Eric Kripke Defends Choice To Kill Terror in 'The Boys' Series Finale

The body count increased substantially for The Boys on Wednesday. The subversive superhero parody series released its series finale on Prime Video, which saw the titular Boys take on Homelander in one last showdown in the Oval Office. While it wasn't a bloodbath in the expansive sense, the Season 5 episode took a few main players off the board. Some were expected; others, not so much.

Series creator and showrunner Eric Kripke chatted with The Hollywood Reporterabout the polarizing series finale, defending one particular character death that broke hearts around the globe. That's right; it's Billy Butcher's furry friend, Terror.

Interviewer James Hibberd noted that some fans will "be mad about the dog" before asking Kripke why he broke the "Never Kill a Dog" rule in screenwriting. This is what Kripke had to say:

"I'm not passing the buck. I own that decision. But that was in the comics as well, and it had the same result - where Butcher went completely off the deep end after Terror died. I always felt like that was a perfect trigger. That dog represented the last of his humanity, and so if that dog was going to die, Butcher's humanity was going to die with it. What I'll tell people is that we gave Terror in the show a gentle, sweet, peaceful death, and it was not like that in the comics."

Kripke also addressed the rampant censure on social media of The Boys Season 5, saying he was satisfied with how it all shook out "despite the online criticism that nothing happened." Hibberd responded that the bulk of the discourse was around the final season taking "too long getting into an end game," wondering if some fans might feel like "the finale wraps up quicker than they would have wanted."

Kripke replied that he went on a journey of relearning that the internet isn't the real world, and that "they're welcome to have that opinion. But it's actually not reflecting what's happening out in the world. And once I saw [the numbers], I calmed right down."

The Boys series finale is now streaming on Prime Video. The next spin-off in the franchise, Vought Rising, starring Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash, is slated for early 2027.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 3:45 PM.