The Boys‘ spinoff series Gen V is doing its own thing with a slowly unraveling mystery at Godolkin University. But that doesn’t mean these shows aren’t closely intertwined. For college supes like Marie Moreau, the impact of the Seven looms large over their lives. In fact, the deification of superheroes led some parents to inject their babies with Compound V in hopes that they’d gain powers. This drug is a big part of The Boys’ overall history and future storylines. So, let’s dig into all things Compound V, its different forms, and what it means for the characters of Gen V and The Boys. 

The History of Compound V and Compound V24 in The Boys, Explained

The first season of The Boys introduces us to Compound V. It is a blue serum that can give both humans and animals extraordinary abilities. Nazi scientist Frederick Vought created it during WWII to turn adult soldiers into supes. Over the years, Vought International continued to make and manipulate his formula. The abilities a person can get are random and, if there are multiple doses, the powers can change based on how it mutates in the body. Interestingly, Compound V has a better survival and success rate with babies and young children versus adults. It is not a guarantee that anyone who takes Compound V will develop powers at any point in their lives. And, as expected, higher doses for those who can successfully process Compound V makes them stronger/faster/etc. This is why Queen Maeve and Homelander are so wildly strong.

In The Boys, we see an adult and already superpowered A-Train and his then-girlfriend Popclaw take Compound V. They use it in regular, small doses to enhance their abilities, much like a steroid does for normal human athletes. Unfortunately, it can cause the opposite effect and weaken their powers or cause major damage to their organs. That’s what happens to the speedster A-Train, who ends up needing a heart transplant.

The Boys season three gives us a different form of the serum with Compound V24, which is also known as Temp V. Compound V24 is a green super serum that allows a regular person to be a supe for 24 hours with just one dose. It is expensive—two million dollars, to be exact—and doesn’t seem to be addictive. Well, unless you count a person’s ego boost as addictive. Butcher gets his initial dose from Queen Maeve in hopes of being able to fight Soldier Boy and the Payback collective. Hughie also takes some of it so he can gain powers and feel more useful in general. 

Like any drug, Compound V24 has side effects. It made Butcher vomit green blood, drizzle goo out of his ears, and eventually led to such severe sickness that he only has months to live (allegedly). Starlight reveals that Compound V24 is fatal after three doses and Butcher has hit that mark.

Compound V24 will surely come into play in The Boys season four as we learn more about Butcher’s fate. 

Compound V in Gen V, Explained

It’s pretty obvious that Compound V plays a role in Gen V. It is right there in the show’s name. According to Indira Shetty’s conversation with Ashely Barrett in episode two, 400 kids (including Marie) found out that they weren’t born special but were drugged with Compound V as babies. Luke and Sam further discuss this in an episode three flashback. Sam is understandably furious when he finds out but Luke tries to defend his parents, saying they just thought they were giving them powers.

Why would a parent give their child a dangerous and potentially fatal drug? We assume most parents did this in hopes of making their kids wealthy/famous like the Seven. That is the case with Emma’s mom for sure. As we discover in Gen V, many of these young supes don’t know how to control their abilities when they first activate. Like Marie, some of their powers don’t kick in until puberty or another life-altering event and they are completely shocked.

They often end up in places like the Red River Institute, which is a supe orphanage. After a certain age/timeframe, they “transition” to a facility like Sage Grove psychiatric hospital or Elmira Adult rehab center where they are locked up or killed. Some supes like Sam have to grapple with mental health hurdles, too.

Marie’s power may not be as “marketable” as being a speedster or having super strength; however, she’s still one of the lucky ones. Landing at God U seemed like the best fate given her traumatic past. But we now know that the school is a front for gruesome experiments. Interestingly, we discover more about Marie’s powers, including her ability to suss out Compound V in a person’s bloodstream.

With the mysteries of that weird facility known as “the woods,” we may discover something new about Compound V soon. Vought is always “refining” the process of creating Compound V and there are probably science researchers at this university. How will it affect this generation as they come fully into adulthood? The answers could be lurking in the shadows of God U.

Originally published September 29, 2023.

The post Compound V and Compound V24 in THE BOYS and GEN V, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

Godolkin University is a place where you can thrive, cause chaos, and apparently run head first into murder. The Boys‘ spinoff Gen V draws from a bizarre The Boys comic arc with a wild roster of new characters who boast a bevy of powers. Compound V is one hell of a drug, right? And, as the show transpires, we will learn even more about each supe’s power and how it plays into all the bloody action.

Here is every new Gen V hero and what you need to know about their powers. 

Gen V’s Godolkin University Student Hero Lineup and Their Powers

Marie Moreau (Power: Hemokinesis/Blood Manipulation)

Our main girl Marie Moreau is an 18-year-old superhero with the power of hemokinesis, which is the ability to control and weaponize her own blood. We saw her use her power in the Gen V trailer as she uses blood tentacles of sorts to whip around and destroy things. The first episode of Gen V reveals that Marie’s powers activated when she began her menstrual cycle at around 10, even though she was injected with Compound V as a baby. She panics in the bathroom and accidentally ends up killing her parents because she doesn’t know how to control her weaponized blood. We also learn that she frequently uses her powers by cutting her hands and manipulating the blood.

Unlike most kids who end up at Red River Institute and later go to Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Center where they are either locked up or presumably killed, Marie gets into Godolkin University. But she still grapples with her past and how people view her presently. That is, until Golden Boy’s death and some PR foolery by Godolkin and Vought leads her to become ranked in the top ten. Her newfound fame goes over well with everyone except Jordan Li (obvious reasons) and Polarity, who wants his son to be the sole star and finds Marie’s powers “unsanitary.”

Marie doesn’t seem to regret her powers but she is soon disillusioned with being the diversity showpony for God U. She moves up in the rankings to #2 in episode four; however, she’s now fully into exposing the nefarious woods. We get to see a different side of her powers when she explodes a fellow student’s penis after he tries to sexually assault her. Marie isn’t sure how she did it but being able to control blood within another person’s body is a new part of her abilities.

In episode five, Marie humorously reveals that she can sense when a person is about to start their menstrual cycle. More importantly, Marie is able to sense when there’s something obstructing blood flow, which is how she discovers the tracking device implanted in her neck. She can also sense Compound V in a person’s blood, which happens when she meets Victoria Neuman in episode seven. Honestly, her powers are the coolest.

Andre Anderson (Power: Metal Manipulation and Superhuman Strength)

Andre is a junior at Godolkin University with magnetic powers and, of course, superhuman strength. We assume his powers are like his father Polarity considering he’s set to take his place after retirement. And if being charming and handsome are superpowers, then he has those too. He not only draws a metal bottle straight to his hand but also causes two trucks to smash together and capture a fleeing man. But that doesn’t mean his powers are dangerous. He nearly kills a woman after doing a “magic trick” with a piece of metal but Marie saves her, thankfully. Andre’s father pushes him even harder after Golden Boy’s death when he becomes the top-ranked student.

