The Boys showrunner announces that season five will be the end of the gory superhero satire… just days before the Amazon series returns for season four

The Amazon Prime Video show The Boys is coming to an end after its fifth season, the showrunner of the series announced on Tuesday.

Eric Kripke shared what appeared to be part of the script for the season four finale episode, which was almost completely blacked out, while revealing that the next season would be the show’s last.

“#TheBoys Season 4 Premiere Week is a great time to announce: Season 5 will be the final season!” Kripke revealed.

“Always my plan, just had to hold back until I got final approval from Vought,” he added, jokingly referring to the evil company seeking world domination in The Boys universe. ‘Happy to take the story to a bloody, epic, wet climax. Watch season 4 in 2 DAYS because the end has begun!’

Fans of the show who have been eagerly awaiting its return since season three wrapped in 2022 will rejoice as Amazon is steamrolling the first three episodes of season four starting Thursday, June 13, with the remaining episodes releasing weekly.

Kripke said ending with season five was “always” his intention, and he included a script page from the season four finale

The script snippet Kripke posted noted that it was from the eighth and final episode of season four, titled Assassination Run.

The design was dated February 2, 2023 and opened with a fade-in to a nighttime interior environment.

But everything below that was censored with black lines. The last word from the scene was simply ‘Blackout’.

Kripke will direct the final episode of season four, while the script is written by Jessica Chou and David Reed.

The Boys debuted on Amazon in 2019 and quickly became a fan favorite thanks to its dark sense of humor and departure from presenting a superhero story in the manner of ubiquitous Marvel and DC films.

Based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys is set in a world where audiences recognize and respect superheroes, most of whom work for Vought International. However, the individuals with superpowers are largely corrupt and immoral.

The eponymous Boys are a group that opposes Vought and the superheroes and does everything they can to take them down.

Karl Urban stars as Billy Butcher, the leader of The Boys, while Jack Quaid joins their team early in the series after his girlfriend is accidentally killed by one of Vought’s heroes.

Antony Starr stars as Homelander, the psychopathic leader of Vought’s superhero team, The Seven.

Season four also adds Supernatural and The Walking Dead’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan to the cast.

He is the second Supernatural alumnus to appear in the series, following Jensen Ackle’s stint as Soldier Boy, the original leader of the Seven and the precursor to Homelander, in season three.

Eric Kripke (pictured June 4 in New York) developed The Boys and serves as showrunner. It is based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson

The Boys is set in a world where audiences respect superheroes, most of whom work for Vought International. However, the individuals with superpowers are largely corrupt and immoral

The eponymous Boys are a group that opposes Vought and the superheroes and does everything they can to take them down. They are led by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban, L)

Antony Starr (R) stars as Homelander, the psychopathic leader of Vought’s superhero team, The Seven

The Boys returns Thursday with the first three episodes before airing weekly; Kripke (R) pictured with Urban (L) and EP Seth Rogen (center) in 2019 in San Diego

The Supernatural connection likely has to do with showrunner Eric Kripke, who created Supernatural and helmed the series for its first five seasons.

Amazon renewed The Boys for a further five seasons in May, but it did not specify that this season would be the show’s last at that time.

However, Kripke had previously said that he hoped to complete the show in five seasons.

The Boys has proven to be a popular property for Amazon, and it was turned into the animated anthology The Boys Presents: Diabolical, as well as the college-set superhero series Gen V, and two other shows are reportedly in the works.