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Amazon Prime Video’s series “The Boys” returned for its fifth and final season, with showrunner Eric Kripke noting in an interview that the superhero show is heavily inspired by real life.
He said it’s a “sinking feeling” to watch real-world events that go beyond his show’s satire.
“It’s not a great feeling. It’s a sinking feeling. It’s never great when the world out-crazies your superhero show with exploding penises,” Kripke told The Hollywood Reporter in an April 7 article, citing “internment camps” and the use of federal troops in cities.
He also criticized leadership, referring to the “clown in charge of the military” in comments about Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
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An image from the trailer for Season 5 of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys,” which premiered on April 8. (Screenshot/Amazon Prime YouTube)
“The Boys” follows a group of vigilantes who take on corrupt superheroes who abuse their power and stardom. Kripke previously compared the show’s main villain, Homelander, to President Donald Trump.
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Despite the sharp political commentary, Kripke maintained that the show’s “quarrel is not with people” but with those in charge. He noted that the writers included a “right-winger” character who is portrayed as a “good guy,” explaining that the show’s focus is on “leaders who are just really problematic.”
An image from the trailer for Season 5 of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys,” which premiered on April 8. (Screenshot/Amazon Prime YouTube)
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The premiere opens with Homelander, draped in the American flag, speaking at a rally with nationalist imagery. As the crowd chants “USA,” the camera lingers on specific figures, including a pregnant woman and a man in a red hat, who viewers say resembles late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
During the rally, Homelander references “freedom camps” where citizens are imprisoned, uses phrases like “golden dawn” and labels rivals as terrorists.
Eric Kripke attended Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” Season 2 drive-in premiere and fan screening on Sept. 4, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Amazon Studios)
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Kripke told Rolling Stone in 2022 that Homelander has “always been a Trump analogue.” In 2024, Amazon Prime Video added a disclaimer to the Season 4 finale, originally titled “Assassination Run,” following the attempted assassination of Trump.
While the show remains a hit for Amazon, many fans claim the writing has become too overt. One user wrote on X, getting nearly 2 million views: “The Boys is another example of the Hollywood left trying to villainize the right and make them look awful.” A second user wrote that the first 20 minutes of the season included “every liberal buzzword.”
Digital reached out to Amazon for comment.
