Now that the final season of The Boys is in production with a 2026 release window, let’s take a look at the comic book series that gave birth to the story and see what awaits all the main players at the end of this road.
Note that the following paragraphs contain major spoilers for The Boys comic books. We already know the television universe is doing its own thing and has already deviated from the original narrative, but some of these plot threads might still find their way to the TV show.
In The Boys season 4, Billy Butcher gave in to his illusions and vowed to destroy Homelander and his cabal of insurrectionists. The Boys, aghast at Butcher’s grotesque killing of Victoria Neuman, become separated as supes and government agents come to take them away.
Now nearly unstoppable, Homelander prepares to dominate the United States and eradicate all his opposition. The stage is set for the final season, so the real question is: What would happen to our favorite characters if the story stuck to the comic book ending?
The Boys comic book ending, explained
In The Boys comics, Homelander becomes more and more unhinged just as in the television show. He even sees footage of himself committing crimes that he doesn’t remember. This all culminates in Homelander and his supe loyalists assaulting the White House to take control.
The United States military is ready for them, however, having developed weapons specifically designed to kill supes. Butcher leads the counterattack and the military kills all of Homelander’s supe buddies. Butcher confronts Homelander in the Oval Office, where it’s revealed that Black Noir was a more powerful clone of Homelander, designed as a contingency to bring him down in case he goes rogue. Noir also reveals that he was the one who committed all those crimes and even raped Butcher’s wife.
Noir kills Homelander, but is gunned down by the military as he tries to get away. Butcher bashes in his head with a crowbar, finally killing him.
As for The Boys themselves, one of the final arcs in the story revolves around a strain of Compound V that can remotely kill every supe who has taken it. Butcher is hell-bent on using it to kill all the supes, but the Boys try to stop him. Butcher ends up killing Mother’s Milk, the Female (Kimiko), and Frenchie, leaving only Hughie.
Hughie tries to stop Butcher but they’re both injured. Butcher becomes paralyzed and begs Hughie to finish him off, but he refuses. Butcher lies to Hughie by saying he killed his parents. Hughie ultimately stabs Butcher and kills him.
Of the Boys, only Hughie survives, and of the Seven, only The Deep and Starlight manage to get out of the conflict alive, with Homelander killing both A-Train and Queen Maeve in earlier volumes. In the sequel epilogue, ten years have passed. Hughie and Starlight get married and the world returns to a state of normalcy with the near extinction of supes.
Pretty grim all around, eh? But then, we’ve come to expect nothing less of The Boys. There’s no telling if the television show will follow the original comic, but we can say with absolute certainty that fans shouldn’t expect a happy ending when the final season arrives.