In ‘The Boys,’ A Black Woman Is The Smartest Person On the Planet, And The Show Is Better For It

Very few pieces of Superhero media, if any, bother to showcase Black women. While films like Black Panther allow for these characters to exist with depth, the majority of these films and series fail to interrogate how the Blackness of these characters is intertwined with their very being. The superhero genre has long failed Black women, but Amazon Prime’s The Boys is surprisingly reworking this notion. 

The Boys is undeniably political, but amongst the on-the-nose commentary, there is a certain demographic that has never been prominently featured: Black women. While a Black woman helms the college spinoff series Gen V, in The Boys, Black women have been nearly nonexistent. With season four however, it seems as though showrunner Eric Kripke has figured out a balance between representation and depth of character, something that his peers are still trying–and failing–to do.

Enter Sister Sage, played by Susan Heyward, a Black woman who takes center stage, and reinvents the show before our very eyes. Created specifically for the TV series, Sage is the most intelligent person on the planet. She appears to be The Boys stand in for a Lex Luthor type of character, however, what makes her stand out is that Luthor and villains like him have an immense wealth to support their villainous endeavors. Along with this, they are almost always white men. Sage’s gender and race has the potential to weigh on her, as she has the disadvantage of being born in The Boys universe, but it’s clear that with season four, the writers have learned from their negation of Black women, and have instead allowed these aspects of her character to empower her. 

We are first introduced to Sage when Homelander, played by Antony Starr, goes to her apartment to recruit her for his plan to overthrow the government. While we can’t be certain if she truly believes in his ideals, she does appear to have an interest in creating a world of “Supe” supremacy, just to see if she can. Homelander’s goals present a challenge for Sage that she has since not been allowed to delve in, and it gives her the space to be curious about the limits of her own powers, rather than actually believing in Homelander’s mission, and thus aiding in it. 

Of course, her being a Black woman makes The Seven–a group of Superheroes owned and managed like celebrities–look good and perhaps as a bonus to Homelander, he gets to exert power over yet another person of color. However, it quickly becomes clear that Sage is not only ten steps ahead of Homelander, she’s ten steps ahead of the audience as well. Her motives are truly unknown, and it makes her all the more powerful and intriguing to watch. Because of her smarts, it is nearly impossible for Sage to be stifled by anyone who she interacts with. While Homelander and newcomer Firecracker, played by Valorie Curry, use microaggressions to try and put her down, Sage’s nonchalant demeanor allows for these jabs to never really stick.

It’s clear that Sage understands as a Black woman in America, she must look out for herself, and she will stop at nothing to maintain her singularity within The Seven. Sister Sage is different from Homelander’s usual picks for The Seven, as she has no impressive physical abilities to speak of, and she knows this and uses it to her advantage. She’s able to disappear into the shadows because she isn’t an imminent physical threat, and in the meantime orchestrates the downfall of those around her. 

Making Sage, the show’s sole Black woman, smarter than those around her allows her to rebuttal these instances of racism in a way that Black superheros and Black characters in general are usually not given the grace to do. In The Boys, Sage lets these insults fall off her like rain, yet it’s clear she’s always pocketing them in her mind for later. In episode four she tells Firecracker—who up until now has been blatantly racist towards her—to expose a secret abortion that Annie January, played by Erin Moriarty, had, on live television. This is evil, yes, but it results in Annie then assaulting Firecracker in front of millions, allowing Annie to not only be painted as a villain, but also allowing Sage to enact revenge on Firecracker without having to move a finger.

She seems eager to cause chaos with her powers, which is precisely why she and Homelander work so well together. However, there’s a part of Sage that makes it seem like instead of helping Homelander, she’d rather watch him crumble along with The Seven and Vaught International, the entertainment conglomerate that owns The Seven.

Sister Sage is different from Homelander’s usual picks for The Seven, as she has no impressive physical abilities to speak of, and she knows this and uses it to her advantage. She’s able to disappear into the shadows because she isn’t a physical threat, and in the meantime orchestrates the downfall of those around her.

Despite aligning with The Seven and Homelander, it’s not completely clear what Sage’s politics are. At times, it even appears as though her wisdom rewires her to be above the two-party system politics that is weaponized in The Boys. While the season isn’t over, we can only assume that the smartest woman on earth isn’t going to get caught in a trap that Homelander and Co. may set up for her. She’s unpredictable in a way that makes her even more threatening than her coworkers who have super strength or super speed, and her powers are quickly establishing her as the show’s most powerful Supe. 

Sister Sage’s introduction has flipped The Boys’ universe on its head, and continues to push this series forward where most of its peers like the Marvel Cinematic Universe have stayed stagnant. Not only is she capable of rendering those around her powerless, Sage’s position as a Black woman is eons more interesting than the likes of the Black women we’ve gotten in other superhero media. Here, she’s not just a one trick pony, but rather the series’ most dynamic and fascinating introduction since its debut. Her character is not simply a meaningful addition to The Boys universe, but to the Superhero canon and television as a whole.