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Earlier this year, Eric Kripke, the showrunner of “The Boys,” confirmed that the series will indeed conclude with its fifth season. This news brought relief to fans who felt the series was being unnecessarily extended, but it also disappointed actor Laz Alonso (who portrays Mother’s Milk) somewhat. During a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Alonso shared his unique idea for the series’ grand finale:
Alonso has been advocating for the show to conclude with a full-length feature film. He suggested leaving the audience on a cliffhanger at the end of the fifth season and then announcing a movie that has been in the works since the series’ inception. However, Kripke seems to always find a way to dodge this proposition.
Alonso expressed his desire for the proposed movie to be screened in movie theaters. He even encouraged the audience to tweet at Kripke, requesting a feature film finale. While it’s clear that Alonso will accept whatever decision Kripke makes regarding the series’ conclusion, he genuinely seems to desire a blockbuster ending.
The Potential Benefits of Alonso’s Idea
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Alonso’s idea of a theatrical film as the series’ finale is attractive because it could potentially make the ending more thrilling and dramatic. This could help “The Boys” avoid the awkwardness that some other expansive shows have faced in their final seasons. For example, “Game of Thrones” was seemingly forced by television constraints to stage its climactic final battle in the penultimate episode, with the actual finale dealing more with the aftermath of these events.
Perhaps the “Game of Thrones” finale would have been more palatable to audiences if it had been combined with the penultimate episode to create a feature-length finale. This could have prevented audiences from building up unrealistic expectations for the finale during the week-long gap between episodes. The final episode might still have been criticized, but perhaps not as harshly.
Alonso’s idea is not without precedent. Several TV shows have already done something similar. “Avatar: The Last Airbender” concluded with a four-part finale that was essentially a film. “Stranger Things” ended its fourth season with an extended episode of 139 minutes, and “Sense8” wrapped up its series with a 2.5-hour movie in 2018.
Each of these series had different circumstances, but they all set a precedent for what Alonso is suggesting. Even though none of these extended finales were released in theaters, Alonso’s idea of concluding a series with a different format is not entirely novel.
Why Kripke Might Not Take Alonso’s Suggestion
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Kripke’s reluctance to accept Alonso’s suggestion seems to stem from his belief that TV shows should remain TV shows and not try to become movies. In a 2022 interview with Vulture, Kripke expressed his frustration with streaming filmmakers who wait until the eighth hour of a 10-hour series to make anything happen. He further elaborated:
Kripke, who has worked in network television for years, criticized the notion of a “10-hour movie,” insisting that creators should focus on making engaging TV shows. While his comments don’t directly address Alonso’s idea of a movie finale, they do suggest that Kripke has a deep respect for television as a medium. His past work, including the popular series “Supernatural,” demonstrates his ability to take full advantage of the episodic structure of TV, which allows for standalone episodes and long-term character development that films can’t quite achieve. Kripke seems to prefer concluding a series in the format in which it began.
Why Alonso’s Idea Might Not Be the Best Option
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Another reason why Alonso’s movie pitch might not work is that it might not be very popular with most fans of “The Boys.” One common criticism from the fandom is that the series has been drawn out too long. Fans are eager to see Homelander get his comeuppance, so it would be cruel to end the fifth season with the announcement of a future movie that will serve as the real finale to a story they’ve been following since 2019.
While I’ve generally defended the series’ length, arguing that it’s beneficial for a TV show to slowly establish a status quo before disrupting it, I wouldn’t support extending the story further just to make a feature film. While the idea might seem exciting on paper, “The Boys” has always promised a straightforward five-season arc, and it should stick to that promise.
Furthermore, it’s crucial that TV shows take pride in their medium and not try to “upgrade” themselves to a different one. Although Alonso probably didn’t mean it this way, there’s a prevalent notion in many entertainment circles that film is a more legitimate art form than TV, and that adapting a show into a movie would lend it legitimacy it didn’t previously have. This is similar to how many animated works are eventually remade in live action, even though their stories are perfectly suited to animation. The push for live-action adaptations of the “Spider-Verse” movies, for example, seems to have started with the assumption that live action is more respectable and worked backwards from there.
Despite my admiration for Alonso, I hope Kripke chooses to disregard his specific request for a movie finale. “The Boys” is a great TV show, and it doesn’t need to become anything else.
Credit: www.slashfilm.com
