'The Boys' season 5: Everything we know so far (original) (raw)
The ultimate Boys-versus-supe showdown is coming.
Warning: This article contains spoilers from The Boys season 4 finale.
The wonderful, gory world of The Boys will soon have its supes put away their capes.
Ahead of season 4's premiere in June, showrunner Eric Kripke announced that the Emmy-nominated, R-rated Prime Video superhero satire will end with season 5. Kripke said at the time that ending the bloody series after five season had always been his plan. "I just had to be cagey till I got the final OK from Vought," he said. "Thrilled to bring the story to a gory, epic, moist climax."
With the fourth season now in the rearview, let's get some files from Vought about all you need to know about the fifth and final season.
What stage of development is The Boys season 5 at?
Antony Starr, Cameron Crovetti from 'The Boys Season 4'.
Jasper Savage/Prime Video
Season 5 is currently in the writing stage.
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When does The Boys season 5 start filming?
Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty.
Jasper Savage/Prime Video
While the filming schedule isn't "totally locked in yet," Kripke told Variety in June that shooting will begin around mid-November, and that they will "be shooting well into the middle of ’25.”
What will season 5 be about?
Laz Alonso, Karen Fukuhara, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty in 'The Boys Season 4'.
Prime Video
Expect the season to be about the new 'National Homelander Security' era in America. Season 4's shocking cliffhanger sees Homelander finally winning his ultimate goal: having White House power. After President Singer (Jim Beaver) is arrested and VP Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is killed by Butcher, the presidency falls upon Senator Calhoun, who is the Speaker of the House and just so happens to be a huge Homelander supporter. He orders supes nationwide to report to Homelander.
Some of those appointed supes include Gen V characters Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) and Sam Riordan (Asa Germann), who attack a fleeing Kimiko and Frenchie in the season 4 finale, which acts as a handoff to season 2 of the spinoff. Gen V's second season will then lead into The Boys season 5, so we'll probably have a better idea of the events to come in the final season after season 2 of Gen V.
Additionally, the patriotic and psychotic Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) will likely be back into the fray — in the season 4 finale's post-credit scene, Homelander is taken to a holding cell where his father is in a drug-induced slumber.
How many episodes will be in The Boys season 5?
Karl Urban, Tomer Capone, Laz Alonso in 'The Boys Season 4'.
Jan Thijs/Prime Video
According to Kripke, it will be the usual 8-episode count, ending the series at a whopping 40 episodes.
When will The Boys season 5 premiere?
Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry in 'The Boys Season 4'.
Jasper Savage/Prime Video
Season 5's premiere date hasn't been set yet. If there’s any indication of the two-year time gaps between the streaming dates of seasons 2, 3, and 4, we can assume it will drop around 2026.
Who's in the cast of The Boys season 5?
Antony Starr as Homelander
Antony Starr in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
While Amzon hasn't officially announced casting for season 5, we expect all the major players to return for the final season. Antony Starr, of course, is center stage as the defacto leader of America after his fanboy Calhoun becomes president in the season 4 finale. As if his psychopathic smirks didn't give us enough nightmares, we can only imagine what horrors he'll inflict in the show's final run.
Karl Urban as Billy Butcher
Karl Urban in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
At the end of season 4, Butcher seems to be at death's door thanks to his V-ed up cancer, which allows him to command super-powered tumor tendrils that shoot out from his chest. He uses this newfound skill to kill Neuman and steal the virus that can neutralize supes before taking off from the rest of the team.
Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell
Jack Quaid in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
Season 4 was a rough one for Hughie — not only did his beloved dad pass away, he also had to come down from the high of Starlight proposing to him after learning that it was the shapeshifting supe pretending to be Starlight who popped the question. In the finale, wee Hughie finally gets some trust from the rest of the Boys, who name him their new leader. But after Butcher invades their safe house and kills Neuman, Hughie ends the episode kidnapped by Vought forces.
