Amazon has released a statement and added a warning with the launch of The Boys Season 4 finale, which features scenes of political violence.
As the episode dropped at midnight on July 18, Amazon Prime Video released a statement clarifying that any similarities between the storyline and the events in Pennsylvania, where a shooting in Butler on July 13 killed one person and critically injured two others, were coincidental.
“The season finale of The Boys contains scenes of fictional political violence, which some viewers may find disturbing, especially in light of the injuries and tragic loss of life sustained during the assassination attempt on former President Trump,” Amazon said referring to the shooting that took place at Trump’s rally.
The statement continued, “The Boys is a fictional series that was filmed in 2023, and any scene or plotline similarities to these real-world events are coincidental and unintentional. Amazon, Sony Pictures Television and the producers of The Boys reject, in the strongest terms, real-world violence of any kind.”
Though the episode of the satirical superhero drama, previously titled “Assassination Run,” was written more than a year ago and was filmed last year, its release comes in the days following an assassination attempt on the former president — and current Republican presidential candidate — Donald Trump. The episode was retitled to simply “Season Four Finale” and added a “viewer discretion advised” warning at the beginning.
Created by Eric Kripke and based on the graphic novel series of the same name, The Boys has covered political storylines that often mirrored current events since its first season launched in 2019.
— THE BOYS (@TheBoysTV) July 18, 2024
Season 4 is set in the aftermath of the election of presidential candidate Robert Singer, played by Jim Beaver, and his villainous running mate, the undercover super-powered Victoria Neuman, played by Claudia Doumit.
“When we first pitched the show, it was before Trump was elected,” Kripke said in a June 18 interview with Variety, explaining the increasing political nature of The Boys.
“And the idea that a celebrity would actively want to turn themselves into a fascist autocrat was kind of a crazy idea. I mean, it still is. But it turned out to have happened? We sort of lucked into a show whose metaphor is really about the moment we’re living in, which is the cross-section of celebrity and authoritarianism. And so once we realized that, we’re like, ‘Well, we have to go all the way.’”
The Boys season 4 is now streaming on Prime Video.