The Boys are nearly back and this season, it's all hands on deck as Billy Butcher, MM, Hughie, Annie, Frenchie, & Kimiko race against the clock to bring an end to Homelander's reign of terror once and for all... or die trying.
Speaking with two of the most badass members of the cast, Karl Urban and Laz Alonso, we got into the high stakes of season five and what it's going to take to get ready for their inevitable showdown with Homelander. Urban also tells me about what it was like finally reuniting The Boys this season, while Alonso talks to me about MM's current mental state and why he was so excited to get a chance to deal with a serial disrespecter this season.
The season five main cast features 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.
The Boys return with a two-part premiere on April 8!
Watch our full interview below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcription. Plus, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: Karl, Butcher is literally on a clock this season with the Tumor and the ticking clock of his own mortality. In this final stretch, is he more dangerous because he has nothing left to lose, or is he actually starting to care about the legacy he leaves behind for Ryan?
KARL: Yeah, the point we find Butcher in season five, the stakes couldn't be higher. It's a desperate situation. Homelander is ostensibly on a track to turn himself into an immortal God, and that is bad news for humanity. So, yeah, you're right. Butcher is in a situation where he does have nothing left to lose. He has become the monster in order to defeat the monster, and his struggle is really kind of not only to see to the job at hand as he sees it, but then also to sort of try and hold on to the last vestiges of humanity that is still alive within him.
ROHAN: Laz, MM has spent years trying to keep The Boys from becoming the very monsters they hunt, but as we start season five, he’s really at a low point. He’s been locked up, he’s lost people, and as a result, he’s lost that optimism, that fire that drove him in prior seasons. As we head toward the endgame, where would you say MM is, and how does he get back to the mindset that’ll take him where he needs to go?
LAZ: I would say, we find him at his lowest point. Being a freedom fighter isn't always going to be sunny days and beautiful roses and gardens, you're going to have some really ugly, dark days. And, that's what we wanted to show, you know, we wanted to show someone who has put his best foot forward, has literally done everything that he felt was right, by the book, the way it should be done, and even still, you lose, even still, these evil bastards continue to wreak havoc on innocent people who just want to live their lives, and that is discouraging. And so, how do you deal with that? How do you process that, you know, do you continue to fight, or do you just say, screw it, you know, so that's where we find him in that moment. Pretty much giving up hope.
ROHAN: Karl, Butcher has some relationships to mend, specifically with MM and Hughie, but then there’s also this dynamic with Homelander, which will hopefully culminate with a big showdown in the finale. What has it been like for you to navigate all of these different dynamics, especially with timing running out?
KARL: Well, you know, I just had a lot of fun, not only with this character, but particularly with this season. The Boys are sort of reunited again. So, we have all of these characters going on these adventures together, which is how it was in season one and season two, before they sort of got fractured a little bit, and, you know, I really feel like this season is like a fuse that's being lit, you know, and once it's lit, it just doesn't stop. We're just on a sort of crash course to this big finale, and buckle up, because you're in for a hell of a ride.
ROHAN: Laz, without getting into spoilers, there’s this big rematch that happens in the premiere. What does that battle mean for MM and how does it help him get out of his funk?
LAZ: Yeah. I mean, I think that, first and foremost, MM sees this particular adversary as someone who is a serial disrespecter, and not just to me, but you see it - he's abusing everyone the same way. So, for him, that's when you kind of start seeing glimpses that the old MM is still there, you know, going after the bully, like, how dare you and there was definitely some selfish reasons in there, as well as these guys have a history now, for the last four seasons, picking on me for no reason. We'll just call it that. So yeah, it was a good fight.
Check out more of our The Boys season five interviews:
The Boys Season 5 will premiere the first two episodes on Wednesday, April 8th, followed by weekly episodes, leading up to the epic series finale on Wednesday, May 20th.
In the fifth and final season, 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.