Karl Urban as Billy Butcher in The Boys

The Boys creator Eric Kripke has refused to apologise for being ‘woke’ (Prime Video)

Eric Kripke, the creator The Boys, has refused to apologise for being “woke” as season four of the outrageous superhero series arrives on Prime Video.

Based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys returned to Prime Video on Thursday (13 June), with season four dishing up all the blood, guts and profanity that fans have come to expect from the series featuring Star Trek‘s Karl Urban, The Hunger Games and Scream star Jack Quaid and Gossip Girl‘s Chace Crawford.

The Boys has always highlighted the farcical aspects of society, with a laser focus on the alt-right in America and the similarity of the character Homelander (Antony Starr) to a felon and former president of the United States. That has not always gone down well.

Speaking to Variety, Kripke explained how seasons, although written nearly two years before they stream, always manage to land at a time when the real-world news cycle reflects their issues.

For season three, one of the issues was over-policing in Black neighbourhoods in America, and the violence that can be born of that. Several people called this reflection of the real world “woke” – a complaint Kripke dismisses.

“I clearly have a perspective, and I’m not shy about putting that perspective in the show. Anyone who wants to call the show ‘woke’ or whatever, that’s OK. Go watch something else,” he said.

Kripke emphasised that, as clear as he’s tried to be, some people have still missed the point.

“I’m certainly not going to pull any punches or apologise for what we’re doing. Some people think Homelander is the hero. What do you say to that? The show’s many things. Subtle isn’t one of them. If that’s the message you’re getting, I just throw up my hands.”

For anyone wondering, Homelander is very much not the hero.

Kripke recently said that season five of The Boys will be the last.