With The Boys Season 5 almost upon us, showrunner Eric Kripke has discussed the creation of this fifth and final season of Amazon’s Prime Video superhero show. And in doing so he has revealed that it has become almost impossible for the writers to effectively parody modern America.
First, a quick recap. The Boys Season 5 revolves around evil supervillain Homelander's attempt to realize what he believes to be his true destiny: immortality. The Boys, led by Billy Butcher, lead a resistance to Homelander's fascist rule over America, and hope to use a virus to wipe out every supe on the planet. “We need to prepare America for my ascension,” Homelander says in a recently released trailer, sitting pretty in the Oval Office.
Here’s the official blurb on The Boys Season 5:
In the fifth and final season, it’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a “Freedom Camp.” Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen.
Clearly in reference to recent events in America, and with a nod to Homelander as a take on President Donald Trump, Kripke told TV Guide that he was “bummed out” that Season 5 was written before the presidential election, which took place in November 2024.
“I’m totally bummed out to say we wrote it before the election. It sounds super naive now, but I swear the plan was, ‘Let’s write a 1984 version of what creeping authoritarianism looks like in America,’ and maybe everyone will be like, ‘Whew, we really dodged a bullet.’ But instead, we got hit with the bullet,” Kripke said.
Kripke went on to say that the writers would come up with outlandish ideas that at the time seemed implausible, but have since become reality. “And a lot of things that were far-fetched for us, we’re like — ‘That’s crazy!’ — have come to pass in a way that’s really really f***ing troubling,” he explained.
And without spoiling the show, Kripke revealed that in Episode 7 of Season 5, Homelander says a line that the writers felt was the “craziest” they could think of, but “it’s already happened.
“There’s a line — I won’t give it away — but there’s a line in Episode 7 that Homelander says that was the craziest line we could think of, and it’s already happened,” Kripke said.
The Boys is a super gory satire of the superhero genre based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It follows the eponymous team of vigilantes who work to bring down a group of supervillains (The Seven). Homelander, played by Antony Starr, is a demented despot who rules The Seven with an iron fist. The other supes on the team live in fear of his mood swings and his overpowered abilities, which give him carte blanche to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
In May 2025, Starr spoke of his surprise at the glorification of Homelander by some The Boys fans, calling it “surreal.”
"We had a bunch of guys that we all kind of knocked them down a little but on social media to say, 'This guy is not the hero of any story.'" Starr said. "They were really glorifying him, they loved him. Which is surreal."
Starr added that he was surprised to find some The Boys fans siding with Homelander, given the outrageously evil actions he takes in the show. "What I didn't expect was that people would be so conflicted around it and, you know, finding themselves finding empathy for this monster."
And in 2024, ahead of The Boys Season 4, Kripke responded to fans saying Homelander is a hero, saying: "Some people who watch it think Homelander is the hero. What do you say to that? The show’s many things. Subtle isn’t one of them. So if that’s the message you’re getting from it, I just throw up my hands.”
Kripe has also said that Homelander was always intended to be a proxy for Donald Trump. “When Seth [Rogen] and Evan [Goldberg] and I took it out to pitch, it was 2016," he explained. "We just wanted to do a very realistic version of a superhero show, one where superheroes are celebrities behaving badly.
"Trump was the, ‘He’s not really getting the nomination, is he?’ guy. When he got elected, we had a metaphor that said more about the current world. Suddenly, we were telling a story about the intersection of celebrity and authoritarianism and how social media and entertainment are used to sell fascism. We’re right in the eye of the storm. And once we realized that, I just felt an obligation to run in that direction as far as we could.”
In August last year, actor Antony Starr waved goodbye to Homelander after Season 5 wrapped production, saying: “This complicated character allowed the space and range to discover and push boundaries in a way I never expected and I will always be grateful for this experience.”
Thanking Kripke, Starr added: “We created a monster, sir. And I will miss him, and you.”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
