How Antony Starr Really Feels About The Boys Ending With Season 5

It's never easy saying goodbye to a television series you love — even if you play a megalomaniacally murderous monster. Indeed, actor Antony Starr has portrayed the homicidal supe Homelander on the Prime Video series "The Boys" for four seasons, so he probably has some pretty complicated feelings about the show coming to an end in the upcoming season 5. On the one hand, he's probably a little relieved to not have to go to the depraved depths the character frequently goes to for too much longer. On the other hand, the show's cast and crew sure seem like they're having a great time together.

Appearing on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast, Starr and several of his fellow castmates discussed the upcoming finale and their feelings about the end of it all. Never one to mince words, Starr revealed that he was honestly a little surprised that the show has run for as long as it has and that he cares more about how the series ends than when it ends.

On the podcast, Starr explained that while "The Boys" creator/showrunner Eric Kripke had planned on five seasons all along, Starr wasn't personally certain the series would last that long. However, he quickly clarified that he's glad it has and he hopes it goes out on the right note:

"[Kripke] started the show saying that this was always in his head to go five seasons. And, of course, I don't know about you guys, but I was sitting there going, 'Pff, we'll see. Oh, we shall see. It might only go two.' But, no, the show has done well. I think everyone wants to go out on a strong note, and I think there's nothing worse — and I've been involved in a show that did this, it was f***ing horrible — you do that last season and it's s***. And you get remembered very poorly and you've got to kind of wear that. I like to think that we will go out on a really strong note and I think we all deserve it."

There's a handful of different series that Starr could be referencing, though hopefully, it's not the excellent "Banshee," which went out just as great as it started. All the same, he's right when he says there's nothing worse than a crummy final season. (Just look at "Game of Thrones"!) "The Boys" has certainly been setting itself up for one wild blast of an ending, but it's hard to say if fans will love what Kripke has in store.

One big question is whether or not Homelander will bite the big one before the final credits roll, as the show has deviated enough from the comics that it's anyone's best guess, really. Kripke has warned that no one is safe and that fans should be prepared to say goodbye to quite a few characters in the final season, but it's hard to imagine anyone being particularly upset to see Homelander die. He's been one of the series' most vile villains since the beginning, and (spoiler for the "Boys" comic book inbound) he does, in fact, die in the original comics at the hands of Black Noir, who is actually his clone. The show has completely abandoned that plotline, though, so all bets are off when it comes to the character's fate. 

Butcher (Karl Urban) seems like the most likely option to kill him, but who knows? Maybe Homelander turns at the very end because of Ryan and winds up saving everyone from Butcher by taking him out or something. Or maybe he gets taken out by one of the young supes from "Gen V." He's a major wild card, to put it mildly. Either way, it's unlikely that Homelander will survive the final season. Still, so long as he goes out in an appropriately over-the-top, gory way, most of the fans should be happy.

"The Boys" season 5 has yet to receive a premiere date.