The Toronto-filmed series The Boys has been a Prime Video hit since its 2019 premiere. Starring Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Karen Fukuhara, Colby Minifie, Tomer Capone, Jessie T. Usher and Nathan Mitchell, the show, created by Eric Kripke, is known for blending some great action with absolutely outrageous storylines, but still has a strong emotional and poignant social commentary.
Now that we’ve reached Season 5, the final season of The Boys (premiering April 8 on Prime Video), we pick up as Homelander (Starr) has more power than ever before, taking control of the U.S. government. Hughie (Quaid), Mother’s Milk (Alonso) and Frenchie (Capone) are imprisoned in the “Freedom Camp,” and Annie January (Moriarty) is challenging Homelander’s power by leading a resistance with the Starlighters. Billy Butcher (Urban) reappears, armed with a virus to wipe out all supes.
With a show that has so many connections to the real world, including particular parallels between Homelander and U.S. President Donald Trump, Kripke shared with Yahoo Canada that it was “tricky” to figure out how to bring the show to a close.
“What we decided in the writers room, and luckily, I have a room full of really true geniuses, but we just figured, OK, well, … in terms of the ending, let’s focus on the characters,” he said. “Their character arcs, not just over Season 5, but over all the seasons, if we were to take those to their logical end, where their character is, their destiny, … we can end it that way.”
“And then in terms of the world, the world just keeps going, and you can’t end a world like that. … We did what we’ve always done, which is, we’ve just reflected what we see. And if Season 5 is crazier, it’s because the world is crazier.”
If Season 5 is crazier, it’s because the world is crazier.
Erin Moriarty: ‘I’ve been able to live that trauma’
A particularly interesting character to see evolve throughout the run of The Boys and extending into the Gen V series is Moriarty’s Annie a.k.a. Starlight. For Season 3 Moriarty told Yahoo Canada that a highlight was to see “kick ass lead female characters that are complicated, nuanced, paradoxical, but ultimately really strong.”
And all of those elements of the character have been strengthened to an even greater degree, especially in Season 5, with Moriarty making Annie one of TV’s most dynamic and layered characters.
“It’s been amazing to grow with her. I’ve always felt like, as soon as we meet her in the beginning, we do, of course, naturally put her in a box, and … she does break that box consistently,” Moriarty said. “One of my biggest priorities was to really, really try and keep in mind what she’s been through. And how can I embody this character in the final season, keep her empowered, make sure that I maintain her strength, but I also make sure that I incorporate and integrate everything she’s been through. The sexual abuse, the psychological abuse, the really intense realization that the reality that she was striving for is the opposite of the reality that she confronts when she is introduced to The Seven to begin with.”
“Everything that she’s been through so far, how is that going to create a character in this final season that is nuanced, that is still strong, that is trying to obtain her objective of saving the world? And I think it was a challenge that I hope I accomplished in a way that gives this character the closure and the full-circle moments that she really deserves.”
Moriarty also stressed that what she loves about working in TV is being able to play the same character for multiple seasons, over several years.
“When you meet a character in Episode 1, Season 1, as an actress, my homework is to build up her backstory,” she said. “But then, as of Season 5, I’ve lived in her shoes for so many years. So that was a really cool element.”
“Everything that I’ve tried to incorporate that I’ve mentioned, in terms of her trauma, and integrate, I’ve been able to live that trauma, so to speak, in the character’s shoes. So it was really cool to do that research firsthand and experientially through each season. So to watch it all culminate in this final season was emotional, but really satisfying and challenging at the same time.”
Valorie Curry (Firecracker), Colby Minifie (Ashley Barrett) – The Boys Season 5 (Jasper Savage/Prime Video)
(Jasper Savage/Prime Video)Colby Minifie on exploring Ashley’s anxiety and superpowers in Season 5
A character with a particularly interesting start to Season 5 is Colby Minifie’s Ashley Barrett, the conflicted character who’s going into the season with new powers.