As Andre begins to investigate Golden Boy’s death, his powers come into play quite often. Unfortunately, the soldiers protecting the “woods” secrets have a device that can subdue his powers. But when that device isn’t in play, Andre can be a dangerous guy. He launches a refrigerator at Sam to subdue him and, in episode five, Andre uses gardening tools to pin (and nearly decapitate) Rufus in a moment of anger.

Emma Myer/Little Cricket (Power: Size Manipulation/Reduction)

Emma’s supe moniker Little Cricket is due to her ability to get super small. She’s much like Termite on The Boys, except she’s a YouTuber who makes fight videos with her rodent pet David Caruso. Her power also shines in the Gen V trailer when she crawls out of a dead man’s ear. Fantastic. In the show’s first episode, we discover that Emma sadly has to force herself to vomit in order to get small. People are either cruel to her online, fetishize her in real life, or use her to forward their own agendas. Justine is a terrible person. Emma’s own mother wants to use her to create a TV show. Things are rocky between her and Marie for a bit but they become friends, which brings some light to her sad story.

She also gets close to Golden Boy’s brother Sam. This relationship causes Little Cricket to use her powers in a different way in episode four. Sam is having a mental breakdown and all the blood and metal moving powers in the world won’t stop him. Little Cricket is at her regular size and gorges on food to get super big. She’s able to subdue him and also shocks everyone with her new (to them and us) ability. Emma’s new power reveal (and a video of her getting loose) increases her popularity and makes her rise up the student rankings.

Cate Dunlap (Power: Mind Control)

Cate can make people do anything she asks by simply touching them with her hands. Of course, she uses this to her advantage, like sliding her way into a packed nightclub, and is super popular. She can also use them for revenge or to save someone in a tight spot. Like Marie, her powers accidentally destroyed her family after she told her brother to leave and never return. Her powers do have side effects from severe headaches to seizures if she takes things too far.

Unfortunately, Dean Shetty is using Cate’s power to her advantage. Cate is able to wipe people’s memories, which she did to the group to make them forget The Woods. She was also responsible for mind-wiping Golden Boy to make him keep forgetting his brother Sam. When Cate is not under strong meds, she’s able to hear everyone’s thoughts around her.

Jordan Li (Power: Gender/Body Transformation, Superhuman Strength and Durability, Energy Blasts)

They can change between male and female forms. Depending on their form, this hero has access to different power sets that we see in Gen V. The man is dense and indestructible, while the woman can use energy blasts and appears to be quick. They put up a formidable fight against Golden Boy towards the end of the first episode. Jordan doesn’t fit the social bill to be the hero of Godolkin so we will see how that affects their future.

Thankfully, Jordan can kick down doors, which helps save Marie from a campus creep. This, along with their obvious tension with Marie, leads to the pair hooking up. Love to see it.

Luke Riordan/Golden Boy (Power: Pyrokinesis/Fire Manipulation and Superhuman Strength)

Luke Riordan can light his entire body on fire and apparently use it as a shield. It seems he is this universe’s version of the Human Torch. But there’s a lot more to this pretty boy than meets the eye. Sure he’s all charms and smiles with Marie; however, Luke is dealing with something heavy. He keeps seeing visions of the mysterious “woods” and discovered the truth about what happened to his younger brother Sam. The visions cause him to go on a rampage, killing his supposed buddy Brink before he flies in the sky and explodes himself.

His story and the ongoing mystery about the woods unfolds over the first three episodes.

Other Gen V Characters Who Have Powers

When Marie Moreau arrives at Godolkin University, we see a lot of ancillary students with a bevy of powers. It remains to be seen if we will get to know any of them in the season but there are some other Gen V characters who play a role and have powers.

Maverick (Power: Invisibility)

Maverick is Marie’s RA who makes an appearance a couple of times. He’s pretty witty but we don’t get a ton of him this season.

Polarity (Power: Metal Manipulation and Superhuman Strength)

Like we mentioned earlier, Polarity is Andre’s father and has the same powers. He is also well-aware of the secrets of the woods and, after falling into some serious illness in episode seven, could end up being a victim in the finale.

Sam (Power: Superhuman Strength and Invulnerability)

Sam is a troubled supe (and Golden Boy’s brother) who is trying to escape his unfortunate circumstances. He is a former resident at Sage Grove psychiatric hospital and a part of the sinister secrets of the woods facility, trapped in a lab where he is subject to torture. He’s extremely powerful with super strength and invulnerability but he also has to deal with hallucinations that blur the lines between reality and fiction. Luke was told his brother is schizophrenic but we aren’t sure if that is his true diagnosis or not.

Sam is perhaps the most powerful supe in this series but he’s also been through a lot of physical and mental trauma. But his powers, inside knowledge of the woods, and his brother’s tragic death all make him an asset in taking down God U and Vought.

Originally published September 29, 2023.

The post Every New GEN V Hero and Their Powers on THE BOYS’ Spinoff appeared first on Nerdist.

There are a new class of supes who hope to join the Seven in Gen V. Marie Moreau, Andre Anderson, and others are fighting for the coveted #1 spot at Godolkin University and all the perks that come with being great. It’s an exciting new direction for The Boys universe but our hearts are always with characters like Hughie, A-Train, and even Homelander. We know that a few characters from The Boys are coming to Gen V throughout its first season. But how will their stories intertwine with God U? Here’s what The Boys characters are doing in Gen V. 

A-Train Is a Beacon of Hope in Gen V 

It’s not clear if A-Train will make his way to God U before the season ends. We do see him in the show’s opening scene, which is a flashback from eight years ago. Marie’s dad is proud to see a Black man make it into the Seven. If he only knew the truth about that organization. A-Train’s draft clip is the only time he appears in the first three episodes. 

Ashley Barrett Continues to Lie for Vought in Gen V

Ashley Barrett appears at the end of episode one after Golden Boy’s rampage and death by suicide. Of course, the Vought CEO lies and says that there’s nothing wrong at Godolkin. She calls Golden Boy “psychotic” and a “drug user.” Then, her clip pulls us back into our reality before we get a taste of what will happen this semester. 

She shows up early in episode two on a board meeting/phone call with Godolkin University president Indira Shetty to discuss Golden Boy’s death. Ashley quickly creates a narrative to push Marie and Andre as the “Guardians of Godolkin” who saved the day so they can score points with the public and the NAACP. Jordan Li is purposely left out of the narrative because of their race and gender identity. A private conversation between Indira and Ashley reveals that the woods being exposed is a big and, in Ashley’s words, a “potentially fatal” problem. Indira assures her that she will handle everything from a PR perspective.

Adam Bourke Is a Godolkin Professor in Gen V, Apparently

Adam Bourke shows up exactly where we thought he would in Gen V—the school of performing arts. The famed director tells his acting class to use their grief over Golden Boy’s death to push forward. His appearance is hilarious with a pitch-perfect monologue about the importance of the artist. Apparently, his students have to “bring the funk and not the junk” to get a passing grade.

The Deep Ranked #6 at God U and Loved Brink

The Deep (well, his photo) shows up in a Godolkin University orientation video in episode one. While Queen Maeve and A-Train were #1 in their classes, The Deep came in at #6. Honestly, I’m shocked he made it that far up the rankings. He’s not qualified to be a professor but he did send in a video for a fundraiser gala honoring Brink. In episode three, The Deep says Brink helped him hone his skills and sharpen his mind to turn him into the intelligent man he is today. He tells him to “rest in peace bro.”

