Amazon reminds everyone that The Boys’ season 4 finale is actually fiction due to, well, current events

Maybe you’ve already watched the season 4 finale of The Boys, which is getting solid reviews so far, but if you haven’t, you might be surprised by a last-minute warning issued by the show and Prime Video’s official accounts after the assassination attempt of last weekend on former President of the United States and current presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Via IGN, season 4 episode 8’s original title was ‘Assassination Run’, which is unfortunate to say the least, in spite of the series’ nature and all the buildup done this season to reach the plot point. Now, Prime Video has dropped the title and shared an official statement regarding the main events depicted in the episode and the process behind it (and lack of connection to real-life events).

Of course, last weekend’s attempt on Trump’s life isn’t the first time someone has shot at a President of the U.S. nor a plot point that hasn’t been tackled by countless works of fiction, but you can never be sure, especially in the age of social media, fake outrages, and more importantly, tensions in the US reaching dangerously high levels ahead of the next presidential election.

You can read the full statement, shared by the show and Prime Video’s Instagram accounts, here:

For now (it might get a new title later for all we know), Amazon has retitled the episode ‘Season 4 Finale’ and has added a “viewer discretion advised” warning that shows on-screen at the start. In past interviews, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has said that Homelander’s rise to power and many flaws were always meant to mirror Trump’s journey to the White House, his misdeeds, and the legal cases against him.

This is yet another case of creative intent going in one direction and corporations going in the opposite one, trying to shield themselves from external criticisms that may come out of the loaded works of fiction they fund themselves. I want to believe most people are able to consume and dissect fiction, as well as any real-life parallels, like functioning adults, but recent pop culture discourse (and reactionary changes made by the studios in order to save face) has told us otherwise far too often. We should be happy The Boys’ season 4 finale hasn’t been delayed and gutted in post-production, I guess.

The Boys will be back, likely in 2026, for its fifth and final season, though some cast members have been campaigning for a big-screen conclusion that we hope doesn’t happen.