The Boys showrunner has an "ending in mind", but won’t repeat a mistake he made with Supernatural

The Boys season 4
(Image credit: Prime Video)

Fans of The Boys will recall showrunner and creator Eric Kripke originally planned for the Prime Video superhero series to bow out after five seasons.

Now, as Kripke tells SFX magazine in the new issue, which features The Boys season 4 on the cover, he may overshoot that initial promise.

"I am – without hyperbole – literally the worst person in history at predicting how long their show should go," Kripke says. "No one in the entire history of the entertainment business has been more wrong than me, giving interview after interview on how I thought Supernatural should end after five years [the series went on for 15 seasons]." 

The CW series, starring Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, is something Kripke (who stepped down as showrunner after its fifth season) is keen to learn from - even if he does have an endgame planned.

"So I would be crazy to speculate on how many seasons any show should go. I’m not going to make that same mistake again. But, yes, I do have an ending in mind."

The Boys has been renewed for a fifth season, with the fourth season arriving this month in the wake of Gen V, the college-themed spin-off starring some of Vought's finest up-and-comers as they grappled with superpowered adolescence. 

"We're about a month into the writers' room right now, so we have some pretty cool notions," Kripke recently told ScreenRant of progress on The Boys season 5. "It's a very raw lava-esque deal right now. It hasn't hardened into anything, but I'm excited. I think there's some crazy shit's been talked about, that's for sure."

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The Boys premieres on Prime Video on June 13 . The above is just a snippet from our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features The Boys season 4 on the cover and is available from Wednesday, June 12. Check out what you should look for on newsstands below...

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Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.