A “new age of superheroes” may have just begun, but The Boys Season 5 will bring the show to a close. If you’re wondering when it’s coming out, or who’s been cast, we’ve got you covered.
We all knew it was coming, even if Eric Kripke couldn’t say so. Over four seasons, The Boys has become one of the best superhero TV shows ever made – but it’s cyclical by nature, and it needs to end before it overstays its welcome.
Thankfully, the stage has been set for an epic, harrowing final chapter. Homelander has made it to the White House, supes are patrolling the streets and skies of America, and The Boys have been captured (well, apart from Starlight and Billy Butcher).
With The Boys Season 4 ending, you’ll be desperate to know when Season 5 is coming out. Fortunately, we have an inkling of when it’ll drop.
Has The Boys Season 5 release date been announced?
There’s no official release date, but The Boys Season 5 is expected to be released in 2026.
Shortly before Season 4 premiered, Kripke confirmed the show would end with Season 5.
“Season 5 will be the Final Season! Always my plan, I just had to be cagey till I got the final OK from Vought. Thrilled to bring the story to a gory, epic, moist climax. Watch Season 4 in 2 DAYS, cause the end has begun,” he wrote.
Scripts for the fifth season are still being written, with plans to shoot the last eight episodes between November 2024 and mid-2025.
While there’s a slim chance it could release in late 2025, this seems unlikely. Just look at the timeline of previous seasons: Season 3 wrapped in September 2021 and didn’t hit Prime Video until June 2022.
That’s a nine-month gap, and while Season 4 took a little longer because of the strikes, it’d be safe to expect a similar wait before Season 5 arrives on the streaming service.
Cast details
Karl Urban will absolutely return as Billy Butcher in The Boys Season 5, alongside Jack Quaid as Hughie, Erin Moriarty as Annie January, and Antony Starr as Homelander.
The Season 5 cast will also include:
- Laz Alonso as Mother’s Milk
- Tomer Capone as Frenchie
- Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko
- Jessie T. Usher as A-Train
- Chace Crawford as The Deep
- Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir
- Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
- Cameron Crovetti as Ryan
- Susan Heyward as Sister Sage
- Valorie Curry as Firecracker
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler
- Maddie Phillips as Cate Dunlap
- Asa Germann as Sam Riordan
- David Andrews as President Calhoun
- Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy
Sadly, two characters won’t be returning: Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) and Grace Mallory (Laila Robins), both of whom died in the Season 4 finale.
Neuman was killed by Butcher (and his disgusting parasitic tentacles), coming after she struck a deal with Hughie and The Boys to protect them and help take down Homelander. Ryan pushed Mallory against a wall a little too hard, breaking her neck and killing her instantly.
While Sam and Cate only appeared briefly in Season 4, the Gen V characters could be major players in the final season, which begs the question: could Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Jordan (London Thor/Derek Luh), and Emma (Lizze Broadway) show up? We think so, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
We can also expect a big guest star for Supernatural fans: Jared Padalecki, who’ll likely get a small role alongside Ackles’ return as Soldier Boy.
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“I feel like I have to complete my game of Supernatural Pokemon and I have my one big one – very big one – left to catch,” Kripke earlier teased, with Padalecki open to some sort of cameo.
Season 5 plot predictions
The Boys Season 5 will definitely lead to Butcher and Homelander’s final face-off. As for anything else, the future of the show remains unclear.
“I will say that the big meta storyline of the series is these two forces of Homelander and Billy Butcher coming toward each other. Like these two meteors, two planets,” Kripke told DiscussingFilm.
“Whatever the ending is, it has to heavily involve finally bringing that to a head with whatever disruption that entails. There are obviously other shows in this universe. There are obviously other corners of the universe to explore. However, this particular story is about Homelander and Butcher crashing into each other.”
Considering Homelander is now the de-facto vice president under Calhoun, it’s safe to expect some nationwide chaos and unprecedented levels of narcissism – especially after his fallout with Ryan.
Posters for the season finale of ‘THE BOYS’Now streaming on Prime Video. pic.twitter.com/YjyptK8X6q
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) July 18, 2024
Ryan is a bit harder to predict. He could swing one of two ways: after killing Mallory, he may be too far gone and descend into villainy (and possibly team up with Soldier Boy); or he could be so wracked with guilt that it makes him see the light and kill his own father.
If the show follows the comics (and it seems like it might), Butcher could stretch his anti-hero status to the limit in Season 5, perhaps even becoming the main antagonist after defeating Homelander.
Catriona McKenzie, who directed Episode 7, teased to Screen Rant: “What I love about Eric Kripke is the way he’s created this character of Butcher that could go either way.
“He has the potential for terrible violence, but he also has a conscience, and he has these memories and commitments to characters that keep him in check – sort of.
“I think it is sort of the call to arms, asking, ‘What is it to be human, and what is it to run a race that’s full of integrity and grace and wisdom rather than just kill the world or smash it with vengeance and violence?’ I’m really interested to see how he threads that needle, and it remains to be seen how he takes Butcher to the end of that line.”
Another big plot point for season 5 will be the return of Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy as the final moments of season 4 reintroduced his character.
In a recent interview with GamesRadar, Kripke revealed that Soldier Boy will have his sights set on Butcher in the upcoming season.
“Soldier Boy is really driven to kill Butcher after Butcher betrayed him in season 3,” revealed Kripke. “So he’s just an excellent antagonist, to switch sides and basically, you know, to be with the supes.”
Is there a trailer for The Boys Season 5?
No, there’s no trailer for The Boys Season 5 right now.
In the meantime, check out our recap of The Boys Season 4 finale, our ranking of every death in Season 4, and other TV shows streaming this month.