Starlight will have a brand new, duplicitous role in The Boys season 2. Erin Moriarty's Annie January was a key figure in the first season of The Boys on Amazon Prime. Entering Vought's employ as the innocent aspiring superhero known as Starlight, Annie discovers a world of debauchery, deception and celebrity, left shocked and disgusted by the true nature of The Seven. Annie was disappointed again when boyfriend Hughie turned out to be a member of The Boys. Even though the pair's feelings were genuine, Starlight couldn't help but feel betrayed, and Hughie was kicked to the curb. Nevertheless, Starlight's season 1 story ended in somewhat ambiguous fashion. Finally striking out against The Seven, Starlight helped Hughie and The Boys escape Vought, leaving a big glowing question mark over where her true loyalties lie.
Snippets of information had already given some idea of Starlight's story in The Boys season 2. A teaser trailer confirmed that Annie was still working as part of The Seven, with last season's Boys breakout either covered up or forgiven. Moriarty herself revealed during The Boys' SDCC 2020 panel that Annie and Hughie were tentatively keeping in touch, but hadn't fully jumped back into their relationship. Amazon has now released another trailer for season 2 of The Boys, and the footage confirms Starlight will be working as a double agent, playing both sides when the series returns.
As revealed previously, Starlight managed to retain her job in The Seven, waving to crowds in her "streamlined" outfit and sitting among the other heroes at Vought HQ. However, the trailer also clearly shows Starlight working directly with The Boys. One shot depicts Starlight going incognito in shades and a hoodie as she leaves The Seven's base, and the trailer then shows her sitting alongside Hughie, M.M. and The Female in The Boys' own makeshift hideout. Starlight is then seen joining the gang in a park, apparently siding with them in battle, and looks to be teaming up with Butcher and Hughie to stake-out The Seven's newest member, Stormfront.
This goes far beyond what The Boys fans might've expected from Starlight at the end of season 1. Starlight's loyalties were certainly conflicted after her fight against A-Train in last season's finale, and Moriarty's recent comments hinted towards Annie and Hughie taking small steps in repairing their relationship. However, the trailer effectively makes Starlight one of The Boys, and it's clear that her role in The Seven is now a masquerade in order to help bring down Homelander and his cronies from the inside. Interestingly, this is a direct flip of Starlight's season 1 story. Before, Starlight's romantic liaison with Hughie made her an unwitting spy for The Boys against Vought; in season 2, that "unwitting" element has been wholeheartedly blasted to dust, as Starlight becomes a proper double agent.
Predictably, this will not end well, and the trailer duly ends with Homelander ordering Annie to kill Hughie. This doesn't necessarily confirm Starlight's duplicity is exposed - Homelander already knew about Annie's entanglement with Hughie, and could simply be testing her allegiance. Starlight's new season 2 arc is also representative of her growth as a character. In The Boys' debut season, Starlight was still struggling to reconcile her image of what she thought being an elite superhero entailed with the cold, hard reality. Choosing to help The Boys escape looked to be a watershed moment in her development, with Annie finally deciding to act on her morals, even though that meant going against "the good guys." By becoming a member of The Boys, Starlight's growth looks to be continuing in the same vein, perhaps more than fans might've expected. That can only be good news for The Boys season 2, as well as for Butcher, who now has a good-natured Supe on his side.
The Boys season 2 premieres September 4th on Amazon Prime.