The Boys Season 5's Concerning Tease Makes Me Think We'll Get The Comic Ending After All

A new tease surrounding The Boys season 5's story developments has almost convinced me that the show's conclusion will share similarities with the original comic's ending. Although The Boys is based on a comic book series of the same name, it takes several creative liberties to enhance the narrative from the source material and make it more suitable for television. The more the show has progressed with each season, the more it has drifted away from the original comic books.

Owing to the show's deviation from its source material, I was starting to believe it would never end the same way as the comics. However, The Boys season 4's ending arc made me realize again that the show's closing arc could share parallels with the source. The Boys' creator, Eric Kripke, has now teased another story detail for The Boys season 5, which almost affirms that the show will stick to portraying some crucial elements of the comics' shocking coda.

The Boys Season 5's Death Tease Suggests We'll Get Some Version Of The Comic Ending

The Boys Season 5 Is All Set To Repeat The Comic's Brutal Ending

In an interview (via Total Film), Erik Kripke revealed that “there will probably be lots of death” in The Boys season 5. He also added that audiences can expect "really shocking, big things to happen all the time" because there is no guarantee of who will live or survive by the end of the season. Given how The Boys has always maintained an air of ambiguity surrounding character fates, I am not surprised that season 5 will feature a lot of unexpected deaths.

However, several main characters, so far, have remained immune to the show's notorious unpredictability. Kripke's comment suggests that, like the comics, where Billy Butcher commits supe genocide towards the end, even the show will not shy away from portraying what the Karl Urban character is truly capable of. Although Butcher's story in the show is significantly different from his comic book counterpart in more ways than one, his actions towards The Boys' season 4 ending hint that he will stop at nothing in season 5 to fulfill his motive of killing Homelander.

After Ryan's betrayal, the brutality with which he kills Victoria Neuman suggests he will cross all moral boundaries in The Boys season 5. Butcher also acquires the supe-killing virus after murdering Neuman in season 4's finale, which could also help him kill many supes in season 5. While it is hard to predict who will live or die, some supes from his team, like Kimiko and Starlight, might also perish.

Who Dies In The Boys Comics & How The Show Can Adapt This

Most Comic Book Deaths Can Happen In The Show

Mother's Milk attempts to stop Billy Butcher in the comics after realizing his actions could kill many innocents. However, Butcher stays a step ahead of him and brutally kills him by detonating a grenade in his face. Considering the tension between MM and Billy Butcher in The Boys season 4, it would make sense if Butcher kills him in season 5 if he interferes with his plans. Frenchie and Kimiko, too, meet a similar fate when Butcher kills them using explosives. In the show, he could take down both of them with his new supe abilities or unleash the virus on Kimiko to give her a slow death.

A-Train also dies towards the end of The Boys comics after Hughie beheads him with a Compound V-fueled kick. However, given how Hughie and A-Train have settled their beef in the show, A-Train will likely get murdered by Homelander in season 5 after his season 4 betrayal. Hughie survives in the comics and ultimately kills Butcher, which is another plot point the show could feature. But given how Hughie seemingly has no supe abilities, while Butcher is an overpowered supe, it seems more likely that Starlight will kill Butcher in season 5.

The biggest twist in the comic's ending arc reveals that Black Noir is Homelander's clone, created as a contingency plan to stop Homelander if he goes rogue. When Homelander loses his mind, Black Noir fulfills his purpose and kills the red-caped supe before Billy Butcher takes him out with a crowbar. While it seems likely that Homelander will die by the end of the series, the Black Noir twist is unlikely in the show since the original Noir is already dead and the new one seems nothing like Homelander.

I'm Glad The Boys Is Sticking To The Source Material's Tragic Conclusion

The Boys Was Never Meant To Have An Optimistic Ending

The Boys has never marketed itself as a generic superhero series. Its primary appeal has always come from its portrayal of immoral super-powered humans who subvert the traditional heroic archetype. Owing to this, unlike most superhero narratives, The Boys was never meant to have an optimistic ending where good triumphs over evil. Since The Boys portrays a world where super-powered humans are far from morally perfect, its ending was always supposed to be messy and fraught with complexity, reflecting the harsh realities of its world.

By staying close to the comics' ending and portraying multiple unforeseeable deaths, The Boys is on the right path toward delivering what it has promised since the beginning. While it seems morally bankrupt supes like Homelander and Billy Butcher will also die by the end of season 5, the deaths of other reformed characters and innocent non-supes will underscore how no one truly wins in a world filled with corruption and toxic power dynamics. Hopefully, The Boys season 5 will be as compelling and epic as it seems based on these early story teases.