The Boys is about to unleash its fifth and final season and fans of Prime Video’s superhero satire are prepared for it to go out with a bang. The only question is just how much crazier this show can get, given the brutal, bloody, and often hilarious deaths we’ve already seen occur.
Speaking to SFX Magazine to promote the show, creator Eric Kripke addressed the finale and teased that by the time the show is over, quite a few fan-favorite characters will be gone.
"You can let people have the emotional confrontations that they'll never recover from," Kripke said of the final season. "We wanted to take full advantage of that, having these mind-blowing moments. It's a battle, and there are going to be casualties. It would be unrealistic not to. It bums me out when you have a big, epic sci-fi show, and then at the end, it's like, 'Oh, everyone's fine.' I keep yelling at the screen, 'Things cost things, you can't just get away with this!' So yes, I wouldn't get too attached to any single character."
Kripke seemed to take a shot at “big epic sci-fi” series that wrap up their runs with no major deaths, because to him, “one of the joys” of ending a show is “you don’t have to be precious with keeping anybody alive.” In other words, he seems dead set on making several characters, well, dead.
This isn’t the first time cast and crew members have teased death coming in The Boys season 5. A while back, Billy Butcher actor Karl Urban even hinted some characters might eat it in the season premiere just to prove no one is safe. It’s would be a wild move to kill off beloved characters from the jump, but that fits The Boys.
Who will die in The Boys season 5?
Fans of the original comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson know full well that the book has some stunning deaths in its final story arc. That includes many of the characters fans had come to know and love throughout the series, and in some rather shocking ways. It’s unclear if the show will follow the same death pattern, as it has already diverged from the comics.
Kripke is no stranger to bumping off main characters (see Supernatural), and The Boys has always tried to do a realistic take on a world of superheroes. He also knows it's important to keep the audience on their toes while not doing shocks just for shock's sake. That means that what deaths occur will serve the story and give the characters a proper sendoff.
It’s easy to predict the death of Homelander or Billy Butcher, given their self-destructive paths and liklihood they'll end up killing each other. However, we could also see the deaths of A-Train, Sister Sage and a couple of the Boys themselves. It would also fit the show for the typical hero, Hughie, to end up falling in the end, or his partner Starlight too. Again, Kirpke is making it sound like anyone is fair game to fall.
It sounds dark and wicked, but that’s perfectly fitting for The Boys. This won’t be a show where a couple of minor characters bite it and others get a happy ending. Instead, The Boys will be going out as it started, shocking its fans with a bloody conclusion.
The Boys season 5 premieres April 8 on Prime Video.