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The Boys season 5 is almost upon us... and everyone wants Homelander dead. Who could blame them? The most evil Supe in all the world now has more power than the President of the United States, and God only knows what he plans to do next.
Because Homelander dies in The Boys comics, it only makes sense for him to die in the series finale, ending with an epic showdown of sorts. Because of this, fans have been theorizing about who they believe will ultimately take him down (and apparently, we were wrong about Marie Moreau).
Billy Butcher
Temp V-induced brain tumor or not, Billy Butcher remains one of the strongest Supes in the world. I mean, we all saw him rip right through Victoria Neuman with his freaky tentacles in The Boys season 4 finale. But he does seem to be concerned with, uh, other things, as he essentially rides off into the sunset with the Supe virus in hand... though we know that the current iteration of the virus is not strong enough to kill Homelander.
An epic showdown between Butcher and Homelander has been building for four seasons, and it definitely seems to be something that the fans expect. But Butcher seems like too obvious a choice as Homelander's killer, even if he would make the most sense.
Black Noir
In the comics, Homelander is killed by Black Noir... point-blank, period. Of course, that makes it way too easy and obvious for the same thing to happen in The Boys season 5. The TV adaptation is faithful to the comics in many ways, but there are many altered plotlines, characters specifically created for the series, etc... and I can't imagine showrunner Eric Kripke just handing that to us. Especially since the first Black Noir is dead (thanks to Homelander), and the second iteration of Black Noir is a Supe actor hired by Vought to keep up public appearances.
Black Noir II doesn't have the same motivation as his predecessor and has a hard time getting used to the idea of being a killing machine (until Ashley's death at the end of season 4, of course).
Ryan Butcher
It would be something of a Greek tragedy... especially since Ryan seems to have inherited Homelander's sociopathy, along with his super strength and heat vision, of course. He didn't love hearing that his father had killed hundreds of people, or about what he did to harm Becca, his mother, but Ryan seemed largely unfazed after accidentally breaking Grace's neck in the season 4 finale. He didn't seem exactly stoked about it either, but he definitely didn't have remorse.
Butcher also tells Ryan he's the only one who can stop Homelander, assuring him he's strong enough. In the moment, Ryan refuses, but as of the finale... his whereabouts are unknown. Because Ryan has the motivation to avenge his mother, and his behavior is largely unpredictable, I'd say this makes him a pretty good candidate.
Marie Moreau
She would have been the most obvious choice... if Eric Kripke hadn't actually come out and said nope, absolutely not. If you haven't watched Gen V, then you might not know that Marie Moreau, as a baby, was given the same enhanced form of Compound V as Homelander. Not only is she able to manipulate blood and make heads explode – she can also bring people back from the dead. This makes her just as powerful as Homelander, if not even more powerful. Starlight and A-Train know what Marie is capable of, which is why they recruit her (and some of the other Gen V kiddos) at the end of Gen V season 2.
"People should be prepared for the Gen V kids to not come in and save the season," Kripke said, adding that we've "been following the story for five years" and that he "wants the story to end well." I personally thought Marie was brought into The Boys universe for that exact purpose... but, oh well.
Hughie Campbell
Hear me out... Hughie could teleport somewhere and take Homelander with him. This would, of course, be a suicide mission, as surely Hughie would take Homelander to a location that would kill him somehow, and therefore also kill Hughie. I don't know where that could be, or how that could all go down, but it would be a pretty fun wildcard given that he's probably the main character the audience is least likely to suspect. There is plenty of motivation there, of course, given that Hughie's been on a mission to take down Homelander since season 1.
Cate Dunlap
Even though Cate turned evil for a hot second and decided to aid Homelander in his various evil doings throughout season 4, she jumps ship and becomes one of the good guys again in Gen V season 2. Cate is able to manipulate quite literally anyone just by touching them, convincing them to do whatever she asks, while they have no memory of her even doing so in the first place.
Now, we don't actually know if Cate's powers work on Homelander. If they do, because he's so powerful, it's likely they would only work for a moment or two. However, a lot can happen in a moment. She could also manipulate another Supe into attacking him or taking him down... so we won't rule her out.
Soldier Boy
Soldier Boy is right up there with Butcher in terms of "just as powerful as Homelander" and "epic showdown has been brewing" for multiple seasons. Before the Russians experimented on him, he was another Supe with super strength and nigh-invulnerability. Now, dude has a radioactive aura. He can send out radiation blasts that are powerful enough to burn the Compound V out of someone's body. The thing is, though, Homelander was given a special, enhanced version of Compound V (engineered by Dr. Thomas Godolkin)... and it may very well be able to withstand the radiation.
Of course, there's always the dying and then being kept alive in a cryogenic chamber thing... not sure if that dulls your radiation powers. It does, however, give Soldier Boy plenty of reason to be pissed when he gets out.
Ashley Barrett
Another wildcard... but anything is possible. Especially considering the fact that we don't quite know what Ashley's power is. We saw her scalp begin to mutate after injecting Compound V in The Boys season 4 finale... and it kind of looked like those might've been snakes or tentacles coming out of her head. Given that she suffers from trichotillomania, hair-based powers would be poetic justice. Some fans think she's turning into Medusa... and given that Medusa can turn people into stone, that may just work on Homelander.
The Boys hits Prime Video on April 8. For more, check out our The Boys season 5 release schedule.
