The Boys is set to return for its fifth and final season on April 8, and it sounds like the notoriously depraved series is going to waste very little time in setting some major emotional stakes.
Star Karl Urban (Billy Butcher) has previously hinted that season 5 will have "some big hits early on," and the actor has now made it abundantly clear that "nobody is safe" - while including a little nod to his role as Johnny Cage in the upcoming Mortal Kombat II.
“Every season, but particularly this season, from episode one, you’re like, oh wow,” he tells Variety. “Nobody is safe. Fatalities right from the get-go. Let’s go! Last season! It’s all on!”
According to the season 5 synopsis: "It’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother’s Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a “Freedom Camp.” Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it."
Surprising deaths doesn't necessarily mean we'll lose anyone from The Boys team itself - or at least, no longtime members - but fans should probably prepare to bid farewell to a few beloved characters before the season is over.
Potential spoilers follow.
In the comics, pretty much every major character aside from Hughie and Starlight dies, with Butcher ultimately becoming a full-blown villain and taking out most of his own team. The Prime Video series has never been a particularly faithful adaptation, however, so we can't see Kripke being quite so merciless.
Yes, Butcher did embrace his darker side in the season 4 finale, but if he does go down - and we'd say both him and Homelander checking out is a given - there will surely be some redemption involved.
In the season 4 finale, Homelander (Antony Starr) took one step closer to the Oval Office while enacting his plan to round up all anti-Supe protestors and confine them to prison camps. Hughie, Frenchie, Kimiko, and MM were captured, with Starlight and the now even more volatile and unpredictable Butcher still at large.
“There will probably be lots of deaths," Kripke said of the final season during a recent interview with Deadline. “There’s no guarantee of who’s gonna survive.” Nathan Mitchell (Black Noir) added: “There are some things that are coming in Season 5 that you’re not going to have in your bingo card.”
How would you like to see The Boys wrap-up? Drop us a comment down below.