‘The Boys’ Star Issues Brutal Final Season Warning: “Don’t Get Attached to Anyone” [Exclusive]

After a seven-year run dominating the charts on Prime Video, creator and showrunner Eric Kripke is bringing The Boys to its tearful conclusion with Season 5. While at CCXP, Collider’s Steve Weintraub had the opportunity to catch up with Kripke and stars Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk) and Tomer Capone (Frenchie) to find out what fans should be expecting from the final season when it premieres on April 8.

After the Season 4 finale, The Boys have been separated, with Hughie (Jack Quaid), MM, and Frenchie shuttled off to a “Freedom Camp,” and Annie (Erin Moriarty) left to assemble what she can of a resistance against Homelander’s (Antony Starr) growing Supe-centered regime. Meanwhile, Butcher (Karl Urban) has gone rogue, wielding a Supe-killing virus that has the potential to forever change the course of the world.

In this interview, Kripke, Alonso, and Capone discuss bringing The Boys to a conclusion they’re proud of. Kripke shares his thoughts while in the writers’ room, approaching this season with “the appropriate amount of terror,” and giving all the characters the ending they deserve. Alonso and Capone talk about first reading the season’s scripts, share their expectations for fans, and Alonso issues a fair but ominous warning: "Don’t get attached." Check out the conversation in the video or transcript below.

'The Boys' Season 5 Is "Seismic"

"There's no turning back."

COLLIDER: I'm tremendously looking forward to your final season. I really am sad that it's over, but I want to thank you guys for such an amazing run.

ERIC KRIPKE: Steve's been OG from the beginning. He's been supporting the show.

TOMER CAPONE: I remember us sitting at our first Comic-Con. Man, I didn't even know how to speak English, for real.

LAZ ALONSO: Now you won’t shut up.

CAPONE: [Laughs] You know who taught me that. Raised by wolves.

For the two of you, what was it like actually reading the final season’s scripts, and what was your reaction to what was finally going to be the resolution of this show?

ALONSO: Oh, wow. I will say that, while every episode felt like the equivalent of a season finale in previous seasons, as far as emotional content or action, the size of the show was seismic. Big things happen, and as much as I tried to say, “Oh, it's a long season. We got nine months. I'll deal with how I feel about wrapping this up at the end,” every episode, you're reminded that there's no turning back.

CAPONE: When I read it, I needed a drink. I had some red wine, and when I drink red wine, my teeth get red, and I remember finishing the episode, going into the mirror, giving a smile, and seeing the blood on my teeth, and said, “Here we go.” Again, it felt like there was a lot at stake. This is the last season. We had so many talks about it before we started about how are we taking the excitement down in terms of grounding the character into the crazy world you're going to meet in Season 5? And it's a very bizarre story for these two in particular, so grounding it and just making it, in this chaotic world, be an emotional tone for what we're setting into the rest of the season.

I'm so curious what it was like in the writers' room, figuring out the final season, and ultimately, the series finale. Speaking for so many fans who've been disappointed by shows not sticking the landing, can you talk about the importance of sticking the landing for this show?

KRIPKE: Look, I approached it with the appropriate amount of terror. I wasn't like, “We got this!” I was like, “Jesus Christ, it's so important to nail this. We can't overthink it enough.” And for that reason. Because entire shows go down a click or two based on one episode, which is unfair and bullshit, by the way, speaking as a writer, but I did feel that pressure.

So, we really tried to do what we always do, which is the characters are our North Star. We're like, “Let's just make it as emotional as it can be, and let's really track not just where the character arcs have been over Season 5, but what are they over all the seasons?” What is the grand story of Frenchie? What is the grand story of M.M. and Butcher and Hughie? And how do you bring them all to a conclusion that, for their character, is their destiny? You try to pay that off, and the audience will tell me whether we did. I'm hopeful that more than 50% like it. That's all I'm going for. I just want north of 50%.

Here’s the thing: the outrageous moments are awesome, but ultimately, the only reason all of us love the show is these characters. It's all about the characters.

Laz Alonso Warns Fans: "Don't Get Attached"

"Each and every character this season has definitely made a full circle — or not."

For all three of you, what do you think fans will say after they've seen the series finale?

ALONSO: Wow, that's another big question. Oh, man. Do you want to start this one?

KRIPKE: I just hope they're satisfied. I hope they end it, and they go, “Fuck yeah, man. That was how that should have ended. I feel good about that.” We always say you want to send them out into the parking lot psyched, using a movie metaphor. So, I hope it ends, and they say, “That was how it was supposed to end.”

ALONSO: I'll tell you one thing: Fair warning, don't get too attached.

KRIPKE: Yeah, to any human being.

ALONSO: Don't get too attached. Anything can happen to anyone. Literally anyone on the show.

I really can't wait.

ALONSO: Keep your tissue box close by.

CAPONE: How can I top that, man?

KRIPKE: Tissue box for crying, right?

ALONSO: Yeah, tissue box for crying. [Laughs] I forgot what show we’re on.

I did not expect that.

KRIPKE: Sorry, you had a real answer.

CAPONE: Listen, I don't want to think about how the fans will feel. One of the things that makes the show what it is, these geniuses right here, is that there are a lot of characters, and each and every one gets, like he said, their own treatment emotionally. And each and every character this season has definitely made a full circle — or not, with the tissues, right? But saying that, what I mean is, we hit it out of the park in terms of so many different people take other stuff, so if something stays with someone, we did our job.

The first two episodes of The Boys Season 5 premiere on Prime Video on April 8, with subsequent episodes dropping weekly every Wednesday.