The Boys Creator Fires Back at 'Hurricane' of Hate for Series Finale

The Boys has really pissed some people off, hasn't it? That might be an understatement though, given the online discourse following Episode 8 of Season 5, the series finale, in which Homelander went from being an immortal being with V1 coursing through his veins — claiming to be God — to nothing more than a sniveling coward willing to do illicit acts on Billy the Butcher.

By the time Butcher opened Homelander's skull with a crowbar like it was a Christmas crate containing a leg lamp, Vought's most dangerous creation had not a single iota of dignity left.

Eric Kripke, the series' showrunner, is no stranger to blowback from viewers of The Boys, particularly in the heavily satirical fifth and final season. It seemed no matter what the show did, or didn't do, there were droves of fans hurling their hatred toward him for the direction that was taken to end what many still view as one of the most iconic streaming series ever.

Having admittedly given too much of his time to scrolling through the hate and criticism, Kripke is finally firing back, and it seems he'd like to clear the air before the next big thing in The Boys universe makes its debut — namely, Vought Rising.

The Boys' Creator on Homelander's Humiliating Demise: 'I Don't Regret It'

[The social media comments were] a bit of a hurricane and a bummer to read," Kripke said, "For whatever reason, there are definitely people that the show is not working for this season. Whether it be pacing, whether it be lack of giant fight scenes — I read all the comments obsessively, one might say. To an almost unhealthy degree. But all I can say is I set out to tell a particular angle on this story."

Kripke continued, detailing how the show played out exactly as it was supposed to — no notes: "I did what we do every season, which is try to focus on The Boys and try to make it a world that’s recognizable to the one we live in. I really wasn’t interested in a post-apocalyptic world.

"That just wasn’t ever gonna be in the cards. It was always gonna be a fun-house-mirror reflection of the world we’re in right now, and its slide towards fascism. And I don’t regret it. I’m happy with how it turned out."

The Boys Did Numbers Regardless of Its Haters

And there you have it, folks. Homelander was never going to become "God of the ashes" on Kripke's watch, because the underlying thread of Antony Starr's character was always going to make its way to the surface.

Homelander (as consistently told to him by anyone with the guts to do it, including his own son) was really just an insecure little narcissist that used his power as a means of trying to feel more important than he ever actually was; and that's exactly what played out in the finale. Additionally, it appears it was the vocal minority taking to social media to air out its supposed angst, because the fifth and final season of The Boys was still one of the most-watched series in the history of Prime Video.

"[The online reaction is] a fraction of very loud, opinionated people, and God love them. They’re welcome to have that opinion," Kripke said. "But it’s actually not reflecting what’s happening out in the world. And once I saw [the numbers], I calmed right down. ... Luckily, the majority of the audience [disagrees with the negativity], and that was a very comforting piece of information."

Hate it or love it, but The Boys went out on top, despite Homelander bottoming out ... or maybe because he finally did.