This will probably be the only time The Deep makes a Gen V appearance but it is a fun cameo.

Soldier Boy’s Gen V Cameo Is a Dirty Delight

It only took six episodes for Jensen Ackles to return as Soldier Boy in Gen V. His appearance wasn’t technically the real him but rather how he exists in Cate’s mind/imagination as her childhood crush. He meets Marie and company, tells them a little too much info about Cate’s masturbation methods, and dies after being struck by a burst blood vessel. Everything about him showing up is awesome, especially when you consider that Ackles improvs his lines.

Victoria Neuman Is on the Campaign (and Chaos) Trail 

Victoria Neuman makes her Gen V debut in episode six. The head-popping VP candidate is at a Godolkin Town Hall trying to repair her image as a supe hater. Predictably, the town hall goes completely off the rails and Victoria is rushed off stage only to be accosted by Marie Moreau. Through their conversation, Victoria affirms that she also has blood manipulation powers. Marie hands her information about Vought and The Woods (which she may have been at least vaguely aware of) and Victoria uses that to kill Dr. Cardosa and take vials of the supe killing virus. She will be a big antagonist in The Boys season four and surely this virus will be a part of her nefarious plans. 

The Boys‘ Grace Mallory Makes a Surprise Cameo Appearance in Gen V

Grace Mallory, the former CIA Deputy Director who was caring for Homelander’s son Ryan, is known for being the founder of The Boys and working closely with Butcher. She appears briefly in Gen V in a scene with Dean Shetty, who tries to convince her to use the supe killing virus. Grace refuses and then calls a mysterious person (Butcher, maybe?) to make sure they got the recording. So, it looks like The Boys collective will be trying to stop this horrific virus in season four. 

Originally published September 29, 2023.

The post Here’s How THE BOYS Characters Show Up in GEN V appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys is known for its bloody and oft-gross world full of deceptive supes and shady corporate shenanigans. So it’s fitting that Gen V, the show’s spinoff series, is delivering that same energy in a college setting. Class is in session and there’s a lot of gross, shocking, and plain old weird moments in Gen V that are prime fodder for GIFs and memes. 

Here are all the scenes that will never leave your mind (and timeline).

Jump To: Episode 1 // Episode 2 // Episode 3 // Episode 4 // Episode 5 // Episode 6 // Episode 7

Gen V Episode One’s Most Gross, Shocking, and Weird Moments  – “God U”

Marie’s Bloody Supe Origin Story

Gen V wastes no time getting into some dark and bloody s**t. At first, things seem normal with a preteen Marie starting her first menstrual cycle. She’s understandably unnerved by her bleeding but she becomes terrified when her blood starts to float towards her face. Her screams lead her mom to break down the bathroom door.

Marie isn’t able to control her newfound powers and a stream of her blood slits her mother’s throat. Her dad comes in to help but Marie’s panicking causes her blood to also kill him in a brutal fashion. Her sister comes in to see their parents dead and Marie on the floor in shock. 

Not Suitable for School Sex Videos

A now-teenage Marie is at Red River Institute, an orphanage for young supes, and simply wants to use a computer. But one of her housemates is using it to watch sex videos. Weirdly, he’s watching it with no headphones in a room with others around. Marie rightfully calls him a perv and tells him to move. She also has to, um, clean the keyboard before she can use it. 

Little Cricket Vs. David Caruso the Gerbil 

This is tame for Gen V and The Boys’ universe but it is still very weird. We meet Little Cricket a.k.a. Emma, who shrinks down and makes fighting videos with her pet gerbil. It’s strange and fun and I’m okay with it. 

Golden Boy’s Arm-Ripping Techniques 

Golden Boy is the man at God U. So of course he has to battle his fellow classmates in a gladiator-style battle, right? He turns on the flames and quickly takes out an opponent. The fight ends with him ripping the other guy’s arms off for a burst of bright red. Thankfully this supe has healing powers and his arms are reconnected to his body. 

Hella Strong Supe on the Loose 

Marie and Andre both discover a supe running across campus as armed guards chase him. They use their powers to apprehend him but not before he’s able to toss some vehicles and people around. This sets up a big mystery and goes against the picture perfect image that God U maintains. 

A Night Out and a Throat Slashing (Again)

As a freshman, Marie is living the dream. Andre invites Marie to hang out with him, Golden Boy, Jordan Li, and Golden Boy’s girlfriend Cate. Are they supposed to leave campus? No. But college life is all about breaking the rules. Things are going well until Andre gets drunk and decides to manipulate a coin into a bird to impress a girl at the bar. Someone bumps into him and the coin slices a woman’s neck. Marie is able to save her life but it begins a downward spiral that nearly gets her booted from school.

Little Cricket’s Goes on a Wild and Woeful Ride

Little Cricket didn’t get a chance to hang out with Golden Boy. Instead, she hooks up with a random guy who is a fan of her online videos. Predictably, he only cares about her getting small so she can, um, take a ride on his private part. She isn’t thrilled about it but in the midst of her sadness she does it anyway. We also discover that Little Cricket has to force herself to vomit in order to get small. It really brings her story and powers into a sad focus. 

Golden Boy’s Killer Rampage and Explosive Ending

Marie decides to fight back against Professor Brink’s decision to expel her in order to protect Golden Boy and company. What she didn’t bargain for was seeing Golden Boy burning Brink alive before turning his attention to her. Jordan saves the day (even though they barely survived) but Golden Boy makes it outside. In the end, Golden Boy says goodbye to his bestie Andre before floating up in the sky and exploding himself. His blood and guts rain down on everyone below as they stand in a state of shock. An explosive ending to an episode, indeed. 

Gen V Episode Two’s Most Gross, Shocking, and Weird Moments  – “First Day”

Guts Cleanup on Godolkin Campus

The first scene of the episode shows the gory aftermath of Golden Boy’s death. Chunks of his flesh and blood are all over the place and it is terrible.

Nancy Reagan That S**t

Justine will do anything to get views, including telling others that Emma purges to get small. While that is gross and shocking from a moral perspective, Justine is also a creep. She convinces a supe to suck her tail on camera, telling her to “Nancy Reagan that s**t” in a calm voice. Yuck.

A Dive Into Polarity’s Private Parts

Andre finally pieces together what Golden Boy said moments before his death. “Your dad has it” wasn’t meant to be taken literally after all. It turns out Luke/Golden Boy hid a secret phone in the crotch of the Polarity statue, which Andre opens and retrieves.

Cate Saves the Day with Dirty Mind Control

Andre’s mission to find out about Luke and Sam goes awry when guards catch him. Cate comes in and uses her mind manipulation powers to convince one guard to suck on the others flashlight before it goes, well, where the sun doesn’t shine. Cate is so creative and clutch.

Gen V Episode Three’s Most Gross, Shocking, and Weird Moments  – “#ThinkBrink”

The Fist Up the Throat

Sage Grove doesn’t seem like a fun place to be. In a flashback, Luke and Cate go to visit Sam. Besides seeing a very long “love sausage” they discover that Sam is quite upset after learning the truth about Compound V. Luke calms him down but an officer shoots him, which leads to Sam punching an officer so hard in the chest that his fist comes out of his mouth. Delightful.

