The first half of "The Boys’" fourth season has been a total doozy thus far, splitting critics’ opinions with its satirical bent on real-world politics, while also delivering the most technically challenging nude super-clone fight in TV history, among other things. Amidst Butcher’s dying days and Homelander’s reflective aging, a new rivalry has emerged in the form of Valorie Curry’s new Seven member Firecracker and Erin Moriarty’s Starlight, and the third and fourth episodes drove home the personal reasons why the villainous supe hates both Annie and her powered persona.

When CinemaBlend spoke with co-creator and showrunner Eric Kripke, he not only told me a few key details about Rob Benedict’s self-pleasuring spa scene, but he also explained why the creative team wanted to give Firecracker and Starlight an arc with genuine comic book friction guiding it.