"Two sides of the same coin": Eric Kripke teases The Boys Season 5 will dive into Homelander and Butcher's twisted affinity

Prime Video's satirical superhero drama, The Boys Season 5, is expected to release in 2026. Ahead of the series' finale, creator Eric Kripke teased some filming and plot updates. In a January 2025 Forbes interview, Eric Kripke revealed that filming for the fifth season is underway, and the scripts are being constantly upgraded to match real-world events.

In a recent interview with TV Insider, The Boys' creator chose to revisit and explain some important moments of The Boys Season 4 in addition to some tidbits about the upcoming season. He drew close comparisons between two major characters of The Boys- Karl Urban's Billy Butcher and Antony Starr's Homelander,

"Because they (Butcher and Homelander) have this two sides of the same coin thing when they're epic hero and villain of the show."

Quite shocking, right? On one side, we have the foul-mouthed vigilante, Billy Butcher, and on the other hand, his sworn enemy, the power-hungry Homelander. Kripke revealed by putting Butcher and Homelander on almost the same emotional journey, he aimed to explore how each would react to the situations. He told,

"Homelander's story in the season was one of morality and legacy. He's getting older, so he wants to go back and face his childhood and try to put all that behind him. He wanted to try to be this good father and create this legacy moving forward, and all that's very intentional, and it's exactly what Butcher's going through."

The Boys Season 4 finale wrapped up with shocking twists, betrayals, and unexpected deaths, but left some pivotal questions unanswered. For the upcoming season, the viewers will get to witness intense face-offs, chaos, and tensions that might escalate between the ageing and terminally ill Butcher and power-hungry Homelander. Over the four seasons, one thing has become quite clear that both the characters are complex and are driven by revenge and personal loss. Though they are enemies, they often act in similar ways, making it hard to point out who is right or wrong!

The Boys fans have been teasing Butcher and Homelander's similarities since Season 3

The Boys creator Eric Kripke might have teased the similarities between Butcher and Homelander, but fans have noticed it way back. In a Reddit thread, by u/FURY_Serialis while discussing Season 3, the user questioned whether the show was trying to portray Homelander and Butcher identically. The post read:

"They are both manipulative; they both lure others to gain whatever they want. They share similar views regarding how the world works and such. And finally, they both have a lust for killing people. Based on these observations what are your general thoughts on their similarities ?

Several comments agreed with this post. For instance, u/Bright_Swordfish4820, wrote,

"They both had traumatic (though different) upbringings that f***ed them up. The show really leans into how trauma f**ks people long-term, whether it happens in childhood or not ("First off, I don't have shell-shock, f**k you!"), and basically every one of the main characters is damaged, so they're all linked in that way."

While u/Uncanny_Doom wrote,

"Yes and it doesn’t stop there. They both hold themselves to a different standard than everyone else on their team and expect people to fall in line for them. They have obsessive tendencies and are willing to do extreme things in pursuit of what makes them feel whole. Butcher is seemingly on a path where he is going to cross a line to end up no better than the entitled and corrupt Supes he hates so much."

Another user, u/Low-External8845 agreed and wrote:

"Different twat same c**t."

While u/Idoled_Out wrote,

Homelander is racist against humans. Butcher is racist against supes. Each for their own reasons. It’s definitely conveying that they are one in the same.

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The Boys is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Also read: The Boys Showrunner reveals what to expect from the final Season of the show

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