The Boys season 5 release date speculation, cast, plot, and more news

The Boys season 5 is arriving next year, and with what we know, it's going to be an epic conclusion, with plenty of brutal action, unexpected twists, and lots, lots of blood. We can't wait to see what's in store for the final season of the popular Amazon superhero series, which marks the end of the story for Butcher and the rest of the gang.

With filming now wrapped and more updates coming our way every week, we've compiled everything you need to know about The Boys season 5 release date, confirmed cast, plot theories, recaps, first-look footage, and so much more. With the cast talking about what's coming next and shows like Gen V offering some clues about the future, we're here to unveil all the secrets of the upcoming season, including that confirmed Supernatural reunion.

As the story picks up from the cliffhanger left by The Boys season 4 ending, which saw Hughie, Frenchie, MM, and Kimiko being captured by Supes and Homelander taking control of the US office, fans are eagerly waiting to see what's next. Below, check out all the updates on The Boys season 5 released so far. In the meantime, you can also check out our guide to the year's most exciting upcoming shows.

The Boys season 5 release date speculation

Currently, we don't know when The Boys season 5 release date will be announced. However, based on past season patterns, we expect the series to return sometime in 2026.

That's backed up, too, by Butcher actor Karl Urban, who said in a 2024 social media post that he'll see viewers in "two years." 2026 it is, then. It's a long way off, but hey, this amazing show deserves our patience, right?

Filming for the eight-episode season has wrapped, according to several cast members who shared photos and videos of a wrap party in late June 2025. This fits with the timeline confirmed by Eric Kripke in late March, when he revealed filming was "halfway through shooting".

Over the past six months, we've been getting some exciting updates on the filming of season 5. In early December, actor Karl Urban shared a typically Billy Butcher look on Instagram, covered in blood and holding up five fingers. The show's creator, Eric Kripke, also shared a behind-the-scenes picture on X with some of the main cast.

In an interview, creator Eric Kripke addressed the new season, revealing he "lives in absolute terror of becoming the thing we’ve been satirizing for five years." Kripke also revealed in an interview that the scripts were "half-written" during some of the filming process, because they wanted to be able to include references to real-life events.

"We're used to changing things as the world changes – but yes, we definitely adjust scripts as new events come to light," he explained.

 Is The Boys season 5 the final season?

Yes, The Boys season 5 will be the final installment of the beloved superhero show. Unfortunately, this decision is unlikely to change since The Boys' team has been clear on the series' due date for years now.

During an interview with TV Line, showrunner Eric Kripke explained how they had decided that Season 5 would be the last entry all the way back when they were working on The Boys season 3.

Kripke went on to share this season 5 news with his followers on X, posting a screenshot of the final page of The Boys season 4 episode 8’s script.

"Season 4 Premiere Week is a good time to announce: Season 5 will be the Final Season!" His caption read. "Always my plan; I just had to be cagey till I got the final OK from Vought."

The good news is that even if The Boys is over next season, The Boys universe is still thriving.

In fact, Gen V season 2 has confirmed a release date for this September, and a new The Boys spin-off (titled Vought Rising) set during the '50s was announced at SDCC 2024.

So don't worry; there's still plenty for us to enjoy!

 The Boys season 5 cast

We are still waiting for The Boys season 5 cast to be confirmed in full. However, after the events of the last episode of season 4 (read our The Boys season 4 episode 8 recap for more juicy details), we have some strong guesses on who will be returning to the series. Warning: spoilers ahead!

In our The Boys season 4 ending explained guide, we broke down how Claudia Domit's character, Victoria Neuman, won’t be making a comeback since she died for good.

We also know that Jeffrey Dean Morgan won’t be returning as Joe Kessler. Joe died off-screen during the 'Dirty Business' episode, and we are pretty sure there won’t be any surprise resurrections for him either.

However, Jensen Ackles is returning as Soldier Boy in The Boys season 5. This big reveal came during SDCC 2024, and it seems like this comeback will show us more about his relationship and feelings toward his son, Homelander.

Hopefully, their upcoming father-son talk will be a tad less destructive than their last one back in season 3, right? Eric Kripke confirmed that Ackles' return is all about digging deeper into that dynamic.

He told us at SDCC: "You know, what we realized was we really hadn't explored the father-son relationship much between Homelander and Soldier Boy.

There's a lot of material there, how Soldier Boy feels about Homelander, how Homelander feels about his dad, and so we really wanted to dig into that relationship."

However, aside from returning cast members, it looks like there will be a few new faces joining the series in its final installment too.