Well, That’s One Way to Grieve

Cate and Andre are both mourning Luke’s death and trying to piece together this mystery. In the midst of it all, college hormones take over and they have sex. Somehow, we don’t think Luke would be pleased.

Jordan Li’s Little Romp

This show changes scenery and tone at the drop of a hat. One moment we are grieving with Golden Boy and the next one Jordan Li is having a tryst in their room with a lot showing in broad daylight. Gen V really does embody the spirit of The Boys well when it comes to random shocking moments!

A Little Cricket Ear Adventure

Little Cricket meets Sam and they actually get along quite well. Soldiers come in and hit Sam with a taser. She chooses to defend him by crawling into a man’s ear and going all the way through to the other side. It’s bloody, weird, and a moment that no one will forget.

Gen V Episode Four’s Most Gross, Shocking, and Weird Moments  – “The Whole Truth”

Sam’s Trail of Carnage Candy

Sam is on the loose and he leaves a lot of carnage candy in his wake. Dean Shetty discovers a gruesome scene with most of her soldiers’ bodies twisted and bloody in a hallway. It’s not the first time we have seen Sam deliver blood to the screen and it certainly won’t be the last. 

I Exploded His D**k

Yes, Marie is a supe and currently #2 at God U. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t still a naive freshman who doesn’t know what’s going on sometimes. Marie is desperate to find Emma, so she seeks out Rufus, an upperclassman with psychic and telepathy powers. She wants him to use his abilities to locate Emma and he agrees, coercing Marie to sit close to him.

However, he somehow portals them to his dorm room after knocking her out with some sort of pheromones. Marie is confused and horrified when she discovers that he’s wearing a robe and fully exposing himself to her. Jordan shows up and creates a distraction. Marie holds her hands up and it causes the blood to rush to his penis. It explodes and that situation is a wrap. 

Marie and Jordan Hook Up

There’s been a ton of tension between these two and not in a sexual way. However, Marie finally telling the truth and Jordan coming to her aid sparks a flame between the pair. They share their first kiss before Emma barges in and end up having sex later in the episode. It’s not the graphic fare we’d expect in Gen V, but this moment is still shocking nonetheless. 

Tek Knight Is Humpin’ Around

Tek Knight’s extracurricular activities become his downfall in this episode. Dean Shetty discovers that his brain tumor leads him to engaging with inanimate objects in a sexual way. We actually get to see a few, including a donut, traffic cone, hand dryer, and even a tree. What a swell guy!

Emma Goes Giant

This episode reveals more about Emma’s abilities. Apparently, she can consume large amounts of food while regular sized and turn into a super-sized version of herself. This comes in handy when the God U crew tracks down Sam and tries to subdue him. Emma eats spaghetti and gets very big (and naked), holding Sam down and talking to him gently until he calms down. 

Gen V Episode Five’s Most Gross, Shocking, and Weird Moments  – “Welcome to the Monster Club”

The Dolphin Blowhole Sex Scene

The God U crew wakes up at a house party and doesn’t remember anything from the night before nor the woods. Andre and Cate walk through the house, where all sorts of wild things have happened. But nothing is like what they see in one room. A guy who can move his hand really fast sticks it inside of a girl with a blowhole. And um… she has her climax and shoots fluid out of the hole.

Who the Hell Is Sam?!

Things take a complete turn when Sam shows up. Emma and Marie have no idea who he is and remember nothing about The Woods. This is when we know something truly terrible has happened to our crew.

The Violent Puppet Scene

Dean Shetty’s guards/soldiers descend on Sam’s hiding spot. He takes them out in extremely brutal fashion but it seems less horrific because the fight is seen through his eyes. Everyone, including Sam, appears as a puppet. It’s only in the end where we see the true carnage that Sam left behind. The more you think about his puppet connection, the sadder it becomes.

Cate’s Deception

Marie discovers a tracking device in her neck and goes to Cate to see what to do next. Unfortunately, Cate reveals herself to be the one wiping their minds. Is she a horrible person? No. But it still makes everyone angry, especially Andre.

Gen V Episode Six’s Most Gross, Shocking, and Weird Moments  – “Jumanji”

Hello Soldier Boy

Everything about Marie, Jordan, and Andre’s encounter with Soldier Boy in Cate’s mind is weird and gross. He reveals that he is her childhood crush as well as all the ways she would masturbate to his image. We get great terms like “flick the bean” and “diddle that skittle” to describe it all. What a fun and wild cameo that ends explosively.

A Little Sex and an Emma Puppet

Is there anything else to say? After getting her memories back, Emma finds Sam and shows him the way to Pleasure Town. During their interaction, Sam briefly sees Emma as a puppet before she becomes herself again.

The Dean Shetty and Cate Connection

Well, well, wellll. It turns out Dean Shetty preyed on Cate at a young age after she’d been ostracized for nine years. Now we have a better understanding of why Cate would betray her friends and help Shetty in her dangerous mission.

Andre and Jordan Are Full of Sordid Secrets

Cate’s mind tells everyone’s personal business. While the revelation about Marie’s dark past made everyone feel empathy for her, Jordan and Andre’s secrets were of the anger-inducing variety. It turns out Golden Boy knew that Andre and Cate were sleeping together before he died. Spicy. And Jordan saw a confrontation between Golden Boy and Brink, but chose to stay quiet about it in exchange for their TA position.

Gen V Episode Seven’s Most Gross, Shocking, and Weird Moments  – “Sick”

Infected Andy Enters The Woods

Sam is out of The Woods but the horrors continue for the other supes there. We see the full scope of Dean Shetty and Dr. Cardosa’s nasty virus thanks to infected Andy. He looks like something from a zombie series in the grossest way possible. 

Dean’s Shetty’s Shocking Truth 

Marie and Jordan do a little snooping around in Shetty’s office and make a big discovery. It turns out Shetty’s family died in the flight that Homelander and Queen Maeve crashed in The Boys season one. This is why she’s dead set on killing all supes. For more about that crash and what this connection could mean, check this post out. 

Sam Explores Emma’s Underwear 

Sam is left to his own devices while Emma does a supply run. While it seems like a terrible idea to leave someone like Sam alone, Emma also knows he’s a wanted man. Sam explores Emma’s room and discovers her underwear drawer. Interestingly, she has underwear in all sizes and he takes a liking to her tiny ones. In fact, he begins to act out a weird scene with them to entertain himself. How can you not love him?

Polarity’s Onscreen Breakdown and Crushing Ride to the Hospital 

Polarity is back in Gen V and preparing to interview Victoria Neuman at a God U Town Hall. Things quickly go awry when Polarity goes into some sort of shock on live TV. Andre is watching and rushes to see about his estranged father. Polarity’s powers go off the rails, causing metal to fly all around and his ambulance to start crushing in on itself. Thankfully, Andre contains everything but it raises some unanswered questions about what happened to him. Is it connected to The Woods? 

