The Boys has been gleefully skewering superheroes for five years on Prime Video/Amazon while the MCU and DCU eventually crumbled at the feet of Homelander statues. Not to sound nostalgic about a show that began with Hughie kissing his soon-to-be-liquified girlfriend, Robin, but I’m going to miss this debauched treasure after the fifth and final season.
This will also be a season that has far too much to finish after the fourth season finale that turned a majority of characters’ fates upside down while passing the baton to Gen V‘s second season. Eventually, Vought Rising will head back in time to show us how the first Supes were wrought upon humanity, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves there. We are mostly sticking with The Boys for purposes of this discussion, so let’s get down to business on what to expect from Homelander and Foes in the fifth season.
Cast
Almost too much is happening here, so before we talk about the plot, sorting out where the vast ensemble of actors stand is a fine place to start.
Returning cast regulars will include Antony Starr (Homelander), Karl Urban (Billy Butcher), Jack Quaid (Hughie), Susan Heyward (Sister Sage), Chace Crawford (Deep), Erin Moriarty (Annie January/Starlight), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Valorie Curry (Firecracker), Nathan Mitchell (Black Noir), Colby Minifie (Ashley), Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko), Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk), Tomer Capone (Frenchie), and Cameron Crovetti (Ryan).
Whereas we will not be seeing Claudia Doumit after Butcher made sure that Victoria Neuman is deader than dead. Likewise, Sabrina Saudin, who portrayed Also Ashley, has left the building.
Meanwhile, Daveed Diggs (Hamilton, Snowpiercer) has signed on in an undisclosed role, and Showrunner Eric Kripke’s Supernatural reunions continue with Jared Padalecki recently declaring that he is onboard even though his role hadn’t been written yet, so he didn’t know who the hell he could portray. On that note, Supernatural veteran Jeffrey Dean Morgan will almost surely make repeat appearances inside Butcher’s head as Joe Kessler, and Jensen Ackles is confirmed to return as Soldier Boy for this final season.
Don’t count out another ghostly return from Shantel Van Santen (Becca Butcher), a lifeline answered by Dominique McElligott (Queen Maeve), and/or more destructive displays from Ess Hödlmoser as Cindy, who we will hopefully see for more than one minute of screentime before the series ends.
Additionally, we could see more brief appearances from Gen V crossover stars Maddie Phillips (Cate) and Asa Germann (Sam), especially if some sudden vacancies need filling in The Seven as the bodies start to pile up.
Plot
Since we already mentioned bodies, that’s a cue for us to acknowledge that the show’s hefty dose of plot armor will disappear. Eric Kripke planned for five seasons, and as such, he’s been keeping most notable characters alive during the third and fourth seasons other than swapping out Black Noir versions as portrayed by Nathan Mitchell. As Kripke told Total Film, however, all bets are now off because “[t]here’s no guarantee of who’s gonna survive because we don’t have to keep them for another season, so you can have really shocking, big things happen all the time.”
The bigger question on the “who dies?” note might be this: who gets to kill Homelander? It seems highly unlikely that Antony Starr‘s ultimate baddie will be allowed to leave the show alive after essentially taking control of the White House and declaring martial law, but will Butcher kill him, or will honor fall to Hughie or another character?
There’s every chance that Karl Urban’s character will be distracted by pulling off the Supe Virus deployment, which would leave Homelander open to the countless characters who’d like to see him die. It would, for example, feel fitting to see Ashley hulk out and crush her tormenter. It’s also entirely possible that A-Train (who has made amends with Hughie), Ashley, and Starlight will come together and kill Homie while The Boys remain imprisoned. Whatever else happens, we can almost be certain that Homelander bites it, which would be a high point for the series finale.
Additionally, Starlight must work to free The Boys from their respective imprisonments. From there, MM will need to take a shower after the Love Sausage incident, Kimiko will need to figure out whether she now speaks on a regular basis. And Jack Quaid seems to believe that Hughie’s ongoing hell is for a purpose, and great things will happen for him before the series ends. He deserves everything, even though cake is probably ruined for him forever.
With that said, Prime Video/Amazon hasn’t revealed a plot synopsis, which makes sense since Kripke and the show’s writers only began working on the fifth season’s scripts as of this past spring. And that brings us to a question, will you need to watch Gen V to enjoy the final season from The Boys?
Kripke has been forthright about how it is not mandatory to watch both shows if viewers only wish to watch one of them. As he told Variety: “They each have their own reason for being. They each need to be good enough to exist without the other one existing. But I’m not giving the audience homework.” And it sure sounds like The Boys will be kicking the MCU on the way out the door.
Release Date
The Boys will return in 2026 after Gen V releases its second season in 2025. If we had to guess, Vought Rising will likely be scheduled for 2027, and Eric Kripke has revealed that The Boys: Mexico, if it still happens, is still far down the priority line (probably 2028 or later).
Does a two-year wait between seasons feel too long to wait? Honestly, this is typical for hit streaming series with shows like only effects-light shows like The Diplomat and Slow Horses breaking the mold with annual releases. Then there’s shows like Wednesday and Severance, where the wait for second seasons will eventually pass the three-year mark.
Trailer
Not happening yet, obviously, but if you’d like to feel those fourth season-finale chills again with the final minutes of the episode, feel free to do so below. Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box” always hit hard, but arguably, it’s never hit harder than during this set of events: