After 7 years, the series The Boys has come to an end, and not all fans are happy with the finale. Especially the portrayal of the main villain Homelander is causing controversy.
On May 20, 2026, the last episode of The Boys aired on Amazon Prime Video, and as has been the case recently with series finales, not everyone is satisfied with how the superhero series ended. With a 6.7 on IMDb, it is currently the episode with the second-lowest rating of the entire series.
The biggest point of criticism for many is the treatment of Homelander. Some feel it goes too far, especially because he is not portrayed the way some had expected. The creators themselves were a bit afraid of the finale beforehand.
Warning Spoilers: The following article spoils the ending of Season 5 of The Boys. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should come back later.
Homelander has lost his entire aura
What are fans criticizing? In the finale, Homelander loses his superpowers thanks to Kimiko’s new ability. After that, he gets beaten by Butcher and begs for his life, even offering to eat feces or perform oral sex. That sounds more like The Deep than Homelander.
Some fans have a problem with this portrayal, as can be seen on x.com. One user (via x.com) writes that this very situation has taken away the character’s entire aura
. Other fans criticize that it was far too easy to defeat him and that he didn’t use all his power.
Another user (via x.com) goes even further and attacks the writers. He criticizes that Homelander was portrayed as explicitly weak and pathetic
and that it was made clear that he is no hero.
Some other users even attribute the criticism to the woke virus
, which has turned Homelander into a parody of Trump.
But is this criticism really valid?
Homelander’s ending is not a big surprise
What does MeinMMO editor Nikolas Hernes say about Homelander’s ending? For me, Homelander’s ending was not really surprising, as he has always been a character who defined himself only by his power. That without this power he is a nobody was already apparent in previous seasons, and I therefore find his behavior in the finale quite plausible. Also, the references to Trump and current politics in the USA are not first made clear in this season.
Homelander as a character has an interesting status within pop culture because he is often seen not only as a villain but as someone with a lot of aura
. He was previously revered by some fans. Anthony Starr, who plays the character, even commented on this in an interview in 2024. He said: The strange thing is that some people idolize him and see him as a kind of leader for their own cause in the real world, which is a bit disturbing.
Like so many popular films, series, or games, he is a symbol of the culture war, even though the writers of the series have always portrayed him as an evil and ruthless villain. Even in Season 1, he destroyed an entire plane full of passengers.
That is why there are also fans on x.com who praise the treatment of Homelander and even call it the best season finale ever written
.
BUT: Not all criticism of the finale is baseless. I also have many issues with the season and the finale, especially how Homelander, Butcher, and Soldier Boy are written, as they have no consistent character development anymore. The season has done many things poorly, but in my opinion, the ending of Homelander was still successful.
The endings of popular series like The Boys always spark great discussions, especially in fan communities. But there is often a divide between critics and fans in the film industry as well. Mortal Kombat 2 perfectly illustrates what that’s about: Mortal Kombat 2 divides critics and fans, highlighting the issue with every video game adaptation
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