The Boys showrunner has shared the surprising reason Dominique McElligott’s Queen Maeve did not appear in the series finale — and it wasn’t for want of trying.
McElligott, 40, appeared in the first three seasons of the superhero drama as the feminist hero who survives an explosion but fakes her own death to escape Vought, the corrupt superhero conglomerate, and its leader Homelander (Antony Starr).
Queen Maeve showed up less and less in the show after 2022, leading to speculation over the reason for her exit.
Now, after the Irish actor did not appear in the conclusion of the Amazon series, show creator Eric Kripke revealed that he was open to having her return for the finale — but McElligott told him she retired.
“Dom and I email a couple of times every six to eight months or so, and she checked in on me after the Palisades fires," Kripke told TV Insider in an interview published Wednesday.
“We throw each other emails, and I said very early because I wanted to know whether we were building for it, ‘Would you be open to coming back for a day? And here are the dates.’”
He continued: “It was very pleasant and respectful. She just said, 'I've kind of retired from acting. [I'm not] really acting anymore, and I’m busy those dates anyway.”
Kripke emphasized that there were no hard feelings involved.
“So, that was honestly it. It was a very pleasant, non-controversial moment, you know?” he said.
McElligott did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment.
The Boys is the most recent project listed on McElligott’s IMDb’s page. Before starring in the superhero show, she had roles in other TV shows including House of Cards and The Astronaut Wives Club.
Although McElligott has not appeared in The Boys since the third season finale, she appeared in recap clips and was mentioned throughout the end of the show.
“We wanted to pay homage to her; she's an important character, and so she shows up in the recap and in a way to show that Maeve passed the torch to Annie [the superhero Starlight, played by Erin Moriarty], and now Annie is passing the torch to Marie, and that there's this lineage of strong women that started with Maeve,” Kripke said.
“We wanted to bring up Maeve’s spirit if we couldn’t actually bring her up in person.”
