Prime Video
It’s the beginning of the end – The Boys Season 5 has premiered on Prime Video, and while there are still some weeks to go until it wraps up for good, Eric Kripke is feeling “anxious” about the reaction to the finale.
Ending a beloved series is never an easy task. Just look at the response to the Game of Thrones and Stranger Things finales (hell, fans were so disgruntled with the latter they made up an entire conspiracy).
The Boys is going to be interesting given that while the TV adaptation takes inspiration from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic book series, it doesn’t stick closely to the story in the same way as, for instance, Invincible does.
One thing we do know is that there will be deaths in Season 5, but right now, it’s anyone’s guess how the story will be wrapped up for good (not even the press were given an advance screening of the final Episode 8).
The Boys Season 5 finale has Eric Kripke feeling “anxious”
In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke explained that he’s most nervous about the finale, knowing that it could determine how fans perceive the show overall.
The topic of conversation came up when Kripke was asked what most excites him about the fifth and final season. “Excites is the wrong word. What makes me most … anxious about the final season is really hoping we land the plane,” he replied.
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“It’s super hard to do a finale. Fans will retroactively judge the show based on how they feel about the finale. If we stiff it, they will definitely say, ‘Well, that show wasn’t as good as we thought it was.’
“And it’s almost like you’re trying to secure your legacy with these finales. And it’s the first finale I’ve ever done, too – so it’s not like I have any experience with it. So I’m mostly anxious and girding my loins.”
The first two episodes of The Boys Season 5 are now streaming on Prime Video pic.twitter.com/BYcDLuKEs9
— ScreenTime (@screentime) April 8, 2026
There’s even a self-aware joke in The Boys Season 5 about the issue with finishing a TV show. Even though there’s a level of anticipation, Kripke didn’t want to push for a bumper-length finale.
When asked by Collider if Episode 8 would be “extra long”, Kripke said, “It’s not. It’s like an hour and five. We’re not doing that huge, super-sized 90-minute thing.
“I don’t know if we would have had… I think the audience might have ended up getting bored had we gone that long. But no, we’re like an hour five, an hour six max, I think? But yeah, they’re all jack-packed, these episodes.”
For context, based on the first two episodes that dropped today, leaker Cryptic4KQual, and Kripke’s estimation of the finale, The Boys Season 5 runtimes are as follows:
- Episode 1 – 1 hour
- Episode 2 – 59 Minutes
- Episode 3 – 1 hour 2 minutes
- Episode 4 – 1 hour 2 minutes
- Episode 5 – 1 hour 5 minutes
- Episode 6 – 1 hour 1 minute
- Episode 7 – 1 hour 6 minutes
- Episode 8 – 1 hour 5 minutes
Kripke says “the world out-crazies” The Boys
Prime Video
Elsewhere in the interview, Kripke reflected on the fact that The Boys Season 5 leans further into its political satire, and how many moments in the show have ended up actually happening in real life.
THR highlighted how one of the Season 5 storylines involves a character being compared to Jesus, a moment that was echoed more recently when pastor Paula White did the same about Trump.
Kripke was asked what it’s been like seeing the headlines unfold since they wrapped production nearly a year ago, to which he said, “It’s not a great feeling. It’s a sinking feeling. It’s never great when the world out-crazies your superhero show with exploding penises.
“The stuff that has come to pass since we wrote it – including internment camps, sending federal troops into cities… even tiny references like that clown in charge of the military. [In the show we have a character named] General Mayhem…
Prime Video
“When we were writing [the season] – and I swear I’m not making this up – we genuinely thought it was a little out there, that this is the furthest we were venturing into full-on sci-fi – or at least speculative fiction. And so much of it has come to pass already.
“It’s really upsetting. I don’t know what else to say about it.”
The Boys Season 5 Episodes 1-2 are streaming on Prime Video now, with Episode 3 set to drop on April 15. Until then, read about if Soldier Boy dies in the comics, Homelander’s origins, and what we know about spinoff Vought Rising.
