‘The Boys’ Is Repeating the Exact Pattern That Broke This 5-Part Sci-Fi Series

Published May 13, 2026, 1:54 PM EDT

The irony is that The Boys isn't the first streaming series to make this mistake. A similar fate befell the final season of Stranger Things, particularly when it came to Henry Creel (Jamie Campbell Bower). Most of Stranger Things Season 5 draws its narrative from the stage play Stranger Things: The First Shadow, which chronicles the events that turn Henry into the skinless sorcerer Vecna. But unless you saw The First Shadow on stage, you'd miss scenes that were meant to feel important. Likewise, The Boys is placing all its chips on the hope that people will tune in for Vought Rising​​​​​​, and that's hurting the final season.

'The Boys' & 'Stranger Things' Put Franchise Building Over Narrative Cohesion

Perhaps the greatest issue with the final seasons of The Boys and Stranger Things is that they feel less like they're expanding a story and more like building out a franchise. While Stranger Things Season 5 was laser-focused on the fight to defeat Vecna, most of the scenes that built on The First Shadow were hinting that his story was going to continue in some form. Likewise, The Boys has spent most of its time setting up plot points that will play into Vought Rising. The main objective has been to stop Homelander from getting his hands on V1, the first iteration of Compound V, which would effectively make him immortal. Likewise, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) is playing a major role in The Boys ahead of his starring role on Vought Rising.

This effectively means that The Boys has all but sidelined its titular protagonists, which isn't great considering that there's still a lot of story material left to explore with them. What about the battle of wills between Butcher and Hughie (Jack Quaid)? Will M.M. (Laz Alonso) reunite with his family? So far, the only protagonists who have gotten anything resembling an arc this season are Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), and even that came to an end in the most recent episode, "The Frenchman, The Female, and the Man Called Mother's Milk." Pushing your protagonists into the shadows to spotlight an upcoming prequel is the kind of blatant franchise-building that The Boys used to poke fun at.

'The Boys' Is Neglecting Another Important Spinoff

With all its focus on Vought Rising, The Boys has forgotten about another spinoff series that helped set the stage for its finale. Gen V accomplished the rare feat of standing on its own two feet while also seeding plot points that would affect The Boys, namely the introduction of the virus Butcher wants to use to wipe "Supes" off the face of the Earth. But Season 5 of The Boys has all but relegated Gen V's characters to the background, despite its Season 2 finale hinting that they would have a larger role to play. Factor in its sudden cancellation, and it's no wonder fans are upset at recent developments. Jaz Sinclair, who portrays Gen V's blood-bending protagonist, Marie Moreau, posted a message on Instagram thanking fans and promising an explanation following the news of the cancellation.

"There’s so much I wanna (and will) say, but for today I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart...I’m so happy you’re here, and I’m so grateful for this incredible experience,"

With next week marking its final episode, The Boys has a high bar to climb if it wants to avoid the infamy that still plagues its fellow genre series, Lost and Game of Thrones. But it will share the same infamy that Stranger Things currently does, as its final season has less of the finality fans were actually expecting.