Victoria Neuman’s Power Reveal

After a terrible Town Hall, Victoria Neuman and Marie Moreau sit down for a little chat. Victoria confirms that she also has blood manipulation powers, which makes sense because she pops people’s heads for fun. Maybe we will see a bloody battle between the two in the future.

Dean Shetty Dies Under Cate’s Control

The frankly awful relationship between Dean Shetty and Cate Dunlap comes to a tragic end. After years of feeding Cate meds to control her powers and coercing her to protect The Woods’ secrets, Cate is over Shetty. She gains mind control over her, making her confess all her sins before forcing Shetty to slit her own throat. This action causes some division among the group and sets Cate up to be a new antihero.

Popping the Doctor

Oh Marie. She tells Victoria Neuman all about what’s going on with The Woods and it immediately leads to mess. Victoria tracks down Dr. Cardosa, gets all the virus vials, and promptly pops his head before heading off to parts unknown.

We can’t wait to see what other gross, shocking, and weird moments will happen in Gen V.

Originally published on September 29, 2023.

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Well, that was one hell of a ride. Gen V’s seventh episode was a complete doozy with tons of new revelations and The Boys’ character cameos. And boy did that ending set up the season finale well. It’s enough to make your head want to, ahem, explode. There has been lots of small connective tissue between The Boys and Gen V, from Queen Maeve posters to Adam Bourke showing up as a professor. However, things between these series are a lot more intertwined than we originally thought. Gen V reveals that Victoria Neuman and Marie Moreau are more alike than we thought and Dean Shetty harbors a personal vendetta against all supes, specifically Homelander, which explains why she is creating a supe-killing virus. Let’s get into how Gen V is perfectly setting up The Boys season four.

Dean Shetty’s Motivations in Gen V and Her Ties to Homelander’s Cruelty in The Boys

At the end of episode six, we discovered that Dean Shetty wants to use Dr. Edison Cardosa’s virus to infect all supes. Of course, this is in direct conflict with Dr. Cardosa’s intentions, which aren’t totally clear but apparently are not this nefarious. We knew we’d get an explanation behind her motivations at some point. It did seem odd to want to kill supes considering she is the dean of a university for supes. Now, we know that Dean Shetty hates supes because her husband and daughter died in the Crash of Transoceanic Flight 37.

In case you forgot, this is the plane crash from The Boys’ season one, episode four where Homelander and Queen Maeve attempt to stop hijackers on a commercial flight. They kill three of the hijackers but when Homelander discovers a fourth in the cockpit, he recklessly kills him with his laser eye powers. This destroys the plane, causing it to start crashing. Despite Maeve’s pleas to save the passengers, Homelander doesn’t want any witnesses. So, he leaves with Maeve and they watch everyone crash and die.

Indira Shetty is very well connected and a smart human. So it is not shocking that she knows the truth about this flight. It also seems that she hasn’t been the dean at the school for very long. She previously told Marie that she was previously a behavioral therapist and reminded Ashley that Vought hired her because she’s a “problem solver,” hinting that she came along in recent years. We’d bet his happened three years ago and she came into this sham of a school to continue studying supes. But unlike her predecessors, she’s taking her experiments to a dangerous new level.

In this episode, Shetty goes to Grace Mallory, the former CIA Deputy Director and the founder of The Boys. Or, as Soldier Boy calls her, Captain Lesbo. Shetty tries to convince her that they can work together. Grace obviously declines this offer and makes a phone call to a mysterious person. She asks if they “got that” and hinting that “they” are on to her.

We don’t hear the voice on the phone, but it is possibly Butcher on the other end. Dean Shetty’s goals threaten every supe in this universe—both good and terrible. The Boys are not on that wavelength, especially with Starlight on their team. They will have to deal with this virus threat next season among other things. Vought is aware of The Woods and experiments, they don’t know that Shetty wants to kill all supes. Godolkin University is a front to study supes to craft new abilities and keep their business going. 

Any hopes of Dean Shetty appearing on The Boys are gone before the end of the episode. Cate controls Dean Shetty’s mind and makes her admit the truth to her friends. Then, she exacts her revenge by making her former mom figure slit her throat. Cate also prevents Marie from saving her, sending the God U crew into shock. Loyalties become divided with Sam believing that Cate delivered righteous justice while Emma, Marie, and Jordan believing she made a terrible choice. We wonder which side Andre will ultimately take. 

The Boys‘ Victoria Neuman Comes to Gen V and Changes the Game

Now, it’s time for the Victoria Neuman drama. The former (??) anti-supe (but actually a supe) activist turned Vice Presidential candidate is at God U hoping to win over its students. Predictably, things go awry and Victoria has to leave the stage. Meanwhile, Marie sneaks in to speak with her directly, hoping that Neuman can use her political power to expose The Woods. She’s shocked when Victoria willingly invites her into a room for a conversation. Marie gets more than what she bargained for after Victoria Neuman invites her to analyze her blood. She realizes that the political powerhouse is herself a Supe and Victoria reveals that she also has blood manipulation powers. This makes a lot of sense considering she blows up folks’ heads on the regular.

Victoria also reveals that she went to the Red River Institute and played a small role in helping Marie get into Godolkin. (RED. FLAG.) Marie divulges all the information to her and Victoria tells her that she will “handle” it. She also tells Marie to go back to being a student, lest she want to cause trouble that will end with Vought shipping her to an adult facility. Victoria says the first Black woman in the Seven would have real power politically and culturally. She tells Marie to choose a path and that they will “keep in touch.”

This complicates things greatly for Marie because she could risk ruining her entire life behind exposing The Woods. At the end, Victoria takes the virus and kills Dr. Cardosa, so she will likely take off with the virus vials and use them to her advantage in The Boys season four. So while Dean Shetty is gone, Victoria Neuman is taking up the mantle of stirring up drama in the supe world. 

We know that Gen V will get another season that will build on whatever goes down in The Boys season four. What will Victoria do with the supe killing virus? How will Dean Shetty’s death change Cate and the rest of the God U crew? The plot thickens, indeed.

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Gen V’s sixth episode is an incredible mixed bag of revelation, heartbreak, a hot hookup, and a splash of humor thanks to Soldier Boy. Marie, Jordan, and Andre get more than they bargained for after ending up in the recesses of Cate’s mind. Their darkest secrets come to light and they leave with a deeper understanding of why Cate betrayed them. Now more than ever, the God U crew is a united front determined to take down Dean Shetty and her cohorts at all costs. We caught up with Gen V showrunner Eric Kripke and executive producer Michele Fazekas to chat about that Soldier Boy scene, the Taylor Lautner cameo that almost happened, creating Cate’s world, and much more. 

Nerdist: Gen V does a great job of capturing all the wonderful things we love about The Boys, but it also feels wholly unique. What were some of your guiding principles and goals when you started crafting this series? 

Eric Kripke: Thanks for saying that because it is very intentional. [The Boys and Gen V] need to live as their own shows that have their own reasons for being beyond money, you know? We were really scared of appearing like we were selling out… In The Boys, the superpowers are a metaphor for the broadest possible social issues. They’re metaphors for celebrity and authoritarianism and fascism, and so as we were developing [Gen V], we said we should continue to use those metaphors, but we should use them for what young people are going through, and their own specific character and psychological issues.

