The impending war between the vigilantes and the supes is set to kick off with an immediate and brutal body count, according to one of the show’s biggest stars.
During a recent panel at FAN EXPO, moderated by ScreenRant’s Joe Deckelmeier, Karl Urban—who plays the relentless, Compound V-fueled Billy Butcher—issued a stark warning to fans regarding the final season of Prime Video’s superhero satire, The Boys.
“I think we throw you in the deep end, but in a good way, because the stakes are as high as they can possibly be,” Urban shared, before teasing the devastating emotional toll of the premiere. “I think the real thing to look out for in season 5 on an emotional level, as far as the characters go, and your attachments to characters, there’s going to be some big hits early on in the very first episode.”
The actor left no room for doubt about the final season’s merciless nature. “That’s probably what is going to make you realize, ‘Oh, this s–t is for real.’ The stakes couldn’t be higher, and ‘anybody’s fair game,’” Urban concluded, suggesting that even core characters may not be safe in the final eight episodes.
Homelander’s Fascist Regime and the ‘Scorched Earth’ Battle
The show is hurtling towards an “apocalypse,” as showrunner Eric Kripke has described the final season. The events of the Season 4 finale left the world in a precarious state, with Homelander (Antony Starr) now effectively weaponizing the entire population of supes as his federal police force, creating a fascist government under his iron fist. This sets the stage for what Kripke and the creative team are terming a “scorched earth” confrontation, recently previewed in new key art posters hinting at the epic, destructive face-off between Homelander and Butcher.
Kripke recently provided an update on post-production, confirming that editing is complete, and the team is “roughly halfway finished with VFX, Music, Color.” The showrunner promised a satisfying—and suitably violent—conclusion: “We go out with a bang. COMING (reasonably) SOON.”
The Growing Resistance and the Gen V Crossover
Crucially, the fight against Vought and its tyrannical leader will be bolstered by an “active and growing resistance” that bridges the gap to the spin-off series, Gen V. Kripke confirmed that the supes from Godolkin University will play an “important part” in the final season, following the events teased in the Gen V Season 2 finale.
“Part of the fun… is that we really get to set the table for season five, where there’s now this active and growing resistance led by Starlight that A-Train is an important part of,” Kripke explained. “They’re really trying to take the fight back to Homelander and this sort of fascist government.”
However, Kripke maintained that The Boys remains fundamentally about its core characters: “The characters provide crucial assists, but it’s still about The Boys,” ensuring the main narrative will be accessible even to those who haven’t watched the spin-off.
The showrunner also clarified that the team is not concluding the spin-off’s narrative with The Boys finale, leaving a path open for more Gen V stories to be told in the future.
Ultimately, the final season promises a desperate, uphill battle for the vigilantes, who are “outgunned, outmanned” and fighting against a country that has “drunk Homelander’s Kool-Aid.” Kripke stressed the real-world parallels, calling it a “true underground resistance against a fascist government, which definitely has no comparison or parallel to anything going on anywhere in the world” – a classic, tongue-in-cheek piece of the show’s signature satire.
The fifth and final season, which completed filming in mid-2025, is currently expected to arrive on Prime Video in 2026.
