The Boys season 5: everything we know so far about the popular Prime Video show’s final entry

The countdown to The Boys season 5 is officially on. With filming wrapping on the hugely popular Prime Video show’s final installment in early July, the clock is ticking on its yet-to-be-announced release on Amazon’s streaming platform.

So, what do we know about The Boys‘ final season ahead of launch? Below, I’ve rounded up the latest and biggest news on one of the best Prime Video shows‘ final hurrah. Indeed, I speculate on when it might arrive, and provide more details on its confirmed cast, plot specifics, and where the franchise may go after the mainline series end.

Full spoilers follow for The Boys season 4. Potential season 5 spoilers are also on the way.

The Boys season 5 release date: what we know

The Boys season 5 doesn’t have a release date yet. However, after Amazon confirmed the popular Prime Video show was getting a fifth installment in May 2024, filming began a few months later. As showrunner Eric Kripke announced on Instagram (see above) recently, principal photography ended on July 2.

So, when will The Boys‘ fifth chapter be released on one of the world’s best streaming services? Amazon hasn’t announced an official date, but has confirmed a 2026 release window on X/Twitter.

My prediction? The Boys season 5 will make its bow in mid-2026, with a May or June release window the most likely scenario. That would be in keeping with many of its forebears’ releases, with all but one of the series’ seasons debuting in the summer (that’s winter for southern hemisphere viewers) of their respective launch years.

The Boys season 5 trailer: is there one?

Nope. I’d be surprised if we get one before early 2026 at the, well, earliest, too. I’ll update this section once one is release.

The Boys season 5 cast: confirmed and rumored

Major spoilers follow for The Boys season 4.

Based on how The Boys season 4 ended, plus cast additions that have been announced for the show’s final entry, here’s who I expect to see next time around:

• Karl Urban as William ‘Billy’ Butcher
• Jack Quaid as Hugh ‘Hughie’ Campbell
• Antony Starr as Homelander
• Erin Moriarty as Annie January/Starlight
• Laz Alonso as Marvin Milk/Mother’s Milk
• Jessie T Usher as Reggie Franklin/A-Train
• Chace Crawford as Kevin Moskowitz/The Deep
• Tomer Capone as Serge/Frenchie
• Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko Miyashiro
• Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir 2.0
• Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
• Cameron Crovetti as Ryan Butcher
• Susan Heyward as Jessica Bradley/Sister Sage
• Valorie Curry as Misty Gray/Firecracker
• Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy
• Mason Dye as Bombsight
• Jared Padalecki as TBC
• Misha Collins as TBC
• Daveed Diggs as TBC

Everyone except the final four names on that list have appeared throughout the series and/or season 4.

On the newcomers front, the headline news is that Prime Video has put a Supernatural spin on The Boys season 5 cast with the additions of Padalecki and Collins. They’ve reunited with Kripke, who was Supernatural‘s showrunner, and fellow Supernatural alumnus Jensen Ackles. It’s unclear who Padalecki and Collins are playing, though.

Elsewhere, The Boys’ social media channels confirmed Diggs (Snowpiercer, Hamilton) has signed on in an undisclosed role and announced Dye (Stranger Things, Finding Carter) is on board as a new Supe called Bombsight. Those announcements came in September and October 2024.

That list isn’t an exhaustive one, either. Shantel VanShanten, who’s portrayed Becca Butcher on and off throughout the show, could feature as the imaginary angel on Billy’s shoulder if he ever stops listening to the devilish mirage that is Morgan’s Kessler, who I’d also expect to return.

And what about teen Supes who appeared in Gen V season 1?. Much depends on what happens in Gen V season 2, but we could also see Marie, Jordan, and Emma make the jump to the main show. Cate and Sam, who appeared in The Boys 4, could reappear in its sequel, too. Andre won’t show up, though, following the death of actor Chance Perdomo in March 2024.

Two other individuals who won’t be back are Laila Robins’ Grace Mallory and Claudia Doumit’s Victoria Neuman. They were killed by Ryan and Billy respectively in season 4’s final episode so, unless they cameo in flashback sequences or as hallucinatory figures, we’ve seen the last of these characters.

The Boys season 5 story speculation

Full spoilers follow for The Boys season 4 and Gen V season 1.

The Boys season 5 doesn’t have an official plot synopsis yet. However, based on its predecessor’s finale (read our article on The Boys season 4 ending explained for more details), we can speculate on what’ll occur in its first few episodes.

Before we get into that, though, Kripke has revealed the title for season 5 episode 1, which you can view below.

The obvious place to start is the ‘new world order’ established by Homelander becoming the US’ new de facto president. He’s not technically the leader of the western world’s biggest/most profitable nation, but he’s essentially the grand orchestrator of things, with Senator Calhoun installed as a puppet president in season 4 episode 8, aka ‘Assassination Run’.

