Eric Kripke teases the intense emotional arcs to come in The Boys season 5. Kripke is the showrunner for the Prime Video series, which is based on the comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The series began in 2019 and has had four completed seasons and one season of a spinoff series Gen V. The Boys season 5 is currently in development, and will see the return of the popular character Soldier Boy, who was teased at the end of season 4. The show’s returning cast also includes Anthony Starr, Jack Quaid, Karl Urban, Erin Moriarty, and Laz Alonso.
In an interview with TV Insider, Kripke discusses the character arcs to come in The Boys season 5. Breaking down the relationship between Homelander and Solider Boy, he teases a lot of “fraught emotional turns.” Kripke explaines that Homeland “just wants someone to love him.” He says that this relationship extends to Solider Boy, whom Homelander wants to make proud. He details that season 5 will be “playing this father-son relationship between these two characters.” Check out Kripke’s full quote below:
The thing about Homelander — and I was just talking to Antony about this yesterday — is it’s sort of tragic, actually, but ultimately, the guy just wants someone to love him. He tries amassing all of this power just so someone somewhere will love him, but they’re all scared of him because of all that power. And I think the same goes for Soldier Boy…. [Homelander] just wants a dad to love him and be proud of him.
And without spoiling anything in Season 5, I would say, because the revelation that Soldier Boy was his father came so late in Season 3, we never really got the chance to play it, but actually playing this father-son relationship between those two characters, there’s a lot of material to mine there and a lot of fraught emotional turns. So we’re able to dig into that in Season 5, and it has been a blast watching those two actors play off each other in the dailies.
What This Means For The Boys Season 5
Homelander Is Desperate To Be Loved In Many Scenarios
As Kripke explains in his quote, Soldier Boy is revealed to be Homelander’s father in The Boys season 3. At the end of that season, Soldier Boy appears to explode and die, quashing the chances of Starr’s character developing a deep father-son connection. It is not revealed until The Boys season 4 ending that Soldier Boy is alive and in a coma in cryosleep. Homelander finds this out during the key scene, but the fallout of this revelation will be fully explored in season 5.
This idea that Homelander “just wants someone to love him” can be traced throughout the duration of the series so far. The character has an obsession with breast milk, which could reflect an extant desire for maternal love that he did not experience growing up. This projects onto any romantic relationships he has in the series, which all show a kind of desperation from the character. It seems that The Boys season 5 will lean into the Solider Boy relationship to reflect this aspect of his character.
Our Take On The Soldier Boy And Homelander Arc
Father-Son Relationships Are Key
Based on what happened in season 4, it seems like The Boys season 5 could trace father-son relationships throughout a lot of the season. Homelander also has to reconcile his relationship with his son, Ryan, whom he wants to impress but is resentful of due to Ryan’s relationship with Billy Butcher. Billy and Ryan also have a kind of pseudo-father-son relationship because Ryan is the son of Billy’s late wife, Becca. With Soldier Boy and Homelander at the core, The Boys season 5 could explore interesting paternal themes throughout its run.
Source: TV Insider
The Boys
7/10
- Release Date
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July 25, 2019
- Showrunner
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Eric Kripke
- Writers
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Eric Kripke
- Franchise(s)
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The Boys