TAGGED AS: comic books, streaming, Superheroes, TV
When it debuted on Prime Video, The Boys was something of a magic trick: A superhero series in which the supes are expressly the bad guys. The protagonists, meanwhile, included a British drunkard with a death wish; a milquetoast young man who only joins up in the hopes of revenge; a French weapons expert with an outsized personality; a mute Japanese woman with a unique way of communicating; and Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), the only person with a modicum of sanity.
Based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys took aim at the supes and the powerful commercial interests behind them. Targets of ridicule included the Marvel and DC movies, the use of celebrity to manufacture consent for heinous policies, and even Amazon itself. Consistently well-made and occasionally prescient, the program proved to be Prime’s biggest success in its big budget genre initiative, spawning two spinoffs with more on the way.
All things do end, though. And like the comic book before it, Spring 2026 will see the conclusion of The Boys, as the stories of Homelander (Antony Starr), Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), and presumably the rest of the main cast reach their final moments. But can the show find new tales to tell and characters to lionize, as well as keep interest in the Vought universe alive, while reaching a climax that will no doubt be filled with various forms of fluid?
Let’s take a look at what we know about The Boys’ final season and see if we can’t harness some of Sister Sage’s (Susan Heyward) power for ourselves.
After a contentious election cycle throughout the fourth season, The Boys ended on one of its darkest notes. Butcher used Compound V to kill Vice President-elect — and secret Supe — Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) even as Hughie (Jack Quaid) was close to negotiating a peaceful solution with her. Sage, knowing this might occur, used the incident to put the blame on President-elect Robert Singer (Jim Beaver). Congress invoked the 25th Amendment to disqualify Singer. The Speaker of the House, now elevated to president, declared martial law and put Homelander in charge of rounding up dissidents aligned with Annie January (Erin Moriarity).
The Boys themselves — with then notable exceptions of Annie and Butcher — were rounded up and, as the season 5 trailer revealed, placed into a camp. And as glimpsed over on Gen V, Homelander has turned his security post into a more upfront position of leadership.
Quite the place to start from.
The trailer, at least initially, continues this somber tone with Mother’s Milk declaring none of them will survive what comes next. But is that the case? Readers of the comic know certain members of the Boys do not make it to the last page. They also know a pair who get to have a life afterward, but there are no guarantees the book’s conclusion will be mirrored in the show. Indeed, it has always deviated from Ennis and Robertson’s tale in both large and small ways. So, for once, no one is safe.
Nonetheless, the team are still willing to follow Butcher one last time into a war against the superheroes.
Of course, there are questions to answer as the Vought universe expands. When are these events occurring in relation to Gen V? That series’ second season ended with Annie and A-Train (Jesse T. Usher) recruiting the Goldokin University escapees into their resistance. But considering where The Boys left Annie and her presence in the camp with Hughie in the trailer, is it possible season 5 is concurrent with Gen V? That could have an impact on the cast, which we’ll cover shortly.
And as episode titles often offer insight into the season, here they are in no particular order: “Teenage Kix”; “Every One of You Sons of Bitches”; “Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite”; “Though the Heavens Fall”; “One-Shots”; “King of Hell”; “Blood and Bone”; and “The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man Called Mother’s Milk”. While “Teenage Kix” immediately stand out as the name of A-Train’s first superhero team, that last title hearkens to something very specific in the comics.
The setting of The Boys remains a vision of the United States controlled by Vought and Homelander. From the trailer, it would seem the camp the Boys end up in will be a major new location. Although, it remains to be seen for how long, especially when one takes into account that shot of Annie using her powers to either demolish the place or take it over. We also expect Stan Edgar’s (Giancarlo Esposito) bunker to make at least one appearance as he still has a part to play.
We also imagine Vought Tower will still be a primary locale and, of course, government offices all around Washington D.C. as Homelander’s bid for power becomes more and more tied to the federal system.