Buffy was a really inspiring show for me in my developmental years and the way it used the metaphor of high school as literally hell was really smart. The idea that these powers you have are both advantageous to you, but also that wounds that you’re carrying around, felt like a good way into this story.

Michele Fazekas: One thing I recognized very early was the heroes in Gen V would be the villains in The Boys, but we’re getting to them before they’ve been corrupted. And so we actually get to see that moment that everyone deals with in adolescence of, “What kind of person am I going to be? Now that I don’t have my parents telling me what to do, I get to decide what I want to do.” You see that very important moment in these kids’ lives, but they just happen to be superheroes.

And we definitely see a lot of important moments of growth and discovery in episode six. It really takes us into some dark places for all of the characters, but specifically for Cate because we get to live in her mind and see her past experiences in such an interesting way. What went into creating those sequences from a visual and a storytelling perspective?

Fazekas: From a storytelling perspective, we really liked the idea of looking at these key moments in Cate’s life and letting our characters live through them with her. These were the things that shaped who she is, that maybe tell you why she betrayed her friends in such a huge way. She’s not just evil, she had reasons, and this sort of brings you to who she is as a person, so you have maybe a better understanding of her.

And visually, it was a big undertaking. How do we show a world that is a dream world? It’s like the world is crumbling around her, but we’ve seen a lot of dream worlds. So I think the challenge is, how do you do it in a way that you don’t feel like I’ve seen it a million times? So it was a lot developed with our visual effects team… What will look cool? What will look unique?

It came together beautifully. Of course I have to ask about Soldier Boy! Can you talk about what went into the decision to bring him back and what was it like crafting the dialogue? Every word that comes out of his mouth is absolutely hilarious and on brand.

Kripke: Yeah, a lot of that is from Jensen [Ackles]. The part called for Cate’s imaginary crush to guide [the group] into her mindscape. In a very early draft of the script, it was Taylor Lautner. So [in the episode] it’s like, “Taylor Lautner, what are you doing here?” And then it’s, “Oh, I’m Cate’s crush and here’s the rules of the world,” and then he explodes.

I love it!

Kripke: I forget whether we even brought it to Taylor Lautner or, very wisely, he passed, but suddenly Taylor Lautner wasn’t on the table. And we were trying to get Soldier Boy into the spinoff and we said, “Well, this is actually the perfect spot because he can be alive and well in a dream sequence, whereas in the reality of the show, he’s unconscious in a CIA basement somewhere.”

And so I called him and I said, “You’re suiting up. We need you.” He was awesome as always. He was shooting this show, Big Sky, and he moved around his dates and came in. His only request was, “It needs to be funnier.” And I said, “Totally,” and I was actually going to be there in Toronto at the time anyway. So I’m like, “I will be on set, I will be standing next to the camera, and you and I will riff until you are happy.” 

It was one of the most fun days I’ve had on a set. He’s there, I’m right behind the camera, and we’re just rolling. And he’s like, “What if I say this?” I’m like, “Say it.” And then, “What if you say this?” We must’ve come up with 100 euphemisms for jerking off, and we’ve only used 10% of them. It was a blast because he’s so good at improv, he always has been, so it was just him and I throwing stuff back and forth and rolling film on it.

I love that. So what can fans expect from these final two episodes of Gen V?

Fazekas: …Everything races to a head and everyone’s been set on these paths, especially Cate, because Cate sort of breaks. And then her friends have to decide, what side are we going to be on here? Because sides are going to form. We had to set up something to launch us into season four of The Boys, and so we did that as well. There’s a handoff between our show and their show.

Oooh that’s so exciting! Can’t wait to see what happens next.

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Gen V’s sixth episode takes Marie, Andre, Jordan, and randomly Dusty on a trip inside Cate Dunlap’s mind. After she restores their memories, Cate goes into a seizure and her powers create a state that drags them into her head. They witness the moment that changed Cate’s life: when she commanded her brother to go away and he walked off to never return. Poor Cate wasn’t aware of her newly activated mind control powers. Their peeping is interrupted by the very unlikely presence of Soldier Boy, whom we got (uncomfortably) familiar with in The Boys season three. What is Soldier Boy doing in Gen V? Let’s get into his wacky and brief cameo.

Soldier Boy approaches the group and wants to know why these “greasy sack of f**knuts” are there. Of course, they recognize him and ask him why he is in Cate’s mind. Soldier Boy reveals that he was Cate’s imaginary friend/boyfriend from her childhood. This makes sense considering that Soldier Boy is aesthetically appealing and presented as a heroic figure. (We all know the truth about his actual antics.) The scene quickly goes left field as Soldier Boy opens up about how he taught Cate to masturbate, revealing some very weird information that she wouldn’t want her friends to know.

Soldier Boy recognizes Andre as Cate’s new f**kboy and admits that she really loves him. Andre and Jordan accuse him of being a Russian agent (thank you Vought for the false information). Soldier Boy denies it because he’s a red-blooded (not “Commie red”) American. He finally explains that Cate wants them in her brain for some reason and says they need to figure out why before they become trapped forever.

According to him, Cate’s brain is unraveling, as evidenced by several strong sparks in the atmosphere. He says they need to know one really important thing and never finishes his sentence. A strike of “lightning” burns him to a crisp, which encourages them to hurry up. Andre comments, “That guy was a dick, right?” and we certainly agree. Jensen Ackles is so good at being a terrible supe like Soldier Boy.

We spoke with Gen V showrunner Eric Kripke, who revealed that Jensen Ackles actually improvised a lot of his lines for the Soldier Boy cameo. For more on that conversation (and a little Taylor Lautner chatter), check out our interview.

So far, The Boys character cameos have been fun and nonsensical, with the exception of Ashley Barrett. While this technically wasn’t the real Soldier Boy, we know that he will likely return for more chaos in The Boys season four. Until then, we really hope that the God U crew doesn’t ask Cate about her childhood crush.

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The first season of The Boys spinoff series Gen V is giving fans a wild ride at Godolkin University. It turns out this school is not a safe space for anyone to thrive. The heartbreaking experimentations happening in a secret facility are slowly unfolding towards chaos that will change this entire universe. So, it’s not shocking Gen V is coming back for its sophomore year. That’s right, Gen V has been renewed for season two.

The Prime Video show’s official X page shared the delightful news with fans. We really love the video of the God U crew celebrating their good fortune.  

Vernon Sanders, head of television at Amazon MGM Studios, spoke further about the future of Gen V in a Variety statement. “Expanding the universe of The Boys with a series as bold as Gen V has been an incredible journey for us and our wonderful partners at Sony. From our first conversation with showrunners Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, along with Eric Kripke, Evan Goldberg, and Seth Rogen, we knew Gen V would push the boundaries. Their unapologetic approach is exactly what audiences love, and it has helped Gen V become the No. 1 series on Prime Video in over 130 countries. Gen V is Prime Video’s most acquisitive new Original series of 2023, and we’re excited that our incredible cast and crew are going to continue telling brave and bold stories from Gen V to our customers.”