Erin Moriarty as Annie January/Starlight
Erin Moriarty in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
But perhaps Starlight/Annie January will come to Hughie's rescue. After training her ability to fly this season, she's able to launch into the sky as Hughie's kidnapped. Might she meet up with Butcher, the only other member of the Boys who ends season 4 free of Vought's grasp, and convince him to help?
Jessie T. Usher as Reggie Franklin/A-Train
Jessie T. Usher in 'The-boys.
getty; amazon studios
After helping the Boys stop the assassination attempt on Singer and finally getting even with Hughie, A-Train tried to get Ashley (Colbie Minifie) to go into hiding in the penultimate episode of season 4. She refuses to leave with him, but A-Train is done and leaves without her. He's not seen in the season 4 finale — but will that conscious he developed bring him out of hiding to help the Boys in season 5?
Laz Alonso as M.M.
Laz Alonso 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
Like Hughie, MM ends season 4 in the hands of Vought after he's ambushed in the airport on the way to meet his family abroad.
Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro
Karen Fukuhara in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
The Boys sure knows how to deliver heartbreak. In the season 4 finale, fans got what Kimchie shippers have long been waiting for: a kiss between Kimiko and Frenchie! But shortly after, the duo are attacked by Cate and Sam. It's when Cate uses her powers to lead Frenchie away that Kimiko utters her first word ever in the show, "No!" Will our supe-crossed lovers reunite?
Tomer Capone as Frenchie/Serge
Tomer Capone in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
Frenchie dealt with plenty of heartbreak of his own this season, as he reckoned with the sins of his past and his relationship with Colin. In the last moments of season 4's finale, Cate uses her mind-control powers to lead Frenchie away from Kimiko. Who knows what she'll force him to do.
Cameron Crovetti as Ryan
Cameron Crovetti in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
Ryan has been clearly conflicted by the opposing messages he's gotten from his dad, Homelander, and his mom's husband, Butcher, all season. When Homelander discovers Ryan has been keeping a photo of Becca and Butcher with him, the supe goes into a rage, sending Ryan straight to Butcher. The kid finds Butcher in the hospital with Mallory (Laila Robins), who reveals to him the tragic reality of his birth, Homelander's true nature, and the real reason Butcher wanted to meet with him: to use him against Homelander. It's a lot for Ryan, and when Mallory threatens to entrap him if he refuses to help, he kills her. We don't know who's side he'll be on when the show returns.
Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
Colby Minifie in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
At the end of season 4, Ashley takes compound V over her fear of being killed by the Seven. Instantly, it takes effect, as her head starts to visibly, horifically mutate. What will become of her? And what messed-up power will she have?
Chace Crawford as the Deep/Kevin Moskowitz
Chace Crawford in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
After killing his octopus lover earlier in the season, Deep continues to do Homelander's bidding. In the season 4 finale, he's ordered along with Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) to kill Ashley and anyone else at Vought with damaging information on the Seven.
Susan Heyward as Jessica Bradley/Sister Sage
Susan Heyward in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
New to The Boys in season 4, Susan Heyward is a supervillain schemer as Sister Sage, the smartest person in the world who can read you for filth at first glance. Homelander brings her onto the Seven after getting exhausted from always being the smartest person in the room. But even though Homelander eventually fires her after learning of A-Train's betrayal, her master plan to get him a puppet in the White House works out in the finale.
Valorie Curry as Firecracker
Valorie Curry in 'The Boys'.
getty; amazon studios
Valorie Curry, another newcomer in season 4, is Firecracker, an alt-right mouthpiece with a grudge against Starlight and a ... we'll call it a crush ... on Homelander. Her breastmilk gets her in with Homelander, and her pontificating about supes' rights get her a gig on VNN. It's one of her speeches that closes out season 4, juxtaposed against the Boys' getting ambushed.
And while nothing's official yet, Kripke has shared his interest bringing Jared Padalecki to The Boys' playground for a Winchester brothers reunion. "I feel like it would be a bummer to not have Jared on the show one way or another at this point, even if it's just the one-episode thing," Kripke previously told EW. With the introduction of Jeffery Dean Morgan's Joe Kessler and the reappearance of Ackles' Soldier Boy, could we be getting a Supernatural reunion after all?