The Boys and Gen V have worked out a symbiotic relationship, wherein viewers don’t need to watch both shows to enjoy either selection, but seriously, if you enjoy one, you’d dig the other. Prime Video/Amazon’s superhero-skewering shows continue to soar in popularity even while the MCU and DCU work to get their groove back, and Eric Kripke has Vought Rising on the horizon, too. Let’s zero in on what we can expect from The Boys‘ fifth and final season.
Plot
For starters, things will get bloody and gruesome. Jack Quaid has provided Instagrammed evidence of Hughie absolutely drenched in bodily fluids, and he should be forgiven for hitting caps lock because, well, look at that picture: “WORK’S BEEN GOING GREAT, YOU GUYS!”
Plot, though? C’mon. Showrunner Eric Kripke has admitted that even he isn’t sure about the precise plot of the fifth season, which started filming last year after Thanksgiving. He has, however, stressed that this isn’t unusual for the series, especially after the fourth season finale had to scrap its title, “Assassination Run,” due to certain current events. And the series as a whole must (again) successfully satirize the world that we live in, and that world has grown has increasingly absurd as the show has evolved.
The Boys‘ fourth season managed to pull off the delicate balance of also entertaining, even as the real-life parallels were at-times uncomfortable. So, here’s what Kripke told Forbes about how every character’s climax has been in the writers’ “back pocket for a while,” and “the main bones of it stays pretty similar,” but the fifth season’s scripts are vey much in flux:
“They’re about half-written. I mean, look – things adjust all the time. That happened in season one when like the “Me Too” movement broke in the middle of the season and we had to go back and rethink a lot of things. So, we’re sort of used to this organic movement of the scripts always transforming a little bit, based on what’s happening in the world. So, that doesn’t really scare us. That’s pretty par for the course. You’re always rewriting these things right up until the day before they shoot, and sometimes, the day they shoot. So, we’re used to changing things as the world changes.
Of course, the final season does have many known threads to resolve. Not only must Starlight, A-Train, and possibly Ashley work to free Hughie, MM, Kimiko, and Frenchie, but Butcher and Kessler are in the wind with their own weapon of mass destruction. Additionally, Sister Sage will likely still be maneuvering for Homelander (because it’s fun, not because she is loyal to him), who is now the de facto president and has confined his enemies.
Yet Starlight’s abilities have returned, and she appears to be more powerful than ever. Also, Homelander will be compromised by his own self-hatred, and even obliterating the source of his childhood trauma hasn’t changed anything about the way that he operates, as Kripke told Variety:
“He’s literally all trauma. I think what he plays so beautifully about it is he wants to be a god, but he’s a man. And it’s kind of slowly, or maybe not so slowly, driving him insane. So dealing with things like aging, dealing with insecurity, dealing with a need for love — all very normal human things, these are all things he finds detestable. He needs them, but he’s revolted by them all at once.”
With all of that said, anybody and everybody can die in this final season because Kripke no longer has to use plot armor. We do know that Jack Quaid wouldn’t mind some plot armor to keep him from showing his butt again, as Quaid declared to Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused: “My butt’s had a lot of screen time and it’s not a great one, you know what I mean.” And please, Eric Kripke, do not hurt any more cakes during the making of The Boys. Also, allow MM to take a Silkwood shower after his Love Sausage reunion.
In all seriousness, though, Homelander’s status as “free world” leader didn’t stop him from being a teary mess when learning that Soldier Boy was still alive, on ice, and right in front of him. There will be showdowns to come in between sperm donor and “knock off”/”upgrade,” and I’ll be rooting for Ashley to kill both of them after apparently Hulking out from Compound V.
Cast
New cast members include Daveed Diggs in a mystery role. Jared Padalecki has also confirmed his involvement to bring more Supernatural reunion flavor while joining Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Joe Kessler (who will likely be back, literally living rent free in Butcher’s head) and Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy, who will be part of the final season (along with the upcoming Vought Rising), and Homelander probably won’t handle it well.
Other returning cast members include Jessie T. Usher as A-Train (whew), newly independent from The Seven and perhaps teaming up with Colbie Minifie’s newly Supe-d up Ashley.
On the Seven side of the equation, the show brings back Antony Starr (Homelander), Chace Crawford (Deep), Susan Heyward (Sister Sage), Nathan Mitchell (Black Noir), and Valorie Curry (Firecracker). Cameron Corvette returns as Homelander’s son, Ryan, so we’ll probably see at least one scene with ghostly Becca Butcher (Shantel Van Santen).
The totally screwed characters (at least to begin the fifth season) are still portrayed by Jack Quaid (Hughie), Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko), Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk), and Tomer Capone (Frenchie). Presumably, Erin Moriarty’s Annie January/Starlight) will work to free them while Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher keeps cooking his own brand of mayhem up.
Unconfirmed returns include Cindy (Ess Hödlmoser) and Gen V‘s Cate (Maddie Phillips) and Sam (Asa Germann).
Release Date
This franchise has adopted a staggered release schedule with Gen V arriving sometime this year. In turn, The Boys will finish its run in 2026, presumably with Vought Rising coming later, probably in 2027. If The Boys: Mexico does get greenlit, Eric Kripke has been upfront about the show happening far into the future.
Trailer
Since no trailer could possibly be available yet, revisiting this Homelander vs. Soldier Boy fight (from the third season) could be useful to consider the rematch sure to come.