The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke said ahead of season 5, the final season of the show, that he was deathly afraid of another Game of Thrones situation, messing up the final season and erasing goodwill for the past ones. While I don’t think we’ve quite arrived in that dire of a situation, things could be going better. And now, at least one or more cast member seems to be publicly agreeing as season 5 is still airing.
Over the weekend, fans were passing around the fact that Laz Alonso, the actor who plays Mother’s Milk, was sharing Reels critical of his own storyline and how Soldier Boy was getting too much screentime, a common fan complaint. The video, called “The Boys has a Soldier Boy problem” and transcription:
“I wish they would give some of the time that they’re giving to Soldier Boy to MM (that I agree with). I really wish that this could feel like a little bit more of a continuous arc because it’s feeling kind of startling. Considering that last season he is the person who saw A-Train and was like ‘we can get him, I can appeal to his humanity.”
Alonso also posted a separate Reel of someone complaining about how lame Black Noir’s death was, a brief struggle in a podcast studio where The Deep chokes him with a cord and knifes him in the throat. Hardly an epic superhero battle.
Past Alonso, fans noticed that Karl Urban’s account like a video called “New ep of The Boys makes no sense.”
Again, we’re not in Game of Thrones ending territory here. Season 5 of The Boys has a (frankly unbelievable) 97% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics, and still a 73% score from fans. IMDB episode ratings are not awful either. But on social media, yes, frequent complaints have been shared weekend, including but not limited to:
- Too much screen time for Soldier Boy, where his storyline seems like a big advertisement for the upcoming Vought Rising spinoff, where he will star.
- The sidelining of most of The Boys team, including things like the person who was the former lead of the series, Hughie, now feeling like one of its most irrelevant characters. They have absolutely butchered por Kimiko.
- The lack of good fights/deaths this season. A very poor showing from Starlight last week against Oh Father. The Deep killing Black Noir. Homelander killing Firecracker.
- Gen V fans are very annoyed both that the show was cancelled, and it spent two years building up this season of The Boys to be completely ignored, especially the god-level supe Marie Moreau, said to be on the same power level as Homelander with her ability to raise the dead.
We only have two episodes left and it’s getting a little difficult to believe The Boys will stick the landing. For a cast member or two, they may already believe that.
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