And there’s certainly a lot of storytelling potential here. We know Dean Shetty is doing some horrific experiments on supes like Sam. She’s in cahoots with Vought, which means her reasons for maintaining The Woods have to be nefarious. There’s also still some major questions about the details behind Golden Boy’s mental unraveling, Marie’s sister, and how Andre will deal with his father. We are glad that Gen V is renewed for season two because we need answers… and more puppets. 

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Gen V has many questions that need answers. What is Dean Shetty up to in The Woods? When will we see Soldier Boy? When do any of these kids do their homework? But there’s one question fans have had since the show released its trailers. What is up with the puppets in Gen V? We know they have a connection to Sam and how he mentally processes information. And, in episode five, we discover that the puppets’ relationship to Sam is kinda similar to one we have seen in The Boys.

In the last season of The Boys, Black Noir’s past plays out in front of him in the form of cartoon figures. He also sees these cartoons at random times and they are invisible to others around him. Years prior, Soldier Boy brutally beat Black Noir and the incident led to severe physical and mental changes for him. He became the same mental age as a young child. These cartoons from his childhood act as his friends and allow the viewer to experience things from his unique perspective.

This is very similar to what we get with Sam in Gen V. In episode three, Sam imagined a TV with a Sesame Street-like program playing. A man and a Deep puppet push him to kill Dr. Cardosa, which he attempts before Emma calms him down. Like Black Noir, Sam has been through a lot of physical trauma that affects the way his brain works. He doesn’t have the mental age of a child; however, he certainly isn’t used to socializing with others. People treat him like a monster but, in reality, he’s a rather sweet young man you want to help. Sam has been trapped and used for experiments in The Woods for a long time, which is certainly contributing to his current (and not clearly defined) mental status.

In episode five, Sam is dismayed Emma and the others have been mind wiped to forget him. He is alone with his racing thoughts when a puppet version of Emma shows up. Puppet Emma says things are bad and that Sam needs to save her. Sam says he will save the real Emma and that she’s not real. She questions him, saying “Real like that?” and points to a swath of soldiers invading his hiding spot. The scene switches over to all puppets (including Sam). A violent and gory fight scene breaks out with puppet Sam ripping everyone apart. At the end, puppet Emma sadly says Sam needs to stop hurting people right before we see that the violent fight was real. 

It seems Sam uses these puppets to dissociate himself from the violence. This makes sense considering Sam’s long-term experimentations that lead him to retreat to his inner child for some semblance of safety. He spends a lot of time reading and maybe watching movies/old TV programs, both methods of passing the time and escaping his reality. These puppets are probably in the style of a kids’ program that he grew up watching before his life went down a dark path. It is his way of processing all of his trauma and trying to deal with the ramifications of his (as he puts it) “broken brain.” 

Like The Boys, Gen V teeters on the line between bizarre entertainment and heartbreaking revelations with remarkable care. Sure it is a way to amp up the violence even more without virtually getting banned from TV. But it is also a window into the very real pain and trauma that Sam is experiencing. Maybe one day, Sam will find his way to a freer and healthier life where he doesn’t have to be violent for his own survival.

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Gen V’s fifth episode completely flips the series around with a wild reset. The end of episode four suggested some trickery was afoot as the “save Sam” sequence abruptly cut to Marie Moreau and Jordan Li in bed together. This proved to be true with the entire crew waking up at a wild party and not remembering anything about what happened the night. Even worse, they don’t remember anything about Sam nor the woods. It set them on the path towards Rufus, the psychic supe, because all signs pointed to his involvement. Rufus is disgusting, but he’s not the culprit behind their major setback. It turns out Cate Dunlap is deeply involved with Dean Shetty and covering up what’s happening in The Woods on Gen V. 

In the episode, Marie, Jordan, Andre, and Cate try to remember how they all ended up at a wild house party. Jordan notes they never black out and a whole day has gone by without any of them remembering it. Later on, Marie and Emma are confronted by Sam, who is much calmer than when they last saw him. The problem is, they don’t remember him at all. Sam tells Emma there are dangerous people at the school who don’t want them to know about him. He says he will find a way to fix it and leaves.

Marie and Emma catch up with the group again and Cate suggests Rufus is probably behind their memory loss. It’s a convenient lie considering Rufus is 1) a horrible predator and 2) mad at Marie for exploding his penis. Marie also discovers a tracker is embedded under her skin, which is likely true for the others. She goes to Cate to update her and Cate uses her mind control powers to make her forget. Of course, Marie isn’t able to expose Cate’s deception because she cannot remember anything (again). 

However, Cate isn’t straight up evil like Vought. She tearfully tells Dean Shetty she can’t keep lying and pretending to be someone she’s not. Cate says her friends will eventually figure it out and Dean Shetty simply apologizes for what’s going on. Meanwhile, Emma finds Sam, who reveals Cate made Luke forget Sam over and over again. Everything crashes together when Jordan and Marie find Rufus, who says he can’t manipulate anyone who isn’t physically close. Emma calls and reveals Sam is Golden Boy’s brother and Cate is behind it all. Andre shows up with Cate and he’s very angry, nearly killing Rufus before Cate admits her deception and restores his memories. He’s visibly heartbroken and calls her a monster before walking off. 

Despite the circumstances, it’s hard to not feel sorry for Cate Dunlap. She genuinely cares about Andre and the others and doesn’t take pleasure in manipulating them. It’s not clear why Dean Shetty chose Cate as her reluctant accomplice. It’s possible that there’s some part of Cate’s past that Dean Shetty is able to use as a bargaining chip. Maybe Cate has some kind of connection to the woods that Gen V will reveal soon. Either way, Cate knows something—if not everything—and the crew will have to get that information out of her. The good thing about Cate being a decent supe at her core is that she can still use her powers to help stop Dean Shetty’s nebulous plan. The plot continues to thicken in this quest to take down God U and The Woods.

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When you think of Prime Video’s The Boys, many words come to mind. Bloody, gross, diabolical, and brilliant, to name a few. One word that doesn’t quite fit this show is “cute.” Sure it has some heartwarming moments but there’s nothing too fluffy happening in this world. But cute is the only way to describe Youtooz new line of The Boys collectible figures. 

Well, I partially take that statement back. Of course, The Deep makes everything super weird with that octopus on his crotch. We cannot forget the, um, moments they shared together last season. I can’t explain why, but I have suddenly lost my appetite. And then there’s Hughie and Robin (what’s left of her, anyway) moments after A-Train sped through her body in the very first episode. That still goes down as one of the most shocking moments in the series. These figures truly capture those wild moments well.

Those two delights aside, the other Youtooz Boys collectible figures are as normal as they can be but no less awesome. Who doesn’t want a laser-eyed Homelander on their shelf? Or perhaps you’d like to sit and sip with Kimiko. A singing Soldier Boy and a gun-toting Frenchie?! I love it. There’s also a Terror the bulldog plushie coming your way for additional delight.

For some reason, there isn’t an MM figure but we hope to see him soon. Billy Butcher has a limited-edition figure that’s currently available, so adding Mother’s Milk would truly complete this collection. And his figure has to rock a really cool T-shirt! Also, I know it is perhaps far too early to ask, but I’m putting in my bid for figures of the Gen V characters in the near future.

