Introduction

So, I just got finished watching The Boys S5 teaser trailer uploaded on YouTube and I must admit, I am very much excited for April 8th. While The Boys S4 was up there for me in terms of my favourite season – mainly because of Firecracker vs Starlight and my obsession with Valorie Curry due to playing Kara in Detroit: Become Human – S5 seems to be shaping up as the ultimate culmination of The Boys vs Vought. Now, I must admit it has been a while since I’ve watched The Boys but the S4 finale has left me begging for more, especially that post-credits scene (those who know).

Disclaimer: Before we get into breaking down the trailer, I need to state that the following will contain spoilers, as I will be speculating on certain moments by using prior moments from the show and some mentions of the comics. Also, I haven’t seen Gen V yet but will take the time to sit down and watch it as from what I’ve read, S2 seems to set up The Boys finale. Ok, let’s get into it.

Breaking down the trailer:

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The teaser begins with a long shot of The Boys (except for Starlight) walking up to a facility. This is comprised of course Hughie, Butcher, Kimiko, MM and Frenchie at the back. I don’t know why but this reminded me of S2 with Sage Grove Centre, the place The Boys visit to locate Lamplighter (my memory is a little rusty but I don’t think this is the same location).

There is an ominous echo effect of sorts as the shot tilts upward to reveal a massacre of sorts and is interspersed with MM’s voiceover of “We ain’t survivin’ this fucking war”; this is a very bleak declarative but I think after his capture in S4 and what we can imagine has been so long in captivity, he would be somewhat pessimistic. Plus, the other stuff he’s been through too, like learning Soldier Boy killed 3 members of his family (including his mother), his father’s draining battle against Vought.

At least it’s not like the comics, where his brother’s head exploded due to his powers beginning to take shape and his mother being exposed to Compound V. In addition, Homelander’s new established dictatorship for the American people would leave anybody feeling just like MM.

He goes on to say “We are dead men walking”, perhaps foreshadowing Butcher’s eventual death which we know is coming. While it is a relief to see The Boys (mostly) reunited, it does generate enigma codes about how their seemingly fractured alliance from S4’s finale has been repaired.

I imagine Butcher with his newfound tentacle powers found a way to rescue them – I wonder if Joe Kessler will reappear in this season, it was amazing getting to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan in The Boys. Variety asked Morgan last July this same question, where he remarked how “I don’t know how you do Season 5 without an appearance, at least”.

The next shot we are shown is a high angle long shot of prisoners, leaving what I presume is a transportation truck. In this, they are all wearing a cape of the American flag; this iconography feels like a deliberate tongue-and-cheek nod to Homelander’s new regime, where the expectation that these prisoners are property of not just Vought but of Homelander. The video‘s description states that the location is a “Freedom Camp”, an ironic paradox that feels so authentic to this show.

It certainly seems to be a correction facility funded by Vought, with a cut to a medium shot of a blue container titled “VERNON CORRECTION SERVICES CORPORATION”; this is supplemented by the tagline “FIRM BUT FAIR”, with this juxtaposition attempting to romanticise this new authoritarianism. Especially with that grin on Homelander’s face.

After, we are given a medium shot of Hughie turning towards the camera to look upwards. This is amplified by a voiceover of “I’m gonna keep on fighting”. To start, the location he seems to be in is the same facility. So, I imagine this is early on into the season, ensuring continuity to S4 when The Boys were captured. We know he is a prisoner here because of the American flag on the back of his jumper. I think we can assume here that he is either looking at a Supe who can fly – maybe Homelander – or a helicopter. Or perhaps some sort of transmission being shared on a speaker.

Regardless, something has drawn his attention and it probably may be something designed to distil any attempt at resistance. I think it is a speaker transmitting a message, maybe saying the facility is designed to help and that resistance will be combatted.

It then cuts to black and shows a long shot of Hughie and Starlight sat on a blue bean bag inside a classroom, a much more drastic change compared to their cozy apartment in S4. Hughie’s voiceover continues by saying “and if you can’t, then I’m just gonna fight for both of us”; we can assume he is talking to Starlight in this context, who despite regaining her powers in the S4 finale after a season-long struggle of calling upon them, is still resolving her inner conflict.

