The Boys showrunner explains character deaths, key favourite’s absence and where franchise goes next

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*Warning – contains full spoilers for The Boys season 5 finale.*

With the fifth and final season of The Boys now finished, creator Eric Kripke has been discussing some of the most important scenes. He revealed that the emotional final scene between Hughie and Butcher was something he’d planned from the very beginning.

According to creator Eric Kripke, the show’s finale for Hughie and Butcher was planned from the beginning. He told Variety that while it doesn’t perfectly mirror the comic book, they aimed for a similar and faithful conclusion for those characters, and had that ending in mind throughout the series.

It felt incredibly good to finally finish it, as we’d been working towards this goal for seven years.

The pivotal moment involved Hughie being forced to kill Butcher to prevent him from unleashing a virus designed to eliminate Supes. This happened after Homelander was defeated – Kimiko had stripped him of his powers, and Butcher finished him off with a crowbar.

Kripke confirmed that the team always intended for Butcher to ultimately kill Homelander with a crowbar, though they weren’t entirely sure of the specific details of how or when it would happen. They were certain the outcome would be Butcher killing Homelander with a crowbar.

Antony Starr, the actor who plays Homelander, actually came up with one of his last lines to Butcher – the line Homelander delivered while begging for his life after losing his powers.

He actually said, ‘I’ll eat your… well, you get the idea, on live TV!’ It’s hilarious, I have to include that. Some people have wondered if Homelander would be that vulnerable at the very end, but absolutely, yes!

Throughout the season, we’ve emphasized that without their influence or abilities, these individuals are powerless. History shows that many seemingly strong figures, when held accountable, quickly crumble and reveal their weakness.

He explained that the endings for the other characters were mostly planned by the middle of the third season, but the details weren’t finalized until they were writing the fifth season.

I was really bummed to hear Gen V got cancelled, especially after learning from Eric Kripke’s Variety interview what they had planned for season three. Apparently, the story was going to shift focus, with Marie taking over as the central, seemingly heroic Supe we’d be rooting for – essentially stepping into Annie’s role. It’s a shame we won’t get to see that play out now.

Kripke expressed interest in continuing the story, explaining they’re currently exploring potential ideas. He described it as having many unresolved plot threads – like ‘loose nukes’ – left dangling. With Stan Edgar cutting ties with superheroes, these formerly sheltered individuals are now unexpectedly on their own.

The show explores what happens when people attempt to emulate heroes like Jessica Jones or embrace villainous roles. This creates some exciting possibilities for the story, and the original plan was to involve the young heroes from ‘Gen V’ in these conflicts. We’re still hoping to do that, and integrate those characters into future storylines.

In an interview with TV Insider, Kripke explained why Queen Maeve wasn’t part of the show’s finale, addressing a question many viewers had.

Dominique McElligott’s character left the show after season 3. Her abilities were taken away, and everyone thought she had died.

Many viewers hoped to see Maeve return in season 5, and a flashback at the beginning of the finale – showing Maeve and Annie from season 1 – seemed to suggest that might happen. However, it turned out the flashback was simply a setup for a later scene where Annie mentioned Maeve to Marie during a conversation.

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Kripke had hoped to bring Maeve back, but the actress declined the offer.

I exchange emails with Dom every six to eight months, roughly. Early on, I reached out to see if she’d be interested in returning for a single day of filming and sent her the potential dates. She was very kind and explained that she’d mostly retired from acting and wasn’t available those days anyway.

“So, that was honestly it. It was a very pleasant, non-controversial moment, you know?”

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Authors

James HibbsDrama Writer

James Hibbs writes about TV dramas for TopMob, covering shows on streaming services and traditional channels. Before becoming a writer, he worked in public relations, first at a business-to-business agency and then at Fremantle, a global TV production company. He has a bachelor’s degree in English and Theatre Studies, and a Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.

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2026-05-21 12:37