Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: the boys

The Boys: Antony Starr Says Goodbye to Team, "Monster" Homelander

In a heartfelt post, The Boys' Antony Starr said goodbye to Homelander and thanked Showrunner Eric Kripke, the show's team, and the fans.

When the final credits roll on the series finale of Prime Video and Showrunner Eric Kripke's The Boys, viewers will say goodbye to one of the most viciously evil and disturbingly complex characters to ever grace our television screens: Antony Starr's Homelander. Over the course of what's now nearly five seasons, Kripke and Starr have made it clear by what we see on our screens and what they've expressed that the leader of The Seven was never one to be admired, respected, or seen as a hero – but even as the show's big bad, that didn't make him any less fascinating of a character. On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, Starr took to Instagram to share an image gallery from his run, as well as a lengthy and emotional goodbye to the character, his show family, and the fans.

"Difficult (for me) to put into words what an incredible ride this has been. How much life and growth has occurred. How amazing the team is. It's truly been the highlight of my career," Starr penned in the caption to his post. "When we began, I had no idea what was coming. This juggernaut left the station and never stopped. Except for that COVID moment. Oh, and the strikes. That was a thing too. But apart from those two times, it never stopped, boldly making its mark on the television landscape. There's nothing else like it. It lives in its own lane." From there, Starr proceeded to offer a rundown of those who "contributed in some way, big or small, to this beautiful, complex, warped, delicious show," including his co-stars, the production team, the studio and streamer for backing the show, and others.

As for his time as Homelander, Starr shared, "This complicated character allowed the space and range to discover and push boundaries in a way I never expected, and I will always be grateful for this experience." Turning his attention to his "co-parent with this twisted gem of a character," Kripke said of Kripke, "We created a monster, sir. And I will miss him, and you. Til we roll out the last season. When I'll see you. But this creative chapter is closed , and I'll miss it, brother."

Before wrapping up, Starr addressed the fans who understood and supported the series over the years, offering a "massive thank you" and adding, "You are the life blood. Without you, we don't get to do this. And our fans are second to none. Mad love to you….and deepest respect for your taste."

The Boys: Eric Kripke Feels "A Fair Amount of Terror" About Finales

During Sony's "Creator to Creator" podcast, Kripke and Shawn Ryan (The Night Agent) had a chance to share what life is like as a showrunner, and if there were two people who have the resumes to have this conversation, it's Kripke and Ryan. Beginning at around the 33:50 mark in the clip above, Kripke reveals his mindset in terms of crafting a series finale that remains true to the show's creative vision while satisfying the faithful viewers. "I am in a fair amount of terror about a series finale," Kripke shared. "You can count in one, maybe two hands, the truly great series finales… the graveyard is literally filled with terrible series finales."

Kripke continued, "How do you tie up the stories? How do you do it in a way that is emotional and satisfying? How do you do it in a way that creates — frankly — the illusion that some detail that you dropped in Season 1 or Season 2 is now suddenly coming back to pay off?" He continued," You could have the greatest show for years, but if you stiff that ending, and that's what's sending everyone out in the parking lot, they go, 'Oh, maybe that show wasn't that good'."

Regarding series finales that hit and hit hard, Kripke shared what he learned from writers and how they approached the lead-up to Breaking Bad S05E16: "Felina" (written and directed by series creator Vince Gilligan). "'Breaking Bad,' to me, is as good as a show gets, and I was able to ask some of those writers, I'm like, 'The way you tied everything together, how did you do that?' And they said, 'Oh, we had just a list of loose ends on our board that we had no idea what to do with them, that we would keep compiling over the seasons. And then when it came time to do the final season, we would just start checking them off of like, how do we pay them off, cuz we're gonna look like geniuses because the Season 2 storyline becomes this.'"

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!