The Boys was nearly a trilogy directed by Adam McKay

Showrunner Eric Kripke hinted at an emotionally satisfying and surprising ending

According to a recent report by Rolling Stone, the development journey of The Boys revealed that the popular Prime Video series was originally considered for a movie trilogy. When Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg first encountered the comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson in 2006, they were immediately impressed. "We were like, 'Holy shit, this is f*cking crazy,'" Rogen recalled. "And that week we went to Sony and we’re like, 'You guys should make this.'" Sony acquired the rights, and the adaptation went through several stages before returning to Rogen, Goldberg, and showrunner Eric Kripke.

Adam McKay, known for Anchorman and Don't Look Up, was initially set to direct a trilogy, with the first installment reaching the screenplay and animatics stage. However, as Robertson explained, McKay could not get the project greenlit. "I wouldn’t change how it worked out because the show is amazing. But he was doing really cool stuff. It just came down to it being 2008, not 2018. I just don’t think they were ready for it yet."

The Boys is confirmed to end with its fifth season. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Kripke shared his thoughts on the series' conclusion. "I have an ending in mind, I’ll say that. I want it to be satisfying, right? I mean, you could count the great series finales on one hand. So it’s a real hard target. And I would want it to be emotionally satisfying but also surprising in how I’m delivering it."

When asked if the series will have a happy ending, Kripke remarked, "Anything worth having is worth fighting for. When something good in the show happens, I always ask, 'What’s the cost?'" He emphasized that unlike Game of Thrones, the show operates in "a moral universe where when you choose love, family, and mercy, good things happen to you. And when you choose vengeance and hate, that causes as much harm to you as it does to the person you’re trying to enact vengeance on."

In season 4 of The Boys, the world faces significant turmoil. Victoria Neuman is on the verge of reaching the Oval Office, influenced by Homelander, who is increasing his power. Butcher, with limited time to live, has lost Becca's son and his leadership of The Boys. The rest of the team, disillusioned by his deceptions, must unite to save the world.

The first four episodes of The Boys season 4 are now streaming on Prime Video.