The hilarious and shocking anti-superhero series The Boys is returning for its fifth and final season on Amazon Prime Video, and there’s already a ton of news about the show’s last outing. Debuting in 2019 and based on the eponymous comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the series concerns a group of vigilantes who make it their mission to protect the world from superpowered people who abuse their abilities. Known for its gory and over-the-top action sequences, the satirical series is the perfect antithesis to the deluge of superhero content pouring out of Marvel and DC in recent years.
A critical darling since its debut episode, The Boys has grown into a pop culture phenomenon, and inspired a wave of shows and movies based on comics other than DC and Marvel. The show’s true power lies in its ability to shock and surprise, and The Boys has continuously kept fans on their toes as the storylines get more and more outlandish with each passing season. However, all good things must come to an end, and with the announcement of season 5 also came the revelation that Amazon Prime Video’s hit series would be ending.
The Boys Season 5 Latest News
A Script Update Is Revealed
this process isn’t all that unusual, and is actually how the show stays so fresh and current.
Despite the fact that season 5 is currently being filmed, the latest news finds creator Eric Kripke revealing a script update for The Boys season 5. Surprisingly, Kripke revealed that the scripts for season 5 aren’t finished yet, despite the fact that cameras have been rolling for quite some time. Apparently, this process isn’t all that unusual, and is actually how the show stays so fresh and current. Kripke’s entire response comes from a question regarding the 2024 United States Presidential election, and whether it would factor into the final season.
Kripke said:
Yeah, I mean, they’re not all written, by the way. 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 – but yes, we definitely adjust scripts as new events come to light.
Despite this, Kripke was firm in stating that the details of current events don’t actually influence the overarching stories that they are telling. While the small details add spice as season 5’s production carries on, the bigger concepts behind The Boys haven’t been altered.
Kripke finished by saying:
No, we have in terms of the big picture of the story, like it stays the same. I mean, especially in the final season when every character has to reach their climax – like we’ve had those in our back pocket for a while and this season is mostly just figuring out how to get there, you know? So, it’s more like the stuff that the characters talk about that’s happening in society and some of the joke targets we’re taking, and some of that stuff changes, but the main bones of it stays pretty similar.
The Boys Season 5 Is Confirmed
The Show Was Renewed Before Season 4 Debuted
With the fate of the ever-popular series in little doubt, The Boys season 5 was renewed by Amazon Prime Video in May 2024, a full month before the premiere of season 4. When it came to the continuation of The Boys, it was never really a question of if, but of how long the series would stretch on for. Unfortunately for die-hard fans of the satirical superhero series, the answer came just days before season 4’s premiere when creator Eric Kripke announced that season 5 would conclude the show.
Kripke would provide a further update in November 2024 when he announced that shooting would begin in a few weeks. This means the show is going into production in the last two months of 2024, though the exact timeline is unknown. Presumably, the massive scope of the show’s final season will necessitate a lengthy shooting period.
The Boys season 4 debuted on June 13 and ended on July 18, 2024.
The Boys Season 5 Cast
Who Survived for Season 5?
Since season 5 of The Boys is officially the last, it stands to reason that the final outing will give many of the beloved and despised characters a proper sendoff. Despite the show’s penchant for bloodshed, there are a few characters that will most likely make it to the end, including Antony Starr’s uber-patriotic Homelander, and Karl Urban as the anti-superhero vigilante Billy Butcher. The cast of The Boys also features a wide variety of other superpowered characters, and the final season could introduce a few more as well.
One major character who didn’t survive the fourth season was Vice President-elect Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), who met a gruesome death at the hands of Butcher’s alter-ego in the season finale, and she likely won’t be back. Speaking of Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the actor has mentioned he hopes to return for the final outing. One confirmed return is that of Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy, who will be a major recurring character in season 5.
Another confirmed return is that of A-Train (Jessie T Usher). The character’s fate was originally unknown, as season 4 saw his arc end with the character fleeing to New York with his family, leaving us to wonder if this could be the end for him on the show. However, Usher posted on his Instagram Stories, confirming his return. The post was directed to his “Boys Fam” and included the words “here comes season 5”. While this doesn’t confirm how big his role will be in the upcoming season, it does seem to confirm that he will be showing up in some capacity.
Snowpiercer star Daveed Diggs has been cast in an as-yet-unnamed recurring role, and he is the first of several new names that will appear in the upcoming final season. Mason Dye has been tapped to play the role of 1950s superhero, Bombsight, who was mentioned in season 4 as the star of such movies as “The Curse of Fu Manchu”. Dye’s Bombsight also has the chance to star in the prequel spinoff, Vought Rising. Jared Padalecki has been cast in season 5 in an unknown role.
