‘The Boys’ season 5 adds Daveed Diggs in mystery role (exclusive)

Meet the newest cast member to join The Boys season 5, the final phase of the hit R-rated superhero drama.

Amazon closed a deal with Daveed Diggs, the multi-hyphenate who broke through on Broadway’s Hamilton and has since starred in The Little Mermaid and the Snowpiercer TV series, Entertainment Weekly has learned exclusively.

Details on his role are being kept under wraps for the time being, but he joins as a series regular alongside the likes of Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Antony Starr, and more.

After originating the roles of Thomas Jefferson and Marquis de Lafayette in Broadway’s Hamilton, the Tony- and Grammy-winning actor, rapper, writer, and producer went on to star in movies like Wonder (2017), Blindspotting (2018), Velvet Buzzsaw (2019), and The Starling (2021). Diggs also maintains a healthy roster of voiceover parts across animated projects, including Central Park, Star Wars: Visions, Krapopolis, and Star Trek: Prodigy.

Diggs notably voiced Sebastian the crab in Disney’s live-action and CG hybrid film The Little Mermaid, opposite Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. He also stars in the upcoming historical drama Nickel Boys.

The performer already carved out a place for himself on Amazon’s other R-rated superhero series, the animated Invincible, as the voice of Theo, a member of a therapy group for those who lost loved ones to superheroes. So he’s already right at home in this kind of R-rated debauchery.

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Spearheaded by showrunner Eric Kripke, The Boys season 5 will mark the final season, as first revealed in June. The season 4 finale set the stage for one helluva finish. Based on who survived those events, Urban, Quaid, Moriarty, and Starr are expected to return alongside Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Chace Crawford, Jessie T. Usher, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Cameron Crovetti, Valorie Curry, Susan Heyward, and others.

Kripke also confirmed to EW that he’s been in touch with Supernatural alum Jared Padalecki for a potential role and that it will likely come together, barring any unforeseen scheduling conflicts.

“There’s no guarantee of who’s gonna survive because we don’t have to keep them for another season, so you can have really shocking, big things happen all the time,” Kripke previously told Total Film of season 5. “And so, as the writers, as we’re starting to cook it up, we’re really enjoying that.”

On the decision to end The Boys with season 5, Kripke told EW, “I’m excited to finally execute a 5-season plan,” referring to how he famously had a five-season plan for Supernatural before the show then continued on for another decade. “That’s very exciting for me. Part of it is such a wonky, stupid screenwriter thing but three and five are the big magical numbers for writing. Three is movie acts, TV acts are five. Jokes are a runner of three for five. Five just seems like a good round number. It’s enough to tell the story but also bring it to a climax without wearing out its welcome. It’s been hard because I haven’t been able to tell everyone. I was thrilled to finally be able to get the word out there.”

Apart from season 5, The Boys will continue as a franchise with Gen V and the newly announced Vought Rising, the latter returning Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy and Aya Cash as Stormfront for a prequel story.

The Boys, which has eight total Emmy nominations and one Emmy win for stunts, is executive produced by Kripke, comic creators Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Phil Sgriccia, Michaela Starr, Paul Grellong, David Reed, Judalina Neira, Jessica Chou, Ken F. Levin, and Jason Netter.

The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon MGM Studios, with Kripke Enterprises, Original Film, and Point Grey Pictures.

Reporting by Sydney Bucksbaum.