Spoilers ahead for the penultimate episode of The Boys.
Shortly after its premiere The Boys established itself as one of the best Amazon Prime Video shows to watch. The comic book series (which is streaming with an Amazon Prime subscription) mixes both gory violence and R-rated humor, to delightful results. The pressure is on for the series finale to deliver on May 20th, and showrunner/creator spoke to CinemaBlend about how Breaking Bad's finale helped inspire various character returns in Season 5.
The Boys Season 5 has been a doozy so far, and the pressure is on for it to deliver a series finale that's actually good. I had the priviledge of speaking with Eric Kripke ahead of the final two episodes, where I asked him how he decided to bring back certain characters like Elisabeth Schue's Madeline Stillwell. He told me:
I assume that if anyone is watching Season 5, it's because they've watched the previous seasons. So I was all for as many characters as we could bring back from previous seasons we could. It was one thing I really admired about Breaking Bad. Like they really took the time in that final season to bring back everyone they could think to bring back. So we really tried to do that.
Points were made. Breaking Bad's entire final season is a testament to sticking the landing, and that series finale is really the cherry on top. Kripke wanted Season 5 of The Boys to be similarly effective, and a love letter to the fans who watched the entire run on Amazon Prime Video. That included bringing back missing figures, as well as killing off major characters throughout the entire season. RIP A-Train and Frenchie.
All eyes are on what will happen in the mysterious series finale for The Boys, and the stakes feel especially high for Season 5. Fans were thrilled when Jaz Sinclair's Marie Moreau finally popped up, despite Gen V being cancelled. And we'll have to see what other familiar faces show up in the final episode. Later during our conversation, Kripke went on to share why returns were important to closing the loop on the show. In his words:
I love all the little things we're doing that were bookends. Like, you know, the Season 1 pilot was at the Vought meeting of shareholders, so the Season 5 episode one was at the Vought meeting of shareholders. I think it really just helps things feel full circle when you're able to kind of bring everyone back and sort of pay off their stories.
Only time will tell if the final chapter of The Boys is quite as successful as Breaking Bad's ending. Things are looking almost apocalyptic in scale with Homelander now seemingly immortal and in full control of the country. Luckily we don't have to wait too much longer to see how things shake out.
The Boys airs new episodes Wednesdays on Amazon Prime Video as part of the 2026 TV schedule. While Gen V has been scrapped, a new spinoff is coming with Vought Rising.
