The Boys Season 5 Release Date: When Will Amazon Prime Video’s Hit Show Return?

All good things must come to an end. Amazon Prime Video’s hit show The Boys had planned out a run of 5 seasons according to Eric Kripke, the showrunner who has adapted the comic book series from creators Garth Ennis (Preacher) and Darick Robertson. 

But after another record-setting season of viewership for Amazon, Season 5 will indeed be the final act to complete the story of The Boys.

Just when are we likely to see Billy Butcher and the gang take down Vought and Homelander or die trying? Here is everything we know about the future of The Boys, including how Season 4 sets up Season 5, the spin-off series, and the Season 5 release date.

Warning: Major spoilers ahead for Season 4 of The Boys.

How Did The Boys Season 4 Set Up the Final Season?

The penultimate season of a series can sometimes be a bit slow or uneventful as it sets up the final pieces for the conclusion. But Season 4 of The Boys really picked up in the final episodes to set the stage for what should be a bloody, memorable finale between The Boys and Homelander.

Ryan Butcher finally learns the true nature of Homelander, and when pressed by Billy and Grace Mallory to be the one who kills Homelander, he accidentally kills Mallory and flees the scene. We’ll see if he is the one who ends up having to kill his powerful, evil father in the final season.

A-Train has already betrayed Homelander by being the leak and fled the country. Homelander has The Seven kill everyone at Vought who has incriminating evidence on them, and upon hearing this, Ashley Barrett runs away and injects herself with V, only to lose her hair.

Victoria Neuman was outed on live TV to be a Supe by Homelander, leading her to agree to a deal with Hughie and The Boys for protection if she’ll help them kill Homelander. However, Butcher, who has only months to live and has been injecting V and talking to his alter ego Kessler, arrives and kills Neuman to the shock of everyone. Butcher leaves with the virus that Frenchie developed that could be powerful enough to kill Homelander.

The new President of the United States, Steve Calhoun, pledges his loyalty to Homelander and will do his bidding as martial law is declared with the Supes serving as the army. While Starlight escapes, the rest of The Boys are kidnapped by groups of Supes.

In a mid-credits scene, President Calhoun shows Homelander where Soldier Boy, his father, is being held captive.

Obviously, the main outcome from Season 5 will be seeing who can kill Homelander, and there are many great candidates, including Ryan, Butcher, Soldier Boy, Hughie, or maybe even A-Train showing up unexpectedly with the virus.

As Kripke recently revealed, anyone who dies in Season 5 will have deserved it.

‘THE BOYS’ showrunner, Eric Kripke on who will die in the last season:

“Anyone who dies in Season 5 will richly deserve it”

(via: @TVGuide) pic.twitter.com/i8lwbeS17h

— ScreenTime (@screentime) August 1, 2024

How Was the Reception for The Boys Season 4?

You could say Season 4 of The Boys divided audiences for leaning heavily into political satire more than the previous seasons, and there were also some really explicit sexual scenes (particularly in the 6th episode) that bordered on sexual assault. Reviews were also mixed for new characters in The Seven like Sister Sage and Firecracker.

But the fact is critics still responded well with a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience score dropped to 54%, a franchise low and the 1st time a season was under 75%.

People still watched it like crazy though. For the 3rd time in a row, viewership increased for The Boys, something few shows can ever pull off for a 4th season. Season 4 of The Boys is the 4th-most watched season of television in Amazon Prime Video history behind only The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1, Fallout Season 1, and Reacher Season 1.

The Future of The Boys

While The Boys is ending with Season 5, that does not mean we are going to be seeing the last of this universe. That is just not how things work anymore in this media landscape where a franchise is everything.

Gen V is a successful spin-off that debuted in 2023 on Amazon Prime Video. It follows a group of young Supes, and it has already started to have a crossover impact on the main show’s storyline. Gen V has been renewed for a 2nd season.

At the San Diego Comic-Con, a new spin-off series entitled Vought Rising was announced. It will be set in the 1950s and explore a storyline with Soldier Boy (played by Jensen Ackles) and the return of Stormfront (Aya Cash).

There even has been an announced spin-off called The Boys: Mexico with Mexican actors Diego Luna (Andor) and Gael Garcia Bernal (Amores Perros) listed as producers. It is unclear how this will tie into the universe, but it sounds like The Boys are taking the story of Supes to Mexico as well.

What Is the Release Date for The Boys Season 5?

After that epic Season 4 finale, you are probably wondering how long we’ll have to wait to see this final season of The Boys. It took 2 years to get the last season out, and the writer’s strike in 2023 did not help matters there.

Unfortunately, it looks like 2026 is when The Boys Season 5 will be released on Amazon Prime Video. That means another wait of almost 2 years to see this story conclude. But after what they’ve built up to so far, it should be worth the wait to see what happens to characters we’ve been following since 2019.