The Boys Season 4 Director Reveals How to Identify the Real Starlight After the Episode 7 Finale

The Boys season 4, episode 7, director Catriona McKenzie explains how the real Starlight can be identified after that big Supe reveal. Prime Video’s hit superhero satire returned for season 4 last month, continuing Billy Butcher’s (Karl Urban) quest against Vought and Homelander (Antony Starr). The Boys season 4, episode 7, introduces a new, shape-shifting Supe into the equation as the titular group investigates the plot to kill President Singer (Jim Beaver). The episode ends with the surprise reveal that this new character has taken the form of Starlight, with the real Annie held hostage in a mysterious location.

In a recent interview with Screen Rant, McKenzie reveals that there are some subtle signs audiences can look for to identify the impostor Starlight, who she dubs “the Shifter.” According to the director, the impostor Starlight moves a little more robotically than the real one. Check out McKenzie’s comments below:

Erin’s so amazing. We talked about her physicality, we talked about her eyes, and we talked about a stillness because the Shifter doesn’t have the same kind of emotional, intuitive, emotional intelligence that Annie does. And we’ve seen that in the episode; there was just a stillness that she brought to her performance where she’s just a bit more robotic. It was fun working that up with her.

And she’s a natural. Basically, everything’s the opposite of what she’s developed, and she just moved away from her instincts. I think, as a director, it’s more and more about the subtleties of working with actors and working on characters that I find brings such pleasure. The minutia of performative detail is where I think is the goal is, and I love that moment when she gets out of bed and walks past Huey. She walks over to the safe, and you just know we’re in for a ride.

The Shifter Creates A Major Problem For Butcher’s Team In The Boys Season 4 Finale

How It Could Set Up A More Dangerous Season 5

Jack Quaid looking angry as Hughie Campbell in The Boys

The Boys’ mission to stop the assassination of President Singer was already shaping up to be a major challenge, but the introduction of the Shifter means they’ll have no idea who to actually look for. Using her powers, the assassin can easily avoid security and get as close as she needs in order to accomplish the deed. While the Shifter’s powers can be used to get close to the president, they can also, crucially, be used to pin the blame on others in The Boys‘ cast of characters.

The end of The Boys season 4, episode 7, teases that the Shifter will be pinning the blame for the assassination directly on Starlight. The war between those who support Starlight and her ideals and those who support Homelander has been a major part of season 4 thus far, and pinning the assassination of the president on Starlight’s camp would be an incredibly effective way of vilifying them. Homelander’s opposition from regular American citizens would essentially disappear.

If the plot to assassinate the president works, it sets up a very intense story in The Boys season 5, which is confirmed to be the show’s last. Butcher, Hughie (Jack Quaid), M.M. (Laz Alonso), and the rest of the team could potentially be implicated in the assassination as well, making all of them the most wanted people in America, and making it a lot easier for Homelander to justify killing them. It remains to be seen how events will play in The Boys‘ season 4 finale, but the Shifter evidently makes things a lot more complicated.

New episodes of The Boys season 4 release on Thursdays on Prime Video.

Related Posts

A Nation’s Farewell: The Day London Stood Still to Honor Princess Diana’s Timeless Legacy

On September 6, 1997, the world paused to mourn the loss of Princess Diana, the “People’s Princess,” whose life had touched millions with her compassion, grace, and…

Forget Royal Privilege: Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Kids Are Raised to Earn Their Keep with Summer Jobs, Learning Grit and Gratitude the Hard Way

In a world where royal children are often imagined to live lives of luxury, shielded from the struggles of ordinary life, Prince William and Kate Middleton are…

A Chilling Coincidence or Fate’s Cruel Hand? Diogo Jota’s Tearful Final Promise to His Wife Captured on Dashcam Moments Before Tragic Crash

In the quiet moments before dawn on July 3, 2025, the world lost Diogo Jota, the beloved Liverpool and Portugal football star, and his younger brother, André…

👀 Johnny Joey Jones Opens Up About Divorce From Wife Meg — The Truth No One Saw Coming

A Love Story That Captured Hearts, Now Ending in Tears In a world where celebrity marriages often crumble under the weight of public scrutiny, the news of…

😳💥 Crowd Turns on Johnny Depp & Keanu Reeves at Basketball Game — But Their Calm Clapback Shocked Even the Haters 🏀✨

A Night at the Game Turns Electric On the evening of September 4, 2025, Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles buzzed with excitement for a high-stakes NBA matchup…

Against All Odds: Leanne Smashes a Record No One Believed Possible — Chuck Lorre Just Proved Sitcoms Are BACK and Bigger Than Ever! 🙌🔥

A Sitcom Revolution in the Streaming Age When Leanne, the latest brainchild of sitcom legend Chuck Lorre, premiered on Netflix on August 15, 2025, few expected it…