- Season four of Prime Video's superhero satire series "The Boys" premiered on Thursday.
- The episodes released so far include subtle references to past seasons and nods to the comic books.
- It also contains callbacks to the spin-off series "Gen V."
Warning: Major spoilers ahead for season four of Prime Video's "The Boys."
"The Boys" has returned for another gory, bloody, jaw-dropping season.
Season four, which debuted with three episodes on Thursday, is stuffed with Easter eggs, nods to the comics, and references to the college-set spin-off series "Gen V."
Here are all the details you might have missed so far.
This is likely a nod to the supe Mister Marathon.
In the comics, he was a member of The Seven who was replaced by A-Train. The character has also previously been mentioned in passing during season two, first by Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) in episode five and then by Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore) in episode seven.
At the election night party, Homelander (Antony Starr) tells Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) not to be scared or intimidated by humans because "they're only humans and toys for our amusement."
Later in the episode, Homelander again speaks demeaningly of humans when he tells Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), "Humans are nothing. They're less than nothing. They're just toys for my amusement, and yet, they control everything. It's unnatural."
Homelander likening humans to toys comes from the comics.
In volume nine ("The Big Ride"), Homelander talks to himself in the mirror and says, "People are toys. They're toys and they're there for my amusement. And there's not a thing more to them than that."
This is a callback to season two, in which Annie January/Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), and new Seven member Stormfront (Aya Cash) were grouped together for a female-power-style press campaign called "Girls Get it Done."
During a meeting, Ashley tells Homelander, "After that debacle at Goldolkin — thank you again for saving my life — the board felt we should find new candidates for The Seven ASAP."
This is a direct reference to what happened during the season one finale of "Gen V," which takes place at a college for young supes called Godolkin University.
During the episode, students who were being tortured and experimented on in an underground lab called The Woods were freed and unleashed havoc on campus. As the young supes went wild, Ashley called in Homelander to get the situation under control.
Ashley presents Homelander and The Seven with a list of 25 supes to choose from to fill the team's vacant seats, including Talon, Hyperion, Dogknott, and Wrangler. Talon and Dogknott are both characters that appear in the comics.
The Church of the Collective, run by Alastair Adana (Goran Visnjic), was a big part of season two. After being ousted from The Seven, The Deep joined the church in an attempt to make amends and earn his way back into the supe group.
This is another nod to "Gen V."
On the show, Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas) is a supe with the ability to manipulate magnetic fields and magnetism. He's also a Godolkin University trustee and the father of a student named Andre Anderson (Chance Perdomo).
Season four of "The Boys" takes place after the events of season one of "Gen V." The end-credits scene of the finale, which shows Butcher investigating The Woods, confirms that he's the person Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) was speaking to earlier in the season about a virus that can wipe out supes.
Billy Joel is one of Hughie's (Jack Quaid) favorite musicians; throughout the show, he references his love for the singer.
During season two, Hughie explains that he's fond of Joel because he and his mom, who left him when he was 6 years old, used to have dance parties to his music.
Ambrosius (voiced by Tilda Swinton) is an octopus that The Deep met at Herogasm last season and had sexual relations with.
Season four reveals that The Deep, who's now divorced, has been secretly stashing Ambrosius in a tank in his bedroom closet. When he's not around to keep her company, the sea creature stays occupied with a small toy of The Deep that she can wrap her tentacles around.
Sister Sage is from Detroit, and her power is that she's the smartest person on the planet.
Homelander recruits her for The Seven because he's tired of being surrounded by people who are so terrified of him that they agree with everything he says and don't challenge him. Homelander also reaches out to her because he's been thinking about his legacy and wants her help in figuring out how to create the ideal world to leave behind for his son Ryan.
In the comics, Jessica Bradley is a personal assistant to Vought-American CEO James Stillwell.
After overcoming to difficulties last season, Hughie and Annie are finally in a solid place in their relationship.
Later in episode two, when they execute the fake civilian rescue, Ryan accidentally throws Koy too hard, sending him flying into a building to his death.
As the channel NNC covers Annie rallying Starlighters and declaring she's back, a news crawl reads: "Guardians of Godolkin Sam and Cate to join Seven members at V52 Expo."
The season four trailer for "The Boys" includes a quick shot of Sam (Asa Germann) and Cate (Maddie Phillips) from "Gen V," but it's unclear which episode fans will see them in.