While it could be that her burst of power at the end of S4 was a temporary moment of triumph and she regresses back to feeling powerless, I think we will get to see these new powers for a little bit at first but then something will rattle her performance.

After all, we saw the mental toll her identity crisis had, due to being a childhood bully against Firecracker, her recent abortion and former member of The Seven. Not to mention the fact Hughie fell in love with a very convincing clone. I still find it funny how easily Firecracker ragebaited Starlight in S4, their conflict was genuinely such a highlight for me.

We are then given a close-up of Frenchie as he tilts his head upwards to Kimiko, with his eyes seemingly watering. I imagine this may be their reunion of sorts, since in the S4 finale, Frenchie was brainwashed by Gen V‘s Cate to follow her into captivity and Kimiko finally speaking through a scream of despair.

In a Variety interview last July, Kimiko’s actress Karen Fukuhara proclaimed how exciting it was to be able to speak canonically as the character; she remarked how it was “really exciting, reading that in the script” and that she thought it was “earned, as well” by “building up to this moment”.

The shot then cuts to a medium shot of Frenchie and Kimiko staring at one another, when we finally hear Butcher state “You wouldn’t be the first to throw their life away in a war”. He then goes on to say “But you would be the first…to save the world doing it”. This constant repetition of the abstract noun “war” serves to heighten the season’s stakes, ensuring this final season brings as much anticipation as possible.

While I haven’t read the comics, I really hope we get something similar to Issue #64 of Butcher walking towards the White House with all the Supes surrounding it. That would actually be so insane to see in live-action form.

A high angle extreme long shot of a bright yellow glow is displayed, with electricity surging across the Freedom Camp. This is clearly the moment where Starlight goes to rescue Hughie (and the others, if they aren’t already freed); while we don’t know if Butcher is assisting, I’d like to think he does. Then, we are provided a long shot of Annie levitating above the ground in pedestrian clothes, her eyes and hands glowing with yellow rays. This alongside the sparks makes her look incredibly formidable.

Butcher then asks “How about it, you lot? One last go?”, clearly reunited with The Boys (this makes me think even more that he has helped Starlight with rescuing the others, as why would MM, Hughie, Frenchie and Kimiko agree unless Butcher has managed to rescue them?). Moreover, the interrogative of “One last go” just strengthens the conclusive nature of this season, making me feel reassured that they will do this justice for the fans and not leave anything accidentally open-ended. We are then given a humorous moment where Kimiko performs sign language in response to Butcher (if anyone knows what she said, please let me know) and he remarks “I’ll take that as a yes?”.

Moving on, Black Noir II is shown stabbing a Vought employee and Hughie being sprayed with blood (this is probably some sort of continuity editing, where these two are in conflict). We then see a long shot of Kimiko, Hughie, Annie and Butcher walking down a road.

Once done, we are given a shot of Ashley giving a press conference. From what I’ve seen, many think she is going public with information about Vought and Homelander, which would make sense after the poor treatment she received over the years (which is putting it lightly). However, some believe this can’t be possible, since this room is the White House briefing room – which is under control by Homelander – and she is still too afraid to defy them. Despite this, her facial expressions infer a newfound confidence, likely due to new powers gained from her use of Compound V in S4. I am looking forward to seeing what her powers are.

Zoe Neumann is back, and so is those creepy tentacle mouth appendages she has. The nested mouths are such a scary design to me, they freak me out quite a bit. I am unsure if this her facing off against The Boys or maybe her grandfather Stan Edgar.

Once this concludes, there is a moment of 3 soldiers at night investigating a building, with 1 soldier snatched up into the air. A soldier shoots upwards and then it cuts to Ryan (looking much older and terrifying) with his heat vision and deadpan stare, his face covered in blood. I do think this season will somehow find a way to be bloodier and gorier than prior seasons, although I’m not even sure how because the show has always managed to embrace carnage like no other.

Sage is also present in this trailer – sat on a chair. I can imagine she has climbed the ranks of Homelander’s regime due to her intelligence and manipulation. But my favourite shot in the entire teaser has to be of Homelander staring at his father Soldier Boy in his cryochamber.

