knowing how Season 4 would end? What was your reaction to learning where it would all be left?

QUAID: I never know how the seasons are gonna end. (Showrunner) Eric [Kripke] doesn’t really tell us. Eventually, we find out because we read the scripts, but he doesn’t really let a ton of details slip about the endgame of each season, especially at the beginning, which I actually like. It keeps us all guessing. There are certain things in this season when I read them that I audibly gasped. I really didn’t see a lot of the beats coming, and that’s very hard to do for a person who’s been on the show for four seasons. The writers just really outdid themselves. The ending is awesome. The ending is fucking nuts. It’s insane. I’m talking about The Boys, so I can swear.

Have you already been told to hold some dates for later this year, for filming more of The Boys?

QUAID: I don’t know how much of that I can reveal necessarily, but obviously we wanna keep doing the show as long as possible. So, they say jump, I say how high.

Jack Quaid Hopes That Whenever ‘The Boys’ Ends, They Get to Go Out on Their Own Terms

How long do you think the show can last for? Does it feel like there’s still a lot of story left to tell?

QUAID: Ideally, it lasts for as long as it possibly can. I definitely do think that I would like the show to go out on its own terms, when that happens. I would want it to be something that’s Eric’s intention. I think Eric is a genius. God, he’s so good at crafting a show and a world. So, whenever he wants to end it, I think that should be the end because I just trust him so much.

With a show this bloody that kills quite a lot of characters, or even just totally random people, do you ever worry that something will happen to Hughie? Is that a very real fear that you have?

QUAID: Oh, all the time. If that happened, I think Eric would probably try to warn me in advance, but I don’t know. He doesn’t tell us a lot, so maybe it would be a surprise. I am worried a lot. No one really seems to be safe, and the show is really good at surprising you. I don’t know. It’s crazy. I don’t necessarily know who’s gonna make it out alive at the end of every season, and I love that. It terrifies me, but I love that. There’s always that question. It’s very interesting.

We know that this season has two new female supes, with Sister Sage and Firecracker. Eric Kripke has described them as some of the best and craziest characters ever written for the show, and he’s also said that people will be horrified and nauseous. That all seems like a lot to live up to, so will they live up to that description? How much interaction will you have with them?

QUAID: They definitely live up to that description. Valorie Curry and Susan Heyward are incredible actors. I’ve actually known Susan for years. Susan and I were on a show called Vinyl, way back in the day. The fact that she joined the show, I was overjoyed. I was like, “Oh, my God, we’re back. Look at us. This is crazy.” Last time, that show (Vinyl) was about a record company in the seventies, and now we’re in this depraved superhero show. It’s insane. They definitely live up to Eric’s description. They’re both wonderful. Their characters are so insane. They change things up in a very dramatic way, and I’m very excited for audiences to see exactly where that goes because it’s a really interesting thread.

All roads lead to depravity when it comes to The Boys.

QUAID: Yeah, of course.

The Boys is available to stream on Prime Video on June 13th. Check out the trailer:

Watch on Prime Video