'The Boys,' Amazon's hit superhero satire show, will end with Season 5

LOS ANGELES -- LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Boys,” Amazon Prime Video’s epic superhero satire series, will end with its fifth season.

The show’s creator and showrunner Eric Kripke announced “the end has begun” while promoting the series’ fourth season, which premieres Thursday on Prime Video.

“Season 4 Premiere Week is a good time to announce: Season 5 will be the Final Season! Always my plan, I just had to be cagey till I got the final OK from Vought,” Kripke wrote on X, referencing the powerful company that manages the celebrity-like superheroes on the show. “Thrilled to bring the story to a gory, epic, moist climax.”

To accompany the announcement, Kripke shared an image of what appears to be a redacted script for the final episode of the fourth season, with a profane message at the bottom referencing the final season.

The series, which is based on a comic of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, follows a team of vigilantes who take on a group of superheroes who are treated like A-listers and abuse their power. As The Boys, led by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and Hughie Campbell ( Jack Quaid ), also take on the Vought conglomerate that monetizes these superheroes, the show comments on capitalism and corruption while maintaining its status as a sharp, gory action show.

“The Boys” has been one of Prime Video’s most popular original series, spawning two spinoffs, “Gen V” and “Diabolical.” Both take place in the same universe as “The Boys,” with “Gen V” focusing on college-aged heroes mastering their powers, and “Diabolical” telling a series of short stories through animated episodes.

In response to a request for comment, Amazon said it had no further information to share on the end of “The Boys” or the status of “Gen V.”

Kripke executive produces “The Boys” with several collaborators, including comedy production duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg under their production company, Point Grey Pictures. The collaborators also worked on developing “Gen V” together, and the show’s second season is in development.

Kripke said he and the production team had to “rethink everything” about the spinoff's second season when one of the show’s stars, Chance Perdomo, died in a motorcycle accident. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kripke said the revised storyline will honor the late actor and his legacy. “It’s the least we could do,” he said.

Season 4 of “The Boys” will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on Thursday. Season 5’s release date has not yet been announced.