'The Boys' Showrunner Says It Was Never Meant to Become The Thing It Frighteningly Has (2025)

The Boys showrunner, Eric Kripke, disputes claims that the hit Prime Video series has gone woke, saying it's the world that has changed to match the series. Despite its comical setting with evil superheroes, The Boys has always been a scathing satire of the American commercial system. Later seasons saw the show get political, as Homelander (Antony Starr) made a play for the White House in Season 4. Fans criticized the series for being too on the nose with its satire in Season 4, but Eric Kripke never could have predicted just how accurate the show's reflection of reality would be.

Speaking to Variety, Eric Kripke discussed how The Boys became one of the most relevant superhero shows around. Unlike the MCU's Falcon and the Winter Soldier, whose social lesson boils down to "do politics better," The Boys takes a multi-faceted approach, dissecting several elements of the American political and capitalistic system. "The way [the series] reflects everything that’s happening in the world really comes from this understanding, that we found very early on in the process, which is this happens to be a television show based on a comic book," Kripke began.

The showrunner said he never intended to mirror reality. Instead, he found the world slowly began going crazy, and somehow began matching the world of The Boys. Kripke explained:

'The Boys' Is Coming To an End

As well as being the most relevant superhero series around, The Boys is also one of the most popular. The show ranks high among Prime Video's most watched original programming of all-time, and has a devout fan base who tune in each season to see how wild the show can get. But, like Billy Butcher's attempts at being a good friend, all things must come to an end. Production has officially begun on the fifth and final season of The Boys. Star Laz Alonso (who plays Mother's Milk) shared a photo of Season 5's cast at dinner the night before shooting.

Season 5 has several cascading plot lines to wrap up. Erin Moriarty (who plays Starlight) hopes her character finally gets revenge against The Deep (Chace Crawford). But Eric Kripke says the series can only end one way. While Hughie (Jack Quaid) sought revenge for his girlfriend against A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), Mother's Milk wanted to settle down with his wife and daughter, and Frenchie had a whole host of issues to deal with, The Boys has always been about the battle between Billy Butcher and Homelander. "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," said Eric Kripke. No release date has been announced for Season 5.

The Boys

TV-MA

Action

Drama

Crime

Comedy

Release Date

July 25, 2019

Cast

Karl Urban , Jack Quaid , Antony Starr , Erin Moriarty , Jessie T. Usher , Laz Alonso , Chace Crawford , Tomer Capon , Karen Fukuhara , Nathan Mitchell , Colby Minifie , Dominique McElligott , claudia doumit , Cameron Crovetti , Nneka Elliott , Laila Robins , Shantel VanSanten , Aya Cash , Giancarlo Esposito , Jordana Lajoie , Katy Breier , Matthew Edison , Jim Beaver , Elisabeth Shue , Jensen Ackles , Simon Pegg , Susan Heyward , Valorie Curry , Jeffrey Dean Morgan , Ann Cusack , Nicola Correia Damude , Christian Keyes , Sabrina Saudin , Malcolm Barrett , Liyou Abere , Jennifer Esposito , David Reale , Frances Turner

Seasons

4