Billions season 5 finale: Show EP on Damian Lewis’ exit as Axe

Losing Damian Lewis from Billions is not going to be an easy hurdle to overcome. Yet, this is precisely what the show’s writers are now forced to look at. The actor is gone, at least as a series regular, after Bobby Axelrod fled the country to Switzerland. The good news for Axe is obviously that he’s 1) alive and 2) not in prison. However, he’s also lost much of what he previously had. This is a huge, seismic shift for the show, and it sets up Corey Stoll’s character of Mike Prince as the main rival to Chuck Rhoades moving forward.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, show EP Brian Koppelman makes a number of things clear following the finale. For starters, this departure was not a result of the pandemic or the tragic passing of Lewis’ wife earlier this year; instead, it has been in the works for years.

Koppelman also made it clear to the publication that he was extremely grateful to Lewis in the first place for coming in and doing so much work over the past season in particular:

The goodbyes on Billions and the hellos on Billions are never permanent; nothing is etched in stone. But that said, Damian’s time as a regular on Billions has come to an end. The guy delivered for us in such an incredible way. What he did in making Bobby Axelrod an icon is really remarkable. Knowing the conditions in which he performed, traveling back and forth to England for years to be with his family, it’s impossible to imagine just how hard and focused that guy worked. We feel really honored and lucky to have had five years of being able to know that Damian Lewis was Bobby Axelrod. But, again, not saying it’s goodbye forever.

Personally, we do think that we will see Damian stop by at some point whenever the show concludes, and who knows? He could be back before that. It was a very deliberate decision to not kill the character off, and that gives them a great deal of flexibility moving forward.

Related – Be sure to get some more news when it comes to Billions

What did you think about the Billions season 5 finale?

Are you stunned to be losing Damian Lewis from the show? Be sure to share right now in the comments! Once you do just that, stick around — there are some other updates ahead that you don’t want to miss. (Photo: Showtime.)