The Boys Showrunner Reveals Real-World Inspiration Behind Firecracker's Fate

The Boys creator and showrunner Eric Kripke has revealed the real-world inspiration down Firecracker’s fate, arsenic shown successful Season 5, Episode 5.

Warning! Spoilers for The Boys Season 5, Episode 5 follow:

In the latest occurrence of The Boys, Firecracker, played by Valorie Curry, gives herself implicit wholly to supervillain Homelander contempt his aspirations to “ascend” to godhood. Firecracker — a monstrous supe successful her ain close — had been a cardinal subordinate of The Seven and Homelander’s interior circle, enacting his volition nary substance however demented the request.

But arsenic Homelander’s insanity grows helium questions the loyalty of those astir him. At the extremity of Episode 5, Firecracker pleads her innocence with Homelander, insisting she worships him, mind, body, and soul. But Homelander is unconvinced, and, seemingly connected a whim, kills her by impaling her caput connected the crisp extremity of the close helping of an eagle statue.

It’s a shocking infinitesimal that brings Firecracker’s arc to an extremity successful possibly the lone mode it could: decease astatine the manus of her caller “Lord.” But, arsenic Kripke told The Hollywood Reporter, the inspiration for her demise came from a real-world governmental figure: Marjorie Taylor Greene.

In November past year, President Donald Trump officially rescinded his endorsement of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and attacked her successful idiosyncratic terms, marking a large governmental breakup of the 2 erstwhile allies. Greene, who arrived successful Congress successful 2021, had been an ardent and outspoken Trump supporter.

“We ever knew we would person an occurrence wherever she wholly gives up everything she holds beloved and that was going to beryllium the occurrence wherever Homelander kills her,” Kripke revealed.

“Because for us, it’s like, everyone who’s successful his orbit — oregon everybody who is successful a definite nationalist figure’s orbit — they springiness up each azygous condemnation they’ve ever had, and past helium destroys their careers. They extremity up conscionable getting thrown retired into the world.

“There’s this breed of radical espousing Trump’s connection who are much hardcore than him — the Marjorie Taylor Greens of the world. [When we wrote the episode], her benignant of banishment hadn’t happened yet. But we were like, ‘But it’s lone a substance of clip earlier it does.’ So we were like, ‘Let’s constitute that. Because, I mean, Firecracker had it coming."

Kripke has maintained that Homelander was ever intended to beryllium a proxy for Donald Trump, and that it had go progressively hard to efficaciously supply satire. “When Seth [Rogen] and Evan [Goldberg] and I took it retired to pitch, it was 2016," helium explained. "We conscionable wanted to bash a precise realistic mentation of a superhero show, 1 wherever superheroes are celebrities behaving badly. Trump was the, ‘He’s not truly getting the nomination, is he?’ guy. When helium got elected, we had a metaphor that said much astir the existent world. Suddenly, we were telling a communicative astir the intersection of personage and authoritarianism and however societal media and amusement are utilized to merchantability fascism. We’re close successful the oculus of the storm. And erstwhile we realized that, I conscionable felt an work to tally successful that absorption arsenic acold arsenic we could.”

Earlier this month, Kripke told TV Guide that helium was “bummed out” that Season 5 was written earlier the statesmanlike election, which took spot successful November 2024.

“I’m wholly bummed retired to accidental we wrote it earlier the election. It sounds ace naive now, but I curse the program was, ‘Let’s constitute a 1984 mentation of what creeping authoritarianism looks similar successful America,’ and possibly everyone volition beryllium like, ‘Whew, we truly dodged a bullet.’ But instead, we got deed with the bullet,” Kripke said.

Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks alongside Donald Trump astatine a run lawsuit successful Rome, Georgia, connected March 9, 2024. Photo by Elijah Nouvelage / AFP.

Kripke added that the writers would travel up with outlandish ideas that astatine the clip seemed implausible, but person since go reality. “And a batch of things that were far-fetched for us, we’re similar — ‘That’s crazy!’ — person travel to walk successful a mode that’s truly really f***ing troubling,” helium explained.

Now Firecracker is dead, thoughts crook to the destiny of different members of The Seven and Homelander’s interior circle. Will Homelander crook connected the likes of Soldier Boy, The Deep, Black Noir, Sister Sage, and Ashley Barrett? Is everyone who’s sided with Homelander marked for death?

More parallels are coming, it seems. Kripke has revealed that successful Episode 7 of Season 5, Homelander says a enactment that the writers felt was the “craziest” they could deliberation of, but “it’s already happened.”

“There’s a enactment — I won’t springiness it distant — but there’s a enactment successful Episode 7 that Homelander says that was the craziest enactment we could deliberation of, and it’s already happened,” Kripke said.

In May 2025, Starr spoke of his daze astatine the glorification of Homelander by immoderate The Boys fans, calling it “surreal.”

"We had a clump of guys that we each benignant of knocked them down a small but connected societal media to say, 'This feline is not the leader of immoderate story.'" Starr said. "They were truly glorifying him, they loved him. Which is surreal."

Starr added that helium was amazed to find immoderate The Boys fans siding with Homelander, fixed the outrageously evil actions helium takes successful the show. "What I didn't expect was that radical would beryllium truthful conflicted astir it and, you know, uncovering themselves uncovering empathy for this monster."

And successful 2024, up of The Boys Season 4, Kripke responded to fans saying Homelander is simply a hero, saying: "Some radical who ticker it deliberation Homelander is the hero. What bash you accidental to that? The show’s galore things. Subtle isn’t 1 of them. So if that’s the connection you’re getting from it, I conscionable propulsion up my hands.”

Image credit: Jasper Savage/Prime.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].