How Homelander Will Die in ‘The Boys’: Every Credible Theory Ranked

The most dangerous superhero on television is running out of time. With ‘The Boys’ charging toward its final episodes on Prime Video, the question that has haunted fans since season one is no longer theoretical — it is imminent. Someone is going to bring Homelander down, and the show has been laying breadcrumbs for years.

After an explosive run, ‘The Boys’ is preparing to take its final bow with its fifth and last season. The stakes are higher than ever after Season 4 ended with the boys in prison, a new US president who swears allegiance to Homelander, and the United States under martial law. The endgame is here, and the community has never been louder about what it thinks comes next.

The Comics Blueprint and Why the Show Can’t Use It

In the comics, Homelander does die, and the scene is one of the most shocking moments in the fictional universe. Black Noir, who is actually a clone of Homelander created as a means of controlling him, attacks Homelander at the White House in front of soldiers and government agents, and in a brutal battle tears him to pieces. It is a visceral and fitting conclusion on the page, but the television adaptation has taken a dramatically different path.

Showrunner Erik Kripke confirmed back in 2020 that in the TV show, Black Noir was never a clone of Homelander. In the show, Black Noir went in a very different direction, and Ryan is the character who shares genetics with Homelander, making him potentially capable of destroying him. With that door firmly closed, the writers need a different instrument of death.

The original Black Noir was never a clone of Homelander, and Homelander already killed him in Season 3, prompting Vought to replace him with an actor who certainly could not go toe-to-toe with the immensely powerful supe. The show has effectively written itself into a corner where only a handful of characters have the physical power to finish the job.

The Supe-Killing Virus and Its Complications

As established in the season five premiere, Billy Butcher is in possession of a Supe-killing virus, and the titular team has one clear objective in the final chapter: kill Homelander. The virus actually started out as a Vought-funded project, with the company hiring a scientist named Dr. Edison Cardosa to create something that could subdue and control Supes. What seemed like the perfect weapon has become a logistical nightmare.

Butcher’s plan involved using Ryan as bait, exposing Homelander to the virus and killing all three of them. However, things went awry when Dr. Sameer Shah destroyed the virus after learning the truth about what happened to Victoria Neuman. With the supply gone and Butcher estimating it would take around a month to synthesize more, the clock is ticking in the worst possible direction.

There is also a chance that the virus may never be strong enough to take out a Supe like Homelander. One compelling suggestion, inspired by Soldier Boy walking away from his encounter with the substance, is that V1 could protect him, since Homelander is reportedly on the hunt for the original Compound V strain to make himself immortal. If Homelander gets his hands on V1 before the boys can restock their supply, the virus play is dead before it even starts.

Ryan Butcher as the Instrument of Patricide

The theory with the most dramatic weight, and arguably the most narrative support, is that Ryan will be the one to kill his own father. Because Ryan has the same powers as Homelander, it has long been theorized that he will be the one to kill him.

It would be a change from the comics, but it would feel fitting with the show, since him defeating his own father and getting revenge for his own mother feels like the kind of thing the series would do.

In ‘The Boys’ season five episode three, Ryan lets his rage get the best of him and sets out to face his biological father without the virus. Believing he can beat Homelander, Ryan even starts attacking him while asking him for answers, and manages to make his nose bleed, something that only Queen Maeve had previously achieved. It is a brief but significant moment that confirms the power gap is narrowing.

Season five is already driving home the fact that the Supe is aging, and with Homelander getting older and perhaps weaker, the theory goes that the newer, shinier, and perhaps more powerful version of him could be the one to finally bring him down. The tragic poetry of a son destroying the father who never deserved him is exactly the kind of gut-punch ‘The Boys’ has always been building toward.

The Powerless Fate Theory and What Would Be Worse Than Death

Not every theory ends with a corpse. One Reddit theory posits that Homelander will survive his inevitable downfall, possibly losing his powers prior to dying, or ending up in cryo just like Soldier Boy.

‘The Boys‘ season five even foreshadows it by having Homelander step into Soldier Boy’s chamber. For a character defined entirely by his invulnerability and superiority, stripping him of everything could land as a punishment more devastating than death.

Leaving Homelander alive, even powerless or in cryo, is risky, as it opens the door for a comeback. However, in some ways, wrapping the supe’s story with him as an ordinary person — the very thing he detests — is more fitting.

There is also the showrunner’s own words to contend with. During an interview with Metacritic, Eric Kripke revealed that there is no series ending without Homelander’s death, stating plainly that he is not comfortable with keeping that character alive in the universe.

As of episode five, the show has released five episodes with only three remaining before the finale that will conclude the storyline of the Amazon Prime Video series forever. Whatever form Homelander’s reckoning takes, it is coming fast.

Whether it is a virus, a laser beam from his own son, or the slow indignity of becoming the powerless nobody he always feared, ‘The Boys’ has earned the right to make that death mean something — so what do you think is the only ending that would actually feel worthy of everything this show has put Homelander through?