After five seasons across seven years, The Boys is down to its final episode. Heroes and villains have died in various graphic, gruesome ways, some have changed allegiance, and what’s left is one last showdown with Homelander, who looks more unstoppable than ever thanks to the V-One in his blood and a God complex that’s made him even more merciless and cruel. Combined with Frenchie’s death at the end of The Boys Season 5, Episode 7, the stakes have never been higher in the Supe series.
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It remains possible that Homelander will emerge victorious when the credits roll for the final time, but also implausible: as much as that would be a subversion of superhero tropes and typical good vs. evil outcomes, it’s also hard to imagine it being a rewarding end point to years of fan investment. Of course, The Boys‘ ending might be disappointing anyway, with plenty of concern online, but it shouldn’t be due to Homelander not being defeated. The bigger question is who will defeat him and, while there are lots of characters left alive and most should play some kind of role, I think it comes down to five candidates in particular to be the one to fully defeat him.
5) Marie Moreau
The now-cancelled Gen V spent its two seasons developing Marie Moreau into a Supe who could reach the same power level as Homelander, with both being the only survivors of Vought’s Project Odessa (designed to create God-tier Supes). Her blood-bending abilities are remarkable, she’d even been hyped as the “Chosen One,” and she survived a laser blast from Homelander in the first season of the spinoff.
She seemed to have the right power level to take on Homelander, but The Boys‘ penultimate episode played down Marie’s abilities. She said they have been exaggerated, while Starlight said she doesn’t have control over them. Couple that with the fact it seems unlikely that The Boys would be settled by a character from a spinoff who has appeared in two episodes of the main show and, while her powers might well play a part (it’s still possible she’ll be used to manipulate Homelander’s blood in some way), she probably won’t be the one to defeat him.
4) Soldier Boy
Soldier Boy had ostensibly picked a side for good when he gave the V-One to Homelander, which was due to his love for Clara Vought, aka Stormfront. Episode 7, however, adds in yet another wrinkle, as his hatred for his son means he can’t stick around, and attempts to leave – only to be choked out and put back into cryo. Presumably, the series finale of The Boys is not going to have one of its biggest Supes, who just so happens to have a prequel series coming up, on ice for the entire episode.
It’s pretty much guaranteed that he’ll be removed from the chamber again and, when he is, he’ll be pissed at Homelander (again). He has the ability to de-power him, and might now finally use it. At the same time, after a season of flip-flopping, and after the series going to the trouble of Kimiko getting that same ability, it doesn’t seem as likely that it’ll pursue that course of action. Still, at this point, nothing would really surprise me with Soldier Boy.
3) Kimiko
Kimiko is now positioned as the biggest weapon against Homelander, after Frenchie and Sister Sage used uranium to give her the ability to remove a Supe’s powers. She’s also going to be more motivated than ever after Frenchie’s death, so she’s certainly a major danger heading into the finale, and her regenerative abilities further give her as good a shot as anyone purely in terms of powers and abilities.
However, the setup for it is also why she’s unlikely to be the one to defeat Homelander for good. It’s safe to assume there’ll be another twist or two (or three) in the finale, and so the show introducing the way to defeat Homelander in Episode 7, and that being exactly how it’s done in Episode 8 seems too straightforward. It should still pay off Kimiko gaining these abilities in some way, but I think it’ll probably be the case that they only partially work, rather than completely removing Homelander’s powers, meaning there’s still a lot to do in order to beat him.
2) Billy Butcher
Butcher vs. Homelander is what The Boys has always been building to. He’s been the biggest driving force of opposition, so is the show going to avoid having that be how it ends? In a way, not having Butcher kill Homelander would be like Game of Thrones not having Jon Snow kill the Night King: it’d be because it’s considered too obvious. And for a show that has tended to avoid the obvious, that is at least somewhat understandable (even though obvious does not necessarily equal bad).
But there’s also part of me that thinks that’s exactly why The Boys will do it, in some kind of galaxy-brained double twist. And in fairness, Butcher being the one to deliver the killing blow – though it would need to happen after he’s at least been partially de-powered – still remains a fitting choice that’s in keeping with everything the show has done. I also can’t see Butcher surviving either, but them going out together would make sense.
1) Ryan Butcher
Ryan Butcher was almost killed by Homelander at the end of The Boys Season 5, Episode 3, and hasn’t been seen since. We know he’s alive, but we don’t know what condition he’s in, nor where he is. Which means he is obviously going to return in the series finale, because that’s how this works, and he’s going to be doing what he can to defeat Homelander, but will his powers be enough this time around?
He did land a shot that made Homelander bleed, but otherwise got beaten to a pulp by his father. The notion of him coming back from that defeat stronger and able to win the second time out is a bit of an old trope, but it still seems like the card that The Boys might be most likely to play. It’s less obvious than Billy Butcher, but has more of a personal connection to Homelander than someone like Kimiko or Marie, and so I think he just has the edge heading into the finale.
The Boys‘ series finale will release on May 20th on Prime Video.
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