The Boys Season 5 Officially Sets Up Homelander’s Death (& Teases Who Might Kill Him)

The Boys Season 5 trailer is officially setting up Homelander’s death, and it offers a clue about which character could kill him. Season 5 will serve as the Prime Video show’s last hurrah, so we can probably expect a number of major deaths in the coming episodes. On the heels of The Boys Season 4’s brutal ending, the tensions between the series’ anti-heroes and Homelander are higher than ever — and they can only boil over into violence. The Boys Season 5 trailer teases plenty of that, and it alludes to Homelander’s demise.

If any character has to die in the show’s final season, it’s Antony Starr’s villain. The entire series has been building to defeating him, and barring putting him in a cryo chamber like Soldier Boy — a solution that is far from foolproof — there’s no other way to end his reign. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that The Boys is setting the stage for his downfall ahead of its April 8 premiere. Its trailer gives us a pretty good idea of who will kill him, too, though the Prime Video show does have a tendency to surprise us. Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Boys‘ comic ending.

How The Boys Season 5 Trailer Lays the Groundwork for Homelander’s Death

The Boys‘ Season 5 trailer ends with Homelander lounging at a desk in the Oval Office, which appears to be a reference to his fate in Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comics. Although the series has taken significant liberties with its source material, it has a tendency to drop references to it throughout. And as Homelander is in the Oval Office when he’s killed in the comics, this is an obvious nod to what’s coming. It’s unlikely it’ll play out in precisely the same way, but the show appears to be sticking to the location.

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In the comics, Butcher confronts Homelander in the Oval Office after the supe takes out the president. It’s possible that will still happen, as Homelander is clearly the person truly calling the shots at the end of Season 4, and he and Butcher are due for a final confrontation. However, Butcher’s not capable of beating Homelander in the source material, and the supe ends up dying at the hands of Black Noir. It’s revealed that Black Noir is a clone of Homelander and Vought’s secret weapon to dispose of him. Nothing in the Prime Video series suggests it’s going that route, so while Homelander could still perish in the Oval Office, it’s likely to be because of someone else.

Ryan Could Be the One Who Kills Homelander In the Prime Video Show

Since The Boys Season 5 seems likely to change Homelander’s death — at least in terms of who’s responsible for it — its worth speculating on how he’ll die in the show. And the trailer offers a hint around the 1:50 mark, when he says, “To those who seek to destroy me, the non-believers, the backstabbers, I offer oblivion.” To be fair, that shot highlights every one of the supe’s major adversaries, from The Boys team to Stan Edgar and Ashley Barrett. But interestingly, it hones in on Ryan when he says “backstabbers.”

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Ryan’s relationship with Homelander has been strained from the beginning, and the boy has a lot of reasons to hate his own father. For one, he’s responsible for the death of his mother, and after Season 4, Ryan now knows truth about his conception. Season 4’s ending also establishes him as the only person strong enough to defeat Homelander, and Grace and Butcher ensure Ryan’s aware of the full extent of his father’s evil. While Ryan seems reluctant to kill him in the finale, things could very well change…particularly if The Boys is keeping the lead-up to Homelander’s Oval Office death.

Ryan Killing Homelander Fits With the Lead-Up to the Villain’s Comics Death

If The Boys is keeping Butcher’s showdown with Homelander in the Oval Office, it’s believable that Ryan would be the person to replace Black Noir as Homelander’s killer. Ryan and Butcher’s bond has been a major plot point of the Prime Video show, and while they don’t end Season 4 on great terms, there’s a good chance Ryan would step in to save him if needed. That could be the thing that pushes him over the line with Homelander, and it would make for an emotional climax. Only time will tell if that’s the direction The Boys Season 5 is headed in, but all the pieces are in place for it. It could just as easily be a group effort, though. Homelander’s certainly strong enough to warrant it.

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