The presumptive cast of The Boys season 5 includes:
|
Actor |
The Boys Role |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Karl Urban |
Billy Butcher |
|
|
Antony Starr |
Homelander |
|
|
Jack Quaid |
Hughie Campbell Jr. |
|
|
Erin Moriarty |
Starlight |
|
|
Jensen Ackles |
Soldier Boy |
|
|
Susan Heyward |
Sister Sage |
|
|
Jessie T. Usher |
A-Train |
|
|
Jeffrey Dean Morgan |
Joe Kessler |
|
|
Laz Alonso |
Mother’s Milk |
|
|
Chace Crawford |
The Deep |
|
|
Tomer Capone |
Frenchie |
|
|
Karen Fukuhara |
The Female |
|
|
Nathan Mitchell |
Black Noir |
|
|
Colby Minifie |
Ashley Barrett |
|
|
Mason Dye |
Bombsight |
|
|
Daveed Diggs |
Unknown |
|
|
Jared Padalecki |
Unknown |
|
Related
The Boys Season 5’s Ending Confirmation Avoids The Big Problem That Hurt Supernatural
As bad as it is to see The Boys go after season 5, the superhero series will avoid a hugely divisive decision that Supernatural famously made.
The Boys Season 5 Is The Last
One Last Ride For The Boys
Though it was obvious that the show couldn’t go on forever, it was revealed just days before season 4’s premiere that The Boys would be ending with season 5. Since the decision seems to be a mutual one between creator Eric Kripke and Prime Video, it’s assured that the series will get an ending of some sort instead of being left hanging like so many other great shows of the past. Fortunately, with the spinoff Gen V returning for its second season soon, the franchise could continue in various other off-shoots.
The prequel series, Vought Rising, is also in the works as well as a spinoff entitled The Boys: Mexico.
The Boys Season 5 Story Details
A Gory Climax Is Promised
In typical The Boys fashion, the finale of season 4 was gory, shocking, and utterly depraved, and it sets up an intriguing climax in season 5. In a tragic turn of events, Victoria Neuman’s plan to flip on Homelander was thwarted when she was killed by Butcher’s alter-ego, and that allowed Homelander and Sister Sage’s evil plan to take the next step. With temporary President Steven Calhoun in power, that allows Homelander to pull the strings and begin his reign of terror.
Homelander orders martial law, which starts his plan to round up all the people he deems traitorous. The Boys are his prime target, and a violent confrontation is expected in the final season. One mystery looming over the next season is Sister Sage’s machinations, and even Homelander is being left in the dark about what her so-called Phase 2 entails. Viewers will have to wait for The Boys season 5 to find out.
The Boys is a gritty and subversive take on the superhero genre, focusing on a group of vigilantes who confront powerful superheroes abusing their abilities, exploring themes of corruption and moral ambiguity in a world where heroes are not always what they seem.
- Cast
-
Karl Urban
, Jack Quaid
, Antony Starr
, Erin Moriarty
, Jessie T. Usher
, Laz Alonso
, Chace Crawford
, Tomer Capone
, Karen Fukuhara
, Nathan Mitchell
, Colby Minifie
, Dominique McElligott
, Claudia Doumit
, Cameron Crovetti
, Nneka Elliott
, Laila Robins
, Shantel VanSanten
, Aya Cash
, Giancarlo Esposito
, Jordana Lajoie
, Katy Breier
, Matthew Edison
, Jim Beaver
, Elisabeth Shue
, Jensen Ackles
, Simon Pegg
, Susan Heyward
, Valorie Curry
, Jeffrey Dean Morgan
, Ann Cusack
, Nicola Correia Damude
, Christian Keyes
, Sabrina Saudin
, Malcolm Barrett
, Liyou Abere
, Jennifer Esposito
, David Reale
, Frances Turner - Release Date
-
July 25, 2019
- Seasons
-
4
- Franchise(s)
-
The Boys
- Writers
-
Eric Kripke
- Showrunner
-
Eric Kripke
- Character(s)
-
Billy Butcher
, Hugh Hughie Campbell
, John / Homelander
, Annie January / Starlight
, Reggie Franklin / A-Train
, Marvin T. Milk / M.M. / Mother’s Milk
, Kevin Moskowitz / The Deep
, Serge / Frenchie
, Kimiko Miyashiro / The Female
, Earving / Black Noir
, Ashley Barrett
, Maggie Shaw / Queen Maeve
, Victoria Vic Neuman
, Ryan
, Grace Mallory
, Becca Butcher
, Klara Risinger / Stormfront / Liberty
, Meerkat Stan Edgar
, Cherie
, Cassandra
, Cameron Coleman
, Robert Singer
, Madelyn Stillwell
, Ben / Soldier Boy
, Hugh Campbell
, Jessica Bradley / Sister Sage
, Misty Tucker Gray / Firecracker
, Joe Kessler
, Donna January
, Elena
, Nathan
, Also Ashley
, Seth Reed
, Janine
, Susan Rayner
, Evan Lambert
, Monique - Creator(s)
-
Eric Kripke
