Though a lot of fans felt that The Boys series finale served as a satisfying conclusion to the show, others were left disappointed, in large part due to the perception that "Blood and Bone" was lacking in "spectacle."
It's certainly understandable to some degree, as the marketing suggested that the final season was building towards a massive, Earth-shattering showdown between Homelander and Billy Butcher, and their relatively brief battle ended up being confined to a single room.
The internet has been flooded with AI-generated "how it should have ended" type videos, and stars Karl Urban (Butcher) and Antony Starr (Homelander) commented on one such clip.
Starr wrote, "That's fun," while Urban posted, "Wow! Truly epic... terrifying brilliant, a real scorched-earth ending."
Urban is clearly being sarcastic (while also highlighting the fact that a lot of people don't seem to know what scorched-earth actually means), but quite a few people didn't pick up on it, leading to speculation that the actors also took issue with how the series wrapped up.
Showrunner Eric Kripke addressed the negative responses to the final episode in a recent interview with Screen Rant.
"We have way north of 60 million viewers, so that makes the online storm, which feels very all-encompassing, actually a fraction of a single percentage point. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, of course, and I'm sorry if I disappointed you, but it was the story I wanted to tell. You just have to put it into perspective of it being a reasonably small, vocal audience when the vast majority seem to be happily tuning in."
In the fifth and final season of The Boys, 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. It's the climax, people. Big stuff's gonna happen.
The Boys stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Cameron Crovetti, Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jensen Ackles, and Daveed Diggs.
Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Phil Sgriccia, Michaela Starr, Paul Grellong, David Reed, Judalina Neira, Jessica Chou, Gabriel Garcia, Ori Marmur, Ken F. Levin and Jason Netter serve as executive producers.