“[In Season 5] I really get to explore … a lot more of Ashley’s anxiety in these newfound superpowers. So that’s been really exciting,” Minifie said. “And I just also can’t believe that it started from Season 1, being a recurring character, and now being an integral part of this show. It’s really exciting and lovely, and that is something I’m really going to miss on The Boys.”
“It’s been really fun to play a character that is under so much stress in an already heightened world. … I come from theatre, and I always think that whenever I book TV, I play these like crazy people, because I’m so used to being on this big stage. … I’ve gotten to, because it’s so heightened, however I want to react to something, I can go as far as I want to go, and then they can pull me back from there. But oftentimes they’re just like, ‘Go for it.’ And these crazy sounds come out of my face, and I’m like, well, I guess this is what Ashley’s going through right now. … That freedom has been really lovely to play with as an actor.”
Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko), Tomer Capone (Frenchie) – The Boys Season 5 (Jasper Savage/Prime Video)
(Jasper Savage/Prime Video)Kimiko and Frenchie: Powerful and emotional
Consistently, one of the most captivating characters on The Boys is Karen Fukuhara’s Kimiko, whose action sequences throughout the series are legendary. The show also explores her softer side, primarily through her relationship with Tomer Capone’s Frenchie.
“She has the most action scenes out of all of the characters, but she also has this incredibly vulnerable side to her. I think what the fans love is having both,” Fukuhara highlighted. “She’s a character that can be strong, but can also be soft as well, and her relationship with Frenchie has definitely developed her softer side, and that will be really exciting in the next season to explore.”
“And I’m just so thankful that we had such an amazing stunt team that helped me grow as a martial artist.”
In a separate interview, Capone said The Boys has been a “dream job,” particularly because of all the variety in his character’s journey throughout the show.
“To have crazy scenes like obviously we have on the show, but then go and play the soft, emotional side of Frenchie, with Frenchie and Kimiko’s relationship, it’s the best gift I could ever get,” Capone said. “And playing this character and seeing him evolve throughout the seasons, emotionally as well as violently, has been the ride of a lifetime.”
Erin Moriarty (Annie January aka Starlight), Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk) – The Boys Season 5 (Jasper Savage/Prime Video)
(Jasper Savage/Prime Video)Mother’s Milk in Season 5: ‘Someone who’s gotten beaten down by the world’
And a particularly crucial character in The Boys is Laz Alonso’s Mother’s Milk, who Kripke described as a character modelled as the group’s mother, but there’s a significant shift in his disposition in Season 5.
“I think M.M. has always kind of been the big brother or the best friend that viewers feel they either wish they had in their lives or reminds them of someone they have in their lives that they can lean on during times of weakness or trouble,” Alonso said.
“I think in Season 5, we see a different M.M. Someone who’s gotten beaten down by the world. Someone who’s possibly lost that same level of optimism and faith in humanity that he’s always kind of kept, in spite of how ugly things are. So I think that, just in my personal life, when you grow up, and you now can see your parents from a different lens as adults, and you see their faults, you know their challenges. I think that we’re going to see a different side of M.M.’s struggles and challenges in Season 5.”
(L-R): Eric Kripke (Creator, Executive Producer, Showrunner), Karl Urban (Billy Butcher) – The Boys Season 1 (Jan Thijs/Amazon Studios)
(Jan Thijs/Amazon Studios)’The Boys’ cast, creator gush about filming in Toronto
But across the board, The Boys creator and the cast are aligned in celebrating how great it was to live and film the show in Toronto for all five seasons.
“We don’t love the winters so much. You guys should do something about that,” Kripke joked.
“That crew is the best crew I’ve ever worked with, and they really became family as much as the cast. … That doesn’t always happen, that you have such a tight unit. And so many of them, I think it’s something like 75 per cent, had been there from the very beginning. So you’re talking about eight or nine years with these people. … There’s some of the best in the world.”
“The crew we had [was] incredible. Everyone is so nice,” Minifie added in a separate interview.
“And the food in Toronto was incredible. And I picked up a hot Canadian boyfriend when I was there, so I got the best kind of souvenir.”