Yootooz will launch its The Boys collectible figures and plushies on October 17.

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The world of The Boys and Gen V never fails to leave us with questions that need answers. Butcher’s grim health diagnosis aside, one of the biggest mysteries leading into The Boys season four is about Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s mysterious new character. A lot of fans, myself included, assumed that Morgan would portray Tek Knight, a character from The Boys comics. We soon discovered that wasn’t the case. Gen V actually introduces Tek Knight, played by Derek Wilson, in its fourth episode. But who is Tek Knight and what role does he play in The Boys’ universe? Let’s get into his history, powers, and much more.

The History of Tek Knight in The Boys Comics and TV Show, Explained

As we all know, The Boys characters are (mostly) evil parodies of Marvel and DC Comics icons. Tek Knight a.k.a. Robert Vernon is no different as a mashup of Iron Man and Batman. In the comics, he is a founding member of the Payback collective despite having no clear superpowers. Instead, technology and intelligence are his powers; however, he uses them for nefarious reasons. Tek Knight is rather homophobic and engages in bizarre sexual behaviors, some in reality and others during moments of imagined psychosis. But compared to other villains he was mostly harmless, at least in the eyes of The Boys. Tek Knight’s behavior is explained due to a tumor in his brain. Eventually, a psychotic episode leads to his death. He thinks he’s saved Earth by having sex with a meteor but a falling wheelbarrow actually hits and kills him. [Editor’s note: A whole lot to unpack there.]

The Boys TV show mentions Tek Knight a few times throughout its three seasons. We know there’s a movie called Tek Knight Lives and that he’s made some tech in the universe. And Tek Knight was apparently a part of a hostage situation that left a woman paralyzed, as evidenced by a newspaper clipping in MM’s closet. So he’s certainly been in the ether but we haven’t met him… until now.

Tek Knight’s Motivations, Powers, and Place in the Gen V Spinoff 

Gen V’s fourth episode is very, very Tek Knight heavy. We meet him through a Vought+ commercial for his crime investigation series The Whole Truth. Tek Knight is a famous Godolkin University alumni who is back on campus to dig into Golden Boy’s death. His presence is unsettling for many, especially Dean Shetty. She’s very busy trying to keep the truth about the woods, Golden Boy, and Sam’s escape under wraps. Dean Shetty reveals that many of Tek Knight’s interview subjects end up dead or badly beaten after crossing his path.

Unlike the comics, Tek Knight does have some level of special powers. He’s able to sense that Dean Shetty has adrenaline coming from her pores and is apparently ovulating. Tek Knight later uses his powers to break down Andre after smelling Maddie’s, erm, hole on his breath. He later agitates Marie, calling her a liar when her pupils dilate during an impromptu class interrogation. Thankfully, Andre calls him out for being a hack and a “small man playing f**king hero” because he’s never been one. Still, Tek Knight is so unnerving that Marie ends up admitting the truth. She tells the room about what happened with Golden Boy, finally giving Jordan their due credit.

Tek Knight is willing to do anything to continue to increase his celebrity and popularity, including fabricating wild lies as the truth. He tells Dean Shetty that knows the complete truth and tries to blackmail her into taking the fall for Golden Boy’s death. Mr. Knight says he will go to Vought about Sam’s escape but he underestimates the power of a human dean with a lot to lose. 

Dean Shetty gets the last laugh with some dirt on Tek Knight. Like the comics, Tek Knight has a fatal brain tumor that causes him to do sexual things with pretty much any object that has a hole. She shows him video evidence of his odd trysts and threatens to leak them online if he doesn’t get out of God U’s business. Tek Knight flips his story, saying Golden Boy’s death is nothing more than an unfortunate tragedy. He goes about his business but not without having a couple intimate moments with a tree and a bathroom hand dryer. Thank you, sir, for your contributions to our post about Gen V‘s gross and shocking moments.

Will Tek Knight Return to Gen V or Appear on The Boys?

Tek Knight is alive so there’s a chance he could show up on either show again. We don’t know if Gen V will get another season or not so it depends on what happens with a renewal. As far as The Boys, it is quite plausible for Tek Knight to pop up there and stick his nose (and another body part) where it doesn’t belong.

The post Who Is Tek Knight on GEN V? THE BOYS’ Comic Character’s History, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys‘ supes are neither beacons of justice nor protectors of the innocent. They are amoral, self-centered agents of death and destruction, willing props for a society that turns great power into great profits. Starlight and Kimiko are exceptions that prove the rule exemplified by sociopaths like Homelander and Soldier Boy. That inversion of traditional superhero stories and its resulting exploration of unfettered power is a big reason why the Prime Video show is among TV’s best. And since monsters come from somewhere, it was easy to assume the incredible youngsters on Gen V, The Boys‘s new college-set spinoff, would follow in The Seven’s awful footsteps. How could its batch of Compound V-filled co-eds not be their show’s main villains? Especially when its proverbial big man on campus is literally called Golden Boy?

Because just like its predecessor, Gen V succeeds by playing against expectations. Only, the series is flipping its own franchise’s superhero script. The burgeoning supes of Godolkin University aren’t antagonists like on The Boys. They are a group we cannot only root for, they are worthy of our compassion.

Despite filling the roles of stereotypical college assholes out of an ’80s movie, the students Marie and Emma met at school are actually good people. That includes the literal Golden Boy of Godolkin and his beautiful blonde girlfriend. Same for the nepo son marked for greatness and the renowned professor’s beloved student. They’re far from perfect, yes. That near-fatal incident at the bar certainly proved they’re capable of The Boys‘ level mayhem and lack of accountability. But they’re not evil. More than that, they want to be good. Unlike The Deep and his ilk, these kids have the capacity to feel empathy. It pushed them to be real heroes who stand up for others when needed, even at great risk to themselves.

That’s enough to make them supes worth rooting for. And with no Billy Butcher to serve as a counterpoint, the show needs protagonists beyond Marie and Emma we want to see win. But in just three episodes Gen V established itself as a worthy companion to one of television’s smartest, most entertaining, most thoughtful shows by doing more than just giving us likable main characters. Gen V‘s stars are also compelling because they themselves are victims of a system that abused them in hopes it would one day profit off them.

Every superhero in the world of The Boys had parents who pumped their babies full of powerful, life-changing drugs. Whether well-intentioned or not, those caregivers put their kids on a path of unknown consequences none of their children ever consented to. That revelation was so powerful it helped humanize even the worst adult superheroes on the original show. (Something the original series excels at.) It’s an unimaginable betrayal by the people who should love you most. But Gen V, by the very nature of its setting, cuts even deeper into that monstrous act. It highlights how a corrupt capitalistic system—exploited by Vought and the government eager to empower itself on the back of America supes—manipulates its victims. It takes kids, given abilities they never asked for, struggle to control, and in many cases never wanted, and turns them into the monsters we know from The Boys.

In this world you can accidentally kill your own parents with powers you didn’t know you had. Then the people who did that will throw you into an orphanage to deal with your trauma