The future of The Boys has been uncertain for years, but now we finally have some clarity. Showrunner Eric Kripke refused to speculate on how many seasons he expected the smash-hit Amazon series to run for, but after reviews for the upcoming Season 4 started rolling out, he revealed that the already-planned Season 5 will also be the final season.
But while the main story of Hughie, Butcher, and Homelander will come to a close, the greater universe will continue. Kripke has also revealed that The Boys’ existing spinoff will keep trucking, and that we may see new spinoffs too.
“I don’t know why I like the number five so much; it’s a good round number to where you get enough,” Kripke told The Hollywood Reporter of sticking to his original five-season plan. “It might have been because I was trained as a TV writer and there were five acts. It gives you enough time to get to know the characters. You can have your calm-before-the-storm moment, which is kind of what season four is for me. I say calm… you know what I mean. It’s about the characters and then you kick off into a climax.”
Despite being created to mock the sprawling multiverses of modern superhero franchises, Gen V, The Boys’ college-based spinoff, was used to establish a key plot point for Season 4, while characters have overlapped between the two shows. Now, even though The Boys will end with Season 5, Kripke believes Gen V will continue further than its upcoming second season.
“Look, I love this universe and this is the best job I’ve ever had; so, hopefully Gen V will continue,” Kripke said. “It’s just this particular story, the Butcher vs. Homelander story, that needs to come to a close. But I think this universe is a big one, and I think there’s room for other stories and other corners of it.”
One of those stories could be The Boys: Mexico, a spinoff that would take the universe outside the American cultural landscape where it’s remained so far. Kripke told Entertainment Weekly last month the series was still “a while away,” but he keeps the door open for further series in his THR interview.
“We get a level of freedom that it’ll be hard to repeat anywhere. That said, we have budget battles. But, ultimately, we figure out a way,” Kripke said. “We made Gen V for a lot less money, and there’s a target that we have to hit on that show — whether we like it or not. There’s a couple of things in development.”
So while we may not know the future of The Boys, we know there’s a lot more to it than Homelander vs. Butcher. You either get canceled as a beloved cult hit or live long enough to become the sprawling universe you mocked, but as long as the spinoffs stay good, fans won’t complain.