In October 2024, The Boys cast Stranger Things star Mason Dye in season 5 as a seemingly ageless Supe named Bombsight. Although we haven't met the Supe, he was mentioned in The Boys season 4.

In February 2025, Ackles announced that his former Supernatural co-stars Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins would be joining the cast in an announcement that truly broke the internet. We're not sure who they will play, but we do know that the three have an undeniable chemistry that lasted for 15 seasons.

They're even going to share at least one scene together. In an interview with TV Insider, Kripke (who also created Supernatural), said, "It’s a blast. We already shot it. I will confirm that Jared, Jensen, and Misha are all in the same frame together, and in the same storyline, and interacting with each other."

Read the full expected The Boys season 5 cast list below:

• Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell
• Karl Urban as Billy Butcher
• Erin Moriarty as Starlight/Annie
• Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk
• Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko
• Tomer Capone as Frenchie
• Antony Starr as Homelander
• Chace Crawford as The Deep
• Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett
• Cameron Crovetti as Ryan
• Jim Beaver as Robert Singer
• Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy
• Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir
• Valorie Curry as Firecracker
• Rosemarie DeWitt as Daphne Campbell
• Dominique McElligott as Queen Maeve
• Susan Heyward as Sister Sage
• Mason Dye as Bombsight
• Jared Padalecki
• Misha Collins

The Boys season 5 plot

While we don’t have an official plot synopsis for The Boys season 5 just yet, the season 4 finale gave us lots of clues about the series' direction. During the final episode, we saw Butcher go a bit off the rails, killing multiple people and running off with the Supe-killing virus.

So, needless to say, we expect Butcher to be leading the charge as the villain of season 5 as he stops at nothing to make sure Homelander dies by his hand. Speaking of Homelander, we also know that Sage has some plan for the blonde Supe, as she's moving onto ‘Phase Two’ of her scheme that originally got Homelander close to the president.

She already played a hand in getting Martial Law declared, so we're curious to see what her true end goal is in the upcoming season.

If all of that wasn’t enough already, The Boys season 5 will have to address the whereabouts of Homelander’s son Ryan as well as A-Train. There is also the seemingly pesky case of brainwashing that befell Frenchie in the last episode of The Boys season 4 that needs some clarification.

Oh yeah, and did we mention that The Boys season 4 post-credit scene also revealed that Soldier Boy had been cryogenically frozen? We know he's going to be unfrozen, but the implications of that fact are still a mystery.

Speaking to GamesRadar+ at SDCC, creator Eric Kripke also confirmed there was "no guarantee" that any of the returning cast would survive the final season.

"There’s no guarantee who’s going to survive because you don’t have to keep [the cast] for another season," Kripke said. "So you can have really shocking, big things happen all the time. The writers, as we’re starting to cook it up, we’re really enjoying that."

Furthermore, it sounds like season 5 will be a big bloodbath as Homelander actor Antony Starr, who has certainly seen his fair share of gore over the course of the TV show, told Collider that although he hasn't "seen the penultimate and finale yet," he knows what happens. Starr added that he thinks "fans are gonna be either surprised or shocked, depending on their nervous system." So, should we buy the puke bags now or later?

"The scripts, I've gotta say, in typical Boys fashion, I did not see… I never see it coming with this show," continued Starr. "But very, very entertained."

Basically, the final entry has a lot to get through and a lot at stake. In short, expect the unexpected.

"There are some things that are coming in season 5 that you’re not going to have in your bingo card," said Black Noir actor Nathan Mitchell in an interview with Deadline, Talking about his character, Mitchell added in a recent interview: "I think we learn more about him, and I think it's a fun ride. There are character arcs, journeys, and very gross moments in season 5 that you are not expecting."

Elsewhere, honestly, it seems like we'll have to rely on spin-offs to help answer some of our questions in the short-term.

During an interview with Variety, Kripke confirmed that Gen V season 2 will take place directly after The Boys season 4, so we should have a clearer view of what plot points will be addressed in season 5 after the spin-off airs.

We expect that there will be crossovers and some of the above issues addressed in Gen V as well since it doesn’t seem likely that season 5 can tackle everything in just eight episodes.

This basically means that we will have to watch Gen V season 2 ahead of The Boys season 5 to get the complete picture. So, you better start renewing those Amazon Prime subscriptions, folks!

While we wait for more The Boys season 5 news, check out our list of all the upcoming superhero movies heading our way. If you want more heroes, check out our guide on how to watch all the Marvel movies in order.