One of The Boys’ most ludicrous business tricks this season was inspired by its own distributor.

In an X post, showrunner Eric Kripke analyzed a humor from Season 4’s “Beware the Jabberwock, My Son” in which Cameron Coleman and The Deep describe how Vought employs “custom-made digital product placement” to allegedly appeal to its wide audience’s interests.

According to a Marketing Brew article, Kripke claimed that this concept — whose algorithmic selections were depicted as comedically out of touch on the show — is true and that “Amazon pitched it to us for The Boys, we said no thanks, but we’re definitely making a joke about it in Season 4.” “Then we did.”

Similarly, a segment of the episode’s V52 Expo narrative mocked superhero franchises, comic conventions, and the ceaseless Marvel-inspired “phases” for The Boys’ Vought-distributed film universe featuring the Seven. Other satirical moments included a trailer for Vought’s white savior-inspired A-Train movie with Will Ferrell — who cameoed earlier this season — and using a Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired font to introduce Gen V characters Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) and Sam Riordan (Asa Germann) as the “Guardians of Godolkin.”

Gen V Ties Into The Boys Season 4

While Kripke previously stated that he refrains from making The Boys‘ story essential to understanding its spinoff and vice versa, he also discussed how this scene reflects the way Gen V‘s events are perceived by the outside world, where “the villains of that day, Cate and Sam, are packaged by Vought to be the heroes, and are given a movie and given new levels of fame, whereas the true heroes of that day are locked up in some undisclosed location that’ll be revealed for Gen V Season 2. Just our similar message that being a hero is usually an unsung, thankless thing, and when you’re held up in front of everyone as a hero, you’re usually anything but.”

Season 4 follows Hughie Campbell, Billy Butcher, and the Boys as they oppose Homelander’s quest to obtain more power via Vought and the Seven. Along with its established cast, The Boys introduced new metahumans in Seven recruits Firecracker and Sister Sage, as well as The Walking Dead’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who played John Winchester on Kripke’s CW drama Supernatural, as Butcher’s former military liaison Joe Kessler. While Amazon mostly avoided reducing The Boys’ more violent features, Kripke noted that the studio did make one request this season: limit 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scenes between the Deep and his octopus lover compared to Season 3.

While The Boys was renewed for Season 5 earlier this year, Kripke stated immediately before Season 4’s debut that the following season will be the series’ final. Meanwhile, Supernatural star Jared Padalecki may co-star with Soldier Boy actor Jensen Ackles in Season 5.

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