And, who knows, maybe it’ll all end up back in Central Park…
Urban, Quaid, Moriarity, Alonso, Starr, and Esposito are, naturally enough, back as we see them in the trailer and their stories are not yet concluded. Tomer Capone and Karen Fukuhara are also back as Frenchie and Kimiko, respectively. Additional returning cast includes Heyward as Sage; Cameron Crovetti as Ryan Butcher; Chace Crawford as The Deep; Nathan Mitchell as the second Black Noir; Valorie Curry as Firecracker; Olivia Morandin as Neumann’s daughter Zoe; Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Butcher’s hallucination of Joe Kessler; David Andrews as President Calhoun; Rosemarie DeWitt as Hughie’s mother, Daphne; and Colby Minifie as Vought’s nominal CEO, Ashley Barrett.
The latter’s return is interesting, as we last saw her mainlining Compound V and writhing in pain. Over on Gen V, it is heavily implied she is in some sort of vegetative state as a result. But with the timelines between the two shows not entirely in sync, it is possible she will have one last thing to do as the boss of Vought before finally becoming inactive.
Also returning for one last dance is Jensen Ackles as Solider Boy. Frozen since the season 3 finale, it will be interesting to see how reacts to the nation Homelander is remaking in his own image. Additionally, the season will explore the father/son dynamic — or lack thereof — between the two Supes. But as this is the final round for The Boys, Ackles will be reunited with his Supernatural co-star Jared Padalecki in a scene teased by the trailer. Little is known about his character, but the Supernatural team will be expanded with the inclusion of Misha Collins in an as yet undisclosed role. Also joining up for the final season: Daveed Diggs, although his character is also unconfirmed. Paul Reiser will appear as The Legend, while Mason Dye and Seth Rogen will make guest appearances.
There is an interesting wrinkle in the cast list, though. Almost the entire main cast of Gen V — Jaz Sinclair, London Thor, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, and Asa German — will appear in the final season. Keeya King is also set to reprise her role as Marie Moreau’s (Sinclair) sister, Annabeth. Curiously, it is still unconfirmed if Derek Luh will appear as the other aspect of Thor’s character, Jordan Li.
When we last saw the group, they were escaping from God U only to be found by Annie and A-Train. But with Cate (Phillips) and Sam (German) still doing their Vought internship at the end of The Boys’ fourth season, some sort of time-skip is seemingly inevitable. Will we learn all of Gen V‘s second season took place before The Boys: Season 5 begins? Or will there be some overlap? Reportedly, the season will pick up sixth months after the most recent Gen V episode, but that still leaves some lingering questions about the timeline.
There’s also the possibility of Marie’s potential use as a weapon against Homelander. It was the stated purpose of her being allowed to return to God U, after all. And although she rejected the idea, it is possible Butcher could talk her into being some sort of failsafe in the end. Others online have posited that her powers may be used in a more beneficial way to retrieve people from death. Could she be the key to a happier ending for the Boys?
Showrunner Eric Kripke remains at the helm of the series, leading into an ending we all hope succeeds and feels final even if he and Amazon continue to expand the Vought universe with prequel series Vought Rising and, potentially, another season of Gen V. The producer maintains that he always envisioned the program running five seasons and that it could not go on after the apocalyptic events of the final episodes. He also teased a “six months later” epilogue that could be the final statement on The Boys as its own story.
The writing staff includes Paul Grellong, Jessica Chou, Ellie Monahan, Geoff Hull, Judalina Neira, David Reed, and Anslem Richardson. Neira and Reed are the credited writers of the final episode. As of press time, long-time Kripke collaborator Phil Sgriccia is the only known episode director. Shooting began in late 2024 and wrapped in the summer of 2025.
The final season begins its run on April 8, 2026. It will continue the series’ customary release pattern: the first two episodes will be available on premiere day with the remaining five launching weekly thereafter. And though it is the end of The Boys, Amazon believes there is still life in the Vought universe afterward. But we wonder if that will really be the case once The Boys finishes its tale.
The Boys: Season 5 premieres on April 8, 2026 on Prime Video.
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