Did Butcher Just Engineer Homelander’s Successor in The Boys Season 5?

As The Boys barrels toward its finale, the real endgame may already be in motion: Butcher has created Homelander’s replacement — a twist that could launch the franchise beyond the main series. Spoilers for Season 5, Episodes 1–7.

Short version up front: I think Butcher already built Homelander’s replacement, whether he meant to or not — and it gives The Boys an easy path for what comes after the main show wraps.

Spoilers for The Boys Season 5, Episodes 1-7 ahead.

Where the show is headed (and what it won’t have time to clean up)

The Boys is down to a single episode to try to take Homelander off the board and pretend the world can go back to normal. But even if they pull that off, super-powered headaches aren’t disappearing. If you take Stan Edgar at his word, something will fill the vacuum and keep the money-and-mayhem machine humming.

That last episode is a standard-length finale, which means it’s probably going to focus on the big four — Homelander, Butcher, Hughie, and Starlight — and leave a lot of fallout for later. Supporting characters will almost certainly get shortchanged. And with the Gen V spinoff now canceled, those characters are unlikely to get tidy conclusions either. Eric Kripke has teased that some Gen V faces could pop up elsewhere (via EW), and Soldier Boy looks likely to make it out alive, so the table is set for follow-ups or side stories. The question is: who replaces Homelander as the franchise ’s center of gravity?

The answer might already be standing there: Ryan

Here’s the weird part: for a kid who matters to both Homelander and Butcher, Ryan barely shows up in Season 5. That’s strange when you remember he’s the only naturally born supe in this universe and could eventually hit Homelander-level power. Even if he appears in the finale, there’s not much runway left to pay off that setup.

After his one-on-one with Homelander in Episode 3, it’s pretty clear Ryan isn’t the magic bullet to drop his dad — at least not by himself. And given everything he’s been through since the Season 4 finale, it’s hard to see him blindly siding with Homelander. But Butcher hasn’t exactly rolled out the welcome mat either. If Ryan decides both camps are using him, he could sit out the last big clash entirely — and that’s exactly where Vought, Stan Edgar, and Zoe can swoop in. To them, Ryan is a cleaner, more controllable version of his father. That’s the pitch. That’s the brand refresh.

Butcher might have created the problem he’s trying to solve

People love to argue that Butcher flirts with being as monstrous as Homelander. He’s not his comics counterpart, but he’s still a guy who will burn almost anything to get revenge. And that includes Ryan. He’s botched multiple chances to actually help the kid who clearly wants his approval, because hurting Homelander usually ranks higher on his to-do list. If Ryan ultimately becomes the next face of Vought, that’s the worst kind of poetic justice: Butcher’s war makes the very enemy he’s trying to erase.

I don’t think Ryan would ever be as terrifying as Homelander, but if Butcher keeps choosing rage over responsibility, he keeps the cycle going. That path sends Ryan straight into the arms of Edgar and Zoe, and once he trusts them, he’s primed to be Vought’s new puppet.

Why Ryan is perfectly set up to replace Homelander

• He’s the only natural-born supe, with the potential ceiling to match Homelander over time.
• Season 5 sidelines him, which conveniently leaves his arc open for whatever comes next.
• After Season 4’s fallout and Butcher’s cold shoulder, he has little reason to pick either side in the finale.
• His Episode 3 clash shows he can’t take down Homelander alone — but he doesn’t need to if Vought positions him as the acceptable alternative.
• Vought and Stan Edgar aren’t going anywhere, and they’d love a more palatable, easier-to-steer successor.
• With Gen V canceled but its characters teased to return elsewhere, and Soldier Boy likely sticking around, the board is already set for sequels and spin-offs built around a new flagship supe.

Put it all together, and Ryan stepping into Homelander’s shadow feels less like a twist and more like the plan. If that happens, it doesn’t just extend the world of The Boys — it turns Butcher’s legacy pitch black.