I just think this shot looks so cool, both on a visual and symbolic level; of course, the reflection is designed to depict their parallels as 2 beacons of fractured patriotism and mirror that saying of ‘2 sides of the same coin’. We know from the post-credit scene of S4 (which I mentioned earlier in the article) that Homelander learns Soldier Boy is still alive and captured by the US government, which means he is now at Homelander’s mercy.

While of course there is some bad blood due to the betrayal Homelander suffered from S3, he may still try to rekindle their family bond (I believe Soldier Boy will try to coerce Homelander in order to ultimately escape, perhaps to fight him or perhaps to go off the grid).

Homelander then states that “A reckoning is coming”, with a low angle medium shot of him raising his hand and staring down at someone, before clenching his fist. Many people are speculating this is either Ryan or Soldier Boy on the floor being pummelled, with me leaning more towards Ryan; while it may very well be Soldier Boy, I just don’t think Homelander has the strength to overpower Soldier Boy after their fights in S3 (even with Soldier Boy being out of commission for 2 seasons).

Instead, I’m adamant that this is Ryan, especially because of the blood stain on Homelander’s chest that seems like it was caused from a laser blast. Also, this shot is returned to several times within the trailer and he continues to punch at someone, making me think this has to be someone who is able to endure so many blows from a Supe.

The next shot we see is a close-up tracking shot of Jared Padalecki – the 3rd actor renowned for previously starring in Supernatural – walking into a room with Soldier Boy and Homelander. While his character’s name hasn’t been revealed yet by showrunner Eric Kripke or anyone else, Padalecki did remark how his character is “very excited to meet Soldier Boy”, only causing more enigma codes for audiences. We can truly see the show’s adoption of star power to maximise its audience reach by inviting even more presold fans from other franchises to come watch the show. Once shown, we see Frenchie adopt a finger gun gesture to his head, where I think he is talking to Kimiko.

Homelander lands another punch, with it cutting to a fish on the ground (this could imply that The Deep is actually the victim of this attack but I’m in the belief it is Ryan). The Deep is shown covered in what I think is squid ink and A-Train puts on his iconic blue shades. We can see another callback to the Freedom Camp, making me think that A-Train is helping out Starlight and Butcher in this situation (if you’ve watched the show up to this point, then you’re aware of his redemption arc which has been developing throughout).

Firecracker is then seen at a religious performance of sorts, where she raises her hand in celebration. I think I’m slightly worried that she will be relegated to a more minor role compared to being a part of The Seven in S4. However, I think if it serves the story they’ve been trying to tell over the years then I won’t be too mad. We then cut back to Homelander punching down and it cuts to Padalecki’s character being drenched in body parts and blood (the setting makes me believe this is his home) and then MM laughing hysterically.

Perhaps the most provocative shot in terms of storytelling is where Homelander’s lasers are targeted towards the sky. This could take place during a fight, where he has submitted to someone’s will by being on his knees. From a long shot, it appears that Soldier Boy is with him, slowly walking away (maybe he has suggested that the two should part ways and Homelander is furious).

Once this occurs, it cuts to Butcher telling The Boys that even if has to “drag your broken fucking carcasses over the finish line” that they “are going all the way”. Hence, why I’ve named this article Going All The Way. He states that they will do so “No matter the cost”, inferring that there will be heavy losses and morally questionable actions that will push the group to their limits but that they must persevere.

Butcher declares they must keep going “Till the job’s fucking done”. Ironically, it cuts to a final iteration of Homelander punching down and a loud crashing sound which cuts to the show’s title card.

Conclusion

So that was The Boys S5 teaser trailer; the premiere will release with 2 episodes on April 8th and have a weekly release schedule until May 20th, which was announced at CCXP (a huge fan convention situated in Brazil). While I didn’t cover every shot in detail, I hope I covered all of the crucial parts. All I can say is this season is shaping up to be a true send-off.

Any questions? How are you feeling for The Boys S5 teaser? Feel free to contact me via johnjoyce4535@gmail.com!

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