The Boys concluding with season 5 avoids a divisive decision the Supernatural TV show made that keeps its fans at incredible odds, even today. Supernatural ended in 2020, provoking desperate fan calls for a Supernatural revival or another new season to bring the paranormal series back on air. Still, no truly significant development has occurred to grant the revival wishes of Supernatural’s cult following, but, in the meantime, they have been afforded another great, critically acclaimed series to enjoy that shares some significant factors in common with The CW’s Supernatural.
The Boys is similarly written and created by Eric Kripke and features Supernatural lead actor Jensen Ackles. Even if Kripke and Ackles’ participation wasn’t enough to catch the eyes of Supernatural’s audience, The Boys boasts an average critical score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, demonstrating its worth outside the consideration of Supernatural. That said, besides the clear distinctions in premise, the shows differ in another substantial way. Much sooner than Supernatural, The Boys will end after season 5, shutting down an inevitable problem that is often a big topic of discussion in Supernatural’s fan base.
Supernatural Went On Too Long, But The Boys Won’t
Supernatural’s 15 Seasons Was Too Long For Some
Supernatural’s longevity, a whopping 15 seasons from 2005 to 2020, has been the cause of major discourse. While it can be argued that plenty of its most beloved storylines and characters burgeoned in its latter half, counterarguments swear that Supernatural’s long run affected the series’ quality over time. Among the slew of other reasons for or against Supernatural’s length, The Boys avoids dispute altogether by ending after season 5. It’s awful to see such a highly-regarded show go, but The Boys will ultimately benefit from circumventing what is considered one of Supernatural’s biggest problems.
That is not to say that The Boys couldn’t or shouldn’t curate more acclaimed seasons, but it avoids potential backlash by concluding before getting too far ahead of itself.
So long as season 5 of The Boys maintains its momentum and ends on a high note, it can endure as a complete and fully realized series that hasn’t sacrificed its quality for the sake of more seasons. That is not to say that The Boys couldn’t or shouldn’t curate more acclaimed seasons, but it avoids potential backlash by concluding before getting too far ahead of itself. Due to its deeply focused, story-driven premise, The Boys would have been increasingly more susceptible to its audience disagreeing with the show’s direction or scrutinizing how The Boys compares to their source comics.
Supernatural Was Better Equipped For A Longer Run Compared To The Boys
Longevity Risked Hurting The Boys’ More Story-Driven Premise
In the face of Supernatural’s criticism of length, Supernatural’s premise was conducive to a longer TV run. Just as long-running case-of-the-week procedural series, like Criminal Minds, Law & Order, and House, have proven before, Supernatural’s monster-of-the-week format was as much of a crowd-puller as its overarching storylines. Supernatural was equipped to run for 15 seasons, particularly for the reason that Sam and Dean’s shorter-term exploits were easy and enjoyable to watch without knowing what was going on in the grander scope of the show. Even more, if one monster-of-the-week wasn’t satisfying, the next week’s had the potential to be better.
Because The Boys is focused on a more serialized premise, it hasn’t had the opportunity to fall back on weekly subplots to drive its story forward. Kripke’s determination to end The Boys earlier rather than later is, in fact, most beneficial to the series, as it ensures that The Boys will concern itself with maintaining and ending its central story thread without distraction. With a complete and smartly finished story – and way less discourse between its fans than Supernatural – The Boys franchise thus has a better opportunity to capitalize on spinoff endeavors that are trusted and co-signed by audiences.
The Boys Has Already Proven Its Spinoff Potential Is Better Than Supernatural’s
The Boys Has Promising Spinoff Potential To Fall Back On
The Supernatural franchise has already had two canceled spinoffs. The Wayward Sisters spinoff, piloted as a Supernatural episode, could not muster enough hype to warrant it being picked up by The CW, and The Winchesters was canceled after its first and only season due to Nextstar taking over The CW and reconstructing its content slate. Assuming that the spinoffs broke down because they couldn’t garner as big of an audience as the original Supernatural series and, judging by Supernatural’s failed spinoff history, it’s doubtful a new series will crop up in the near future.
The Boys franchise, however, is booming with spinoff potential, already capitalizing off the thriving spinoff series Gen V. The franchise series was correctly guessed to be such a hit with audiences that season 2 of Gen V was confirmed before its premiere season ever aired. Unlike Supernatural’s, The Boys’ franchise has made it easy to trust in its spinoff potential in and past Gen V, as its flagship series has placed more concern on quality over quantity and doesn’t seem to be straying from the mindset anytime soon.
Title
Tomatometer Score
Audience Score
Gen V
97%
76%
The Winchesters
100%
49%
