The Boys Season 4 Trailer May Revive The Series' Most Explicit 'Joke' (Again)

"The Boys" television series is no stranger to featuring shocking scenes that make audiences cringe and close their eyes. In keeping with this approach, those who watch the official Season 4 trailer will notice a potential repeat of one of the fictional universe's most explicit ongoing jokes involving genital mutilation.

In the look ahead at what's coming next season, Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie), the usually tense CEO of Vought American, asks, "Who wants to have their balls crushed?" as pro-Vought news anchor Cameron Coleman (Matthew Edison), who has shared romantic entanglements with her in the past, lays naked on the floor and responds, "Me."

Ashley's request is likely to help her blow off some steam, as she has the stressful job of running Vought International while the world becomes more divided than ever regarding Supes. But the continued use of graphic scenes involving genitals has become a surprising staple of the series.

The franchise's continued jokes around male genitals are quite subversive. In "The Boys" comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, women are sexualized far too often, with virtually every major female Supe showing their breasts at some point. Meanwhile, men rarely got the same treatment. The show feels like it's not only critiquing the source material but also other television shows, like "Game of Thrones," where the over-sexualization of female characters is rampant and arguably unnecessary. "The Boys" flips the trope while playing for shock value.

The series routinely shows off some hilarious and explicit scenes involving male characters, most notably in the Season 3 opener, where a hero named Termite (Brett Geddes) climbs inside his sexual partner's penis using his Ant-Man-like powers and tries to please him from the inside of his prostate. The scene ends with Termite accidentally sneezing, growing back to his original size, and killing the man. The creative team even designed a giant fake penis to bring the moment to the small screen. That's commitment.

Additionally, the sequence fits well with the franchise's lewd nature. Viewers likely remember that spinoff "Gen V" features an incredibly awkward sexual encounter between Emma Meyer (Lizzie Broadway) and fellow Supe student Liam (Robert Bazzocchi) in the Godolkin University dorms. The uncomfortable scene shows Emma using her shrinking powers to play into Liam's twisted fantasies.

It's fun to see "The Boys" take a progressive stance on subverting usual portrayals of sexuality and kinks on TV. The show's trademark combination of humor and jaw-droppingly explicit content means viewers will keep guessing what they'll see next.