The final season of The Boys is coming to Prime Video on April 8, 2026, and the biggest question on every viewer’s mind is whether Homelander will finally meet his end. With Billy Butcher more powerful than ever and a resistance movement building strength, it might seem like the pieces are falling into place for the ultimate takedown. But here is the thing about this show—it never gives the audience what they expect. Creator Eric Kripke has set up a final season that flips everything fans assume about the ending, and it all comes down to one surprising fact: Homelander cannot die by Butcher’s hand. In fact, for the story to work properly, Homelander needs to make it all the way to the final moments, and here is exactly why.
Why Butcher Cannot Be The One to Kill Homelander
The entire series has followed Billy Butcher’s obsessive mission to destroy Homelander at any cost. From the very first episode, Butcher made it clear that he would burn down the world to get revenge on the Supe responsible for so much pain. But according to showrunner Eric Kripke, that is precisely why Butcher cannot be the one to land the final blow.
“If Butcher is the one to kill Homelander, then Homelander basically wins,” Kripke explained in recent interviews about the final season. The logic behind this thinking is simple but devastating. Homelander has spent his entire life believing that humans are weak, that they are beneath him, and that given enough pressure, they will become just as cruel and violent as the worst Supes. If Butcher gives in completely to his darkest impulses and becomes a murderer who kills without conscience, then Homelander was right all along .
The show has been building toward this moment for five seasons. Every time Butcher took Temp V, every time he crossed a line that his teammates begged him not to cross, the message became clearer. The path of revenge was turning him into something that looked an awful lot like the monster he swore to destroy. Killing Homelander in a blind rage would prove that humanity is no better than the Supes who terrorize them .
Kripke made it clear that the “Homelander wins” ending is completely off the table. But that does not automatically mean Butcher gets his moment of satisfaction. The showrunner has carefully constructed a narrative where the victory cannot come through the obvious channel .
The Son Who Will Decide Everything
If Butcher is not the one to stop Homelander, then who is? The answer has been hiding in plain sight since Season 2. Ryan Butcher, Homelander’s biological son and the only person the Supe has ever genuinely cared about, is the key to everything .
Ryan’s journey throughout the series tells a story that is easy to miss if you are not paying close attention. He started as a scared child who accidentally killed his own mother when his powers first emerged. That guilt nearly destroyed him, and it set him on a completely different emotional path than his father ever walked. Homelander has never felt guilt about anything in his entire life. Ryan has felt too much of it .
In Season 3, there were moments when Ryan seemed tempted by his father’s worldview. A brief smirk while Homelander lasered a protestor made audiences worry that the kid was turning evil. But Season 4 showed a different Ryan, one who started questioning his father and pushing back against the violence. This sets up the most emotionally devastating possible ending for Homelander .
The fatal flaw that will destroy Homelander is not any physical weakness. It is his desperate need to be loved, especially by his son. He projects strength and power constantly, but emotionally, Homelander is a mess. The one thing that would shatter him more than any weapon is Ryan deliberately rejecting him in the most permanent way imaginable .
What the Comics Tell Us About the Ending
Fans who have read the original Garth Ennis comics think they know what is coming. In the comics, Black Noir, who is revealed to be a clone of Homelander, eventually kills the main villain. But the TV show already killed off Noir in a completely different way, so that twist is no longer possible .
The show has made a habit of flipping the most violent comic moments into something more emotionally complex. In the comics, Butcher commits infanticide by killing the Supe baby. The TV show went the opposite direction, having Butcher try to save Ryan and make the kid a real character with genuine emotional weight .
This leaves Ryan as the only logical choice to deliver the final blow. He is Homelander’s literal blood, his mirror, and the one person who can make him hesitate. The Season 5 trailer already hints at this confrontation. There is a shot of Homelander pounding on someone with chest burns, and then he stops. Homelander never stops unless it is personal. Who could make him hesitate? Only his own son .
The Soldier Boy Factor Changes Everything
There is another layer to this family drama that Season 5 will explore in depth. Soldier Boy, played by Jensen Ackles, is Homelander’s biological father, and their relationship is just as messed up as everything else in this universe .
Kripke confirmed that the father-son dynamic between Homelander and Soldier Boy will be a major focus of the final season. The revelation that Soldier Boy was his father came late in Season 3, and the show never really got a chance to explore what that means for both characters. Season 5 will dig into that relationship in a big way .
“The thing about Homelander is it’s sort of tragic, actually, but ultimately, the guy just wants someone to love him,” Kripke told TV Insider. “He tries amassing all of this power just so someone somewhere will love him, but they’re all scared of him because of all that power. And I think the same goes for Soldier Boy. He just wants a dad to love him and be proud of him” .
This creates a parallel that the show is clearly building toward. Homelander wanted his father’s approval and never got it. Ryan might be heading down the same path, but there is still time for him to choose differently. The Season 4 finale’s mid-credits scene showed Homelander visiting Soldier Boy in a secret CIA facility, setting up the confrontation that will likely define the early episodes of Season 5 .
The Resistance Is Growing Stronger
While the family drama plays out, the resistance against Homelander is getting organized. The Gen V Season 2 finale set the stage perfectly for the final season of The Boys. Marie Moreau and her fellow Godolkin University students have joined forces with Starlight and A-Train to form an underground movement against Homelander’s regime .
Kripke confirmed that these characters will play an important part in Season 5. “They are playing an important part. Part of the fun of wrapping out season two that way is we really get to set the table for season five, that there’s now this active and growing resistance led by Starlight that A-Train is an important part of. They’re really trying to take the fight back to Homelander and this sort of fascist government” .
This resistance matters because it changes the odds. Butcher is not fighting alone anymore. A genuine coalition opposes Homelander’s rule, and these young heroes bring unique powers that could actually threaten the most powerful Supe in the world. Marie, in particular, might be crucial because she and Homelander are the only two survivors of the same lab experiment. They were both born through Project Odessa, which means Marie’s blood-manipulation powers might be uniquely effective against him .
What the Trailer Reveals About Homelander’s Fate
The Season 5 teaser trailer, released at CCXP in São Paulo, gives fans plenty to analyze. The official synopsis makes the stakes clear: “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” .
Butcher reappears with a plan to use a virus that would wipe all Supes off the map, setting in motion events that will change the world forever. But the most intriguing shot in the trailer shows Homelander beating someone mercilessly, and then stopping. Who could make him stop? The leading theory is that it is Ryan, and that hesitation will cost Homelander everything .
The first episode of The Boys Season 5 drops on April 8, 2026, with the series finale scheduled for May 20, 2026. That gives the show just over a month to wrap up every storyline and deliver an ending that does justice to five seasons of buildup .
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