The Boys Showrunner Comments on Season 5, Episode 4

Warning! Spoilers for The Boys Season 5 Episode 4 follow:

A speedy recap earlier we get into spoiler territory. The Boys is simply a ace gory satire of the superhero genre based connected the comic publication of the aforesaid sanction by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It follows the eponymous squad of vigilantes who enactment to bring down a radical of supervillains (The Seven). Homelander, played by Antony Starr, is simply a demented despot who rules The Seven with an robust fist. The different supes connected the squad unrecorded successful fearfulness of his temper swings and his overpowered abilities, which springiness him carte blanche to bash immoderate helium wants, whenever helium wants.

The Boys Season 5 revolves astir Homelander's effort to execute immortality. The Boys, led by Billy Butcher, pb a absorption to Homelander's fascist regularisation implicit America, and anticipation to usage a microorganism to hitch retired each supe connected the planet.

Here’s the authoritative blurb connected The Boys Season 5:

In the 5th and last season, it’s Homelander’s world, wholly taxable to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned successful a “Freedom Camp.” Annie struggles to equine a absorption against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is obscurity to beryllium found. But erstwhile Butcher reappears, acceptable and consenting to usage a microorganism that volition hitch each Supes disconnected the map, helium sets successful question a concatenation of events that volition everlastingly alteration the satellite and everyone successful it. It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen.

If you’ve seen the latest episodes of The Boys, you’ll cognize that supervillain Homelander has taken his deity analyzable to a genuinely uncomfortable, messianic level. He is present demanding not conscionable obedience, but genuine, unconditional love. He believes it his destiny not conscionable to beryllium a god, but to beryllium the god.

Season 5 Episode 4 hammered Homelander’s delusion home, arsenic helium forces his cronies to dispersed his ascension to the satellite via the powerfulness of marketing. And it conscionable truthful happens that Homelander’s deity analyzable leveled up astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic Donald Trump posted an AI-generated representation depicting himself arsenic a Jesus-like figure.

The image, which showed the U.S. president healing a sick antheral successful a infirmary bed, sparked a backlash from some sides of the U.S. governmental spectrum. It was aboriginal removed, with Trump claiming it was meant to amusement him arsenic a doctor.

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has said that Homelander was ever intended to beryllium a proxy for Donald Trump, and that it had go progressively hard to efficaciously supply satire. “When Seth [Rogen] and Evan [Goldberg] and I took it retired to pitch, it was 2016," helium explained. "We conscionable wanted to bash a precise realistic mentation of a superhero show, 1 wherever superheroes are celebrities behaving badly. Trump was the, ‘He’s not truly getting the nomination, is he?’ guy. When helium got elected, we had a metaphor that said much astir the existent world. Suddenly, we were telling a communicative astir the intersection of personage and authoritarianism and however societal media and amusement are utilized to merchantability fascism. We’re close successful the oculus of the storm. And erstwhile we realized that, I conscionable felt an work to tally successful that absorption arsenic acold arsenic we could.”

Earlier this month, Kripke told TV Guide that helium was “bummed out” that Season 5 was written earlier the statesmanlike election, which took spot successful November 2024.

“I’m wholly bummed retired to accidental we wrote it earlier the election. It sounds ace naive now, but I curse the program was, ‘Let’s constitute a 1984 mentation of what creeping authoritarianism looks similar successful America,’ and possibly everyone volition beryllium like, ‘Whew, we truly dodged a bullet.’ But instead, we got deed with the bullet,” Kripke said.

Kripke added that the writers would travel up with outlandish ideas that astatine the clip seemed implausible, but person since go reality. “And a batch of things that were far-fetched for us, we’re similar — ‘That’s crazy!’ — person travel to walk successful a mode that’s truly really f***ing troubling,” helium explained.

Now, successful an interrogation with TheWrap, Kripke went into much item connected this week’s Season 5, Episode 4, and however Homelander’s communicative arc lined up with Trump’s Jesus post.

“My main absorption is, I’m conscionable tired,” Kripke said. “The mode that the Homelander is deity happening and the Trump representation happening lined up — I don’t similar it. I’d alternatively it not happen. One, it makes my occupation harder successful presumption of conscionable presenting satire to the world. Second is it’s conscionable atrocious for the world, right? So I would mode alternatively that s**t didn’t spell down.”

Season 5, Episode 4 ends with Homelander pitched to the satellite arsenic the caput of the caller Democratic Church of America, but not everyone appears to beryllium connected committee with the thought of a 'superhero' replacing God. ”I deliberation this mightiness beryllium the span excessively acold for him, due to the fact that I deliberation people, by and large, are tenable people,” Kripke teased.

More parallels are coming, it seems. Kripke has revealed that successful Episode 7 of Season 5, Homelander says a enactment that the writers felt was the “craziest” they could deliberation of, but “it’s already happened.”

“There’s a enactment — I won’t springiness it distant — but there’s a enactment successful Episode 7 that Homelander says that was the craziest enactment we could deliberation of, and it’s already happened,” Kripke said.

In May 2025, Starr spoke of his daze astatine the glorification of Homelander by immoderate The Boys fans, calling it “surreal.”

"We had a clump of guys that we each benignant of knocked them down a small but connected societal media to say, 'This feline is not the leader of immoderate story.'" Starr said. "They were truly glorifying him, they loved him. Which is surreal."

Starr added that helium was amazed to find immoderate The Boys fans siding with Homelander, fixed the outrageously evil actions helium takes successful the show. "What I didn't expect was that radical would beryllium truthful conflicted astir it and, you know, uncovering themselves uncovering empathy for this monster."

And successful 2024, up of The Boys Season 4, Kripke responded to fans saying Homelander is simply a hero, saying: "Some radical who ticker it deliberation Homelander is the hero. What bash you accidental to that? The show’s galore things. Subtle isn’t 1 of them. So if that’s the connection you’re getting from it, I conscionable propulsion up my hands.”

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].