The Boys has many, many levels of meta.
Among the many great things about The Boys is its exceptional talent for meta commentary. It’s a series about superheroes that airs on a major streaming service, but it regularly satirizes superhero-centric pop culture and film and television production. It’s easy to appreciate on screen, but it apparently even extends to work behind the scenes – as evidenced by the scene that Erin Moriarty performed when she first auditioned for the role of Annie January a.k.a. Starlight in 2014.
It was seven years ago this summer that the actress went out for a starring role on what would become one of Prime Video’s flagship shows, and she celebrated the anniversary and the debut of The Boys Season 4 on her personal Instagram page. In her post, she included an aside about the scene that she read when she auditioned, and it’s perfect. She wrote in the caption,
7 years ago I auditioned for The Seven (that exact audition scene was my literal one for the show). blinked & it’s the 3 week countdown ‘til season 4. cheers to the show that has (basically) raised me, the coworkers that are stamped into my heart as family, and to everyone who has watched + continues to. (& to fathers and sugar) #iykyk @theboystv
It doesn’t get more fitting than auditioning for a character by performing a scene with the character auditioning, right? The material calls for an actor to present themselves in a special and specific way, and within that presentation, the filmmakers can see if they have what is being sought. Clearly Erin Moriarty had what was being looked for when it came to casting Annie, and after four seasons, we can definitively say that the right choice was made.
For those who don’t fully recall, one of Annie’s first scenes in the pilot episode of The Boys has her at Vought International vying for an open slot in The Seven. She discusses growing up in Iowa and competing in Miss Hero pageants – specifically her desire to “save the world.” She dismisses the cynicism of anyone who chuckles at that optimism and hope… which is pretty funny in retrospect when one considers all of the horrible things that she has learned about superheroes and Vought since then.
Starlight says that saving the world is all she has ever wanted in the pilot, and she may end up getting that chance in The Boys Season 5 – which is going to be the series’ final run. Things are getting very, very scary within the world of the show, as (SPOILERS AHEAD) the United States government has essentially been toppled and The Seven has been given absolute authority. Sister Sage and Homelander are far from done executing their big picture plans, and Billy Butcher has not only lost his mind, but he has now has dangerous tentacles that grow out of his chest and he is in possession of a virus that can kill every supe on Earth.
Annie is one of the only protagonists free and in her right mind at the end of Season 4, which is why it’s also a very good thing that she regains full control of her powers.
A release date for The Boys Season 5 has not yet been revealed, but Amazon Prime subscribers can stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for not only updates about the critically acclaimed series, but also Season 2 of Gen V and news about Vought Rising – the new prequel spinoff show that was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2024.
