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

The Boys Showrunner Gives Ashley Barrett the "Melania" Treatment

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke had some fun at the Melania documentary's expense, giving Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie) a moment to shine.

Sure, when it comes to Amazon and director/producer Brett Ratner's upcoming documentary, Melania, an upcoming documentary spotlighting Melania Trump during the 20 days leading up to Donald Trump's second inauguration, there are a whole lot of red flags to have fun with. For example, some see Amazon paying $40 million (the highest price ever paid for a documentary, with a docuseries reportedly built into the deal) as more of a gesture on Jeff Bezos' part to play nice-nice with the Trump administration. Then there's the not-so-small matter of how Melania was given editorial control over the film. As for Ratner, the documentary serves as his first film following sexual assault allegations in 2017 (allegations that he denied). It's never a good sign when mainstream press like The New York Times and The Washington Post are kept out of the screening at the Kennedy Center on Thursday, but One America News (OAN) gets a ticket. In terms of bad optics, hosting a screening at the White House in the midst of ongoing protests over ICE-related violence in Minneapolis and as the country braced for some brutal winter weather, ranks pretty high. Did we mention that some crew members have reportedly asked not to be formally credited on the film? With all of that in play, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke couldn't resist twisting the knife while throwing a little twisted love Ashley Barrett's (Colby Minifie) way.

Say what you want, but in terms of accomplishments that have impacted the nation, Melania doesn't hold a candle to Ashley – and in terms of survival instinct? Just look how long Ashley has been able to survive without powers – only to blindly inject herself at the last second when the end was near. Here's a look at The Boys showrunner's post, which accompanied his Instagram Stories post:

Eric Kripke on The Boys Being "Political Show" Now; Homelander/Trump

During an interview with Forbes from January 2025, Kripke discussed how the streaming series has leaned into being a political show, how current events impact the season's writing (but not the show's endgame), and how having Homelander and Trump in the same room would go. "Look, I think 'The Boys' probably, for better or worse, is a political show at this point. I think season four was political. I think the world has sort of grown to resemble the show more and more in a way that's not great. And so, we just sort of lean into it. I mean, the show is about why and how you should question your leaders. You should question anyone who stands in front of you. You should question anyone who is pitching you simple answers to complicated problems and who is saying that they're the only ones who can save you – like those are dangerous people. Obviously, we're not shy about saying that, but I take a little bit of pride in that for our bananas superhero show, we're one of the most current shows on TV in terms of like reflecting exactly what's happening in the world at this moment, and that's great. It's amazing for a superhero show to be doing that. So, I'm really proud that we pulled that off," Kripke shared, noting that over the seasons, the writers began to embrace how the series and real life were reflecting one another.

After noting that not all of the scripts were written at the time of the interview last month, Kripke shared how current events routinely impact the scripts as they evolve from first draft to filming-approved. "I mean, look – things adjust all the time. That happened in season one when like the 'Me Too' movement broke in the middle of the season, and we had to go back and rethink a lot of things. So, we're sort of used to this organic movement of the scripts always transforming a little bit, based on what's happening in the world. So, that doesn't really scare us. That's pretty par for the course. You're always rewriting these things right up until the day before they shoot and, sometimes, the day they shoot. So, we're used to changing things as the world changes – but yes, we definitely adjust scripts as new events come to light," the showrunner explained.

But in terms of where the series and characters are heading during their final run, Kripke adds that the "big picture" endgame plans don't change. "We have, in terms of the big picture of the story, like it stays the same. I mean, especially in the final season when every character has to reach their climax – like we've had those in our back pocket for a while and this season is mostly just figuring out how to get there, you know? So, it's more like the stuff that the characters talk about that's happening in society, and some of the joke targets we're taking, and some of that stuff changes, but the main bones of it stay pretty similar."

Since the conversation was already on the topic of politics, Kripke was asked how a one-on-one between Homelander and Trump would go. Let's just say that he doesn't see them being BFFs. "I think they would clash. I think they both require a lot of oxygen. So, I think if you were to put them in the same room at the same time, I think that between them, there could probably be only one," Kripke explained.

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