Spoilers for The Boys’ series finale follow below. You’ve been warned.
Late last night, Amazon released the long-awaited series finale for The Boys, and it has led to a wide variety of reactions from fans. Since the very beginning of the series, The Boys has been building toward a climactic showdown between Homelander and BIlly Butcher. However, some fans began to get nervous about whether the show’s finale could meet their expectations early on in Season 5’s run.
Some felt The Boys was losing steam, and like there was too much to wrap up in the remaining episodes. Others felt like the show simply wasn’t making good use of its time or ramping up the stakes enough. Some held out hope that maybe it would all come together in the end… and well, the results seem to vary from person to person.
“The Boys Series Finale is absolutely perfect,” said a fan on X. “An emotional, gory, irreverent end that honors the core of the show, namely the conflict between Butcher and Homelander. So many moments I couldn’t believe I was witnessing. Will be VERY surprised if this isn’t loved by the fans.”
“The Boys finale was disappointing, and all the posters and marketing were lies,” said another fan in contrast. “We all said it would be impossible to wrap everything up in a single episode without it feeling rushed and unfortunately, this finale does feel rushed.”
The Boys’ series finale saw Butcher finally killing Homelander, but also brought various other characters to an end. The Deep, Butcher, and Oh Father all meet their demise in various ways, but Homelander’s death is the most divisive one. During a broadcast from the Oval Office, Kimiko uses her radiation blast to depower Homelander, stripping him of all his might. Realizing he’s absolutely defenseless against Butcher, Homelander shamelessly begs for his life, revealing to the world that he’s a pathetic shell without his powers.
Of course, Butcher is unfazed by his pleas and drives a crowbar through Homelander’s skull, before wrenching his brains out onto the Resolute desk. Some fans felt like the final fight was underwhelming, especially since fans hoped for a “scorched Earth” style finale, which would’ve had a larger sense of scope and scale.
“The Boys ending was supposed to be enormous,” said another fan. “Not just Blood and Bone but something huge; something Scorched Earth. This was genuinely a disappointing finale for a show this huge. Even Homelander’s death felt lackluster.”
It doesn’t help that The Boys’ marketing leaned into this and set an expectation. One of the posters for the final season shows Homelander floating above Earth as fire and explosions consume it, something that didn’t come to fruition in the finale. Some felt that the show never showed Homelander truly snap, either.
“The single biggest missed opportunity in The Boys is that we never truly see Homelander snap,” said a fan. “They tease it so much throughout the show, but he never gets a chance to let loose. Even after taking the V1, he acts the exact same way
Ultimately, the finale appears to be pretty divisive. Showrunner Eric Kripke revealed at the start of Season 5 that he was anxious over how fans may respond to The Boys finale, especially as viewers often reasses the quality of an entire show based on the ending. It seems to have received a better reception than the Stranger Things and Game of Thrones finales, partially because it actually took some big swings and killed numerous major characters.
The Boys franchise will continue, as a spin-off known as Vought Rising is in the works. Unfortunately, Prime Video just pulled the plug on Gen V, so fans will have slim pickings when it comes to more shows in The Boys universe.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