What does this mean? Supes are now hardline law enforcers who report directly to Homelander and round up and/or kill anyone that he deems to be a threat. That includes the titular gang, with Hughie, Frenchie, and Mother’s Milk being kidnapped at the end of ‘Assassination Run’. Kimiko was captured alongside Frenchie and, given she’s superhuman, I suspect she’ll be forced to join Homelander’s new special forces against her will.

As for Annie January/Starlight, she managed to escape; Hughie’s superpowered girlfriend fleeing into the sky – with Hughie’s blessing – to evade capture. I wouldn’t be surprised if she covertly tries to locate some fellow superpowered people to help her rescue Hughie and company. Meanwhile, Billy has also evaded Homelander’s clutches, with The Boys‘ double-crossing former leader heading to pastures unknown with the only vial of Supe-killing virus on the planet.

Kripke said that deflating ending was intentionally chosen to set up a fifth season where the titular gang were at their lowest ebb. “I think the finale of season four really shows you that we’ve been planning five years all along, because there’s no way a show goes one more season after the events of that finale”, he told LadBible. “As far as we’re concerned, it’s our show’s version of the apocalypse.

“Homelander gets everything he has wanted from the beginning, which is to completely remake the United States in his image, and according to his whims. The boys are at their lowest point, most of them are captured, and we worry for their future.

“I always look at it as of the five seasons, we’re kind of at that point, that’s sort of the end of the second act of a movie where everyone’s really at their low point, and they’ve all faced their own personal demons. Now, they need to really come together in the fifth season and save the world.”

As for the aforementioned virus, it’s unclear how Billy will use it. Does he want to save it for Homelander specifically or, based on the dark side of the persona (aka his hallucinations of former best bud Joe Kessler), will he try and work out how to mass produce it, and then employ his ‘scorched earth’ policy to kill every Supe? The latter would surely mean he meets fierce resistance from The Boys, who count the superpowered Annie and Kimiko among their posse. The good side of his persona (ie his visions of Becca Butcher) may try to prevent him from using it on a national and/or global scale, too, as doing so would kill Ryan, aka Becca’s son who Billy is sworn to protect.

Let’s not forget that, after injecting himself with Compound V in season 4, Billy has put himself in the firing line if he released the virus worldwide. That said, he’s dying from a super form of cancer after he continually took the experimental Temp-V serum in The Boys season 3 (read our ending explainer on The Boys season 3 for more), so he’ll just consider himself to be necessary cannon fodder if it means wiping out every Supe with the pathogen.

There are plenty of other questions that The Boys season 5 needs to address or, more importantly, answer before its final credits roll.

Where did Ryan go after he escaped the CIA’s safehouse? Will we see A-Train and Queen Maeve again and, if so, will they side with The Boys to take down Homelander and/or Billy? What powers did Ashley acquire after taking Compound V? And, after he was saved from another prison stint by his recently deceased adoptive daughter Victoria Neuman, where on earth is former Vought CEO Stan Edgar?

That’s before we even consider the potential impact Gen V season 2 will have. Indeed, its first trailer appears to set the stage for The Boys season 5 and, with some characters from the main show set to cameo, there’ll be even more crossover between the series’ stories than before.

As for how The Boys franchise’s primary story will end, Kripke said (via Collider): “It’s so hard to land that plane, much less we’re landing eight different planes. I am appropriately respectful and have an appropriate amount of trepidation for how hard that job is. I’m not walking into it cocky at all. I’m walking into it like ‘Okay, let’s second and triple guess every single decision because we really wanna land this plane’… I’ve got to make sure I stick that moment.”

What does the future hold for The Boys on Prime Video?

Gen V season 2 aside, there’s only one other spin-off that’s been announced: Vought Rising. Set in the 1950s, the murder mystery-inspired prequel series, which was one of nine big Comic-Con 2024 announcements we’re most excited for, will explore the origins of the Supe-developing corporation Vought Inc. and the not-so-humble beginnings of Ackles’ Soldier Boy. Stormfront, who was played by Aya Cash in The Boys season 2, will also feature heavily throughout. It could also feature the first-ever Herogasm, too.

Meanwhile, there were rumors that another The Boys spin-off show was in the works, which was said to involve Star Wars: Andor‘s lead Diego Luna. The second live-action spin-off is believed to be based in Mexico, but there’s been no more news on whether it’s still in development.

Speaking to Collider in November 2022, The Boys executive producer Seth Rogen also expressed his wish to make a second season of animated anthology spin-off The Boys Presents: Diabolical. Again, there’s nothing new to report on whether it’s moving forward.

Lastly, we don’t know if Gen V will return for a third season yet. I’d be surprised if it didn’t, but The Boys season 5’s ending will likely dictate its future. If there are narrative beats left over from the main show, Gen V season 3 would be the ideal candidate to tie up any loose ends.

For more Prime Video-based coverage, read our guides on Fallout season 2, The Rings of Power season 2, and the best Prime Video movies to stream today.