In 2019, TV audiences were introduced to the world of The Boys. With its distinctive grit and cultural satire, in this universe, the super-abled are real, but it’s not your average hero epic. Known as “supes,” they work for Vought International, a megacorporation that markets them to the public as heroes, though most are anything but. Vought’s biggest team, The Seven, led by the egomaniacal Homelander (Antony Starr), are the main antagonists of the titular Boys, the anti-supe black ops crew who aim to take them down once and for all.
Now, the fifth and final season of Amazon Prime’s dark superhero series is underway.
Major Spoilers for Episodes 1 + 2 of Season 5
Homelander Consolidates Power
The first two episodes, titled “Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite” and “Teenage Kix,” launched on April 8, and much has already happened. A year after the events of the season four finale, things are darker than ever. Homelander has gained control of Vought and the government by installing a president in the white house who serves as a figurehead while he pulls the strings behind the scenes. Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) is now Vice President, with Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) taking over as CEO.
Our favorite vigilantes are split up. Butcher (Karl Urban) has embarked on his mission to utilize the virus modified by Sameer Shah (Omid Abtahi) to kill supes. Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), and Frenchie (Tomer Capone) are imprisoned in one of Vought’s “Freedom Camps,” and Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) are on the run.
A Major Character Death Kicks off the Season
To lure Butcher and Starlight, Homelander leaks that prisoners of the camp will be executed. Butcher, Starlight, and Kimiko set out to rescue them with the help of The Worm, an ex-scriptwriter for Vought who can dig tunnels underground by eating dirt and expelling it out the other end. With Homelander knowing about the escape plan, he’s already there waiting for them, and an all-out brawl breaks out.
All hope seems lost until A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), who’s been working with Starlight as a part of her underground resistance, shows up to the fight.
The Boys successfully escape the camp while A-Train flees, with Homelander in pursuit. This scene leads to the culmination of one of the series’s best-written character arcs. Homelander finally catches up to A-Train. Where he once would have been intimidated, in the face of death, A-Train finally stands up to him. He calls him pathetic and a loser before Homelander snaps his neck.
Fans of the show had long predicted that A-Train likely wouldn’t make it out of this series alive. However, for it to happen in only the first episode was a shock and showed that this season is pulling no punches.
Butcher’s Plan
In the following episode, we learn Butcher’s true motives for reuniting the Boys: to finalize the virus and test it out on a supe. They execute this plan by breaking into the house of Teenage Kix, a team of teen supes created to appeal to the young demographic.
Butcher’s all-or-nothing approach to his ultimate goal of killing Homelander, even if it kills innocent supes in the process, continues to cause friction within the group, with Starlight, Frenchie, and MM reluctantly siding with him.
Meanwhile, Homelander has awakened his father, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), from his CIA-frozen sleep and is using him to track down the Boys. Soldier Boy unknowingly walks into the trap, and it appears he’s died of the virus—until the last frame of the episode, that is, when he sits up in his body bag.
The End of The Boys and Beyond
With the groundwork laid for the remainder of the season, what can we expect from the remaining episodes?
We will see some new faces in the cast this season. Joining their former Supernatural co-star Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins will appear in this season. Padalecki is Mister Marathon, the Seven’s original speedster before A-Train replaced him, and Collins’ character is unconfirmed. Daveed Diggs also joins the show as Oh-Father, a pastor with the ability to amplify his voice to rile up a congregation, as well as Ashley’s fiancé.
We now know that the crux of this season will be the supe virus. Who does it affect and how will Homelander get his hands on it? Regardless of how it all ends, we can be sure it’ll affect the universe of The Boys forever.
This won’t be our last venture in this world of corrupt supes. The upcoming prequel, Vought Rising, will follow Soldier Boy and Clara Vought (Aya Cash) (or Stormfront) in the 1950s. In typical The Boys fashion, showrunner Eric Kripke has described the spin-off as a “really graphic, really profane” detective story.
Though plot details are minimal, the property may even be going international with The Boys: Mexico currently in development. The show was announced back in 2023 with Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna to produce.
Season 5 will air on Amazon Prime over seven weeks, every Wednesday, with the finale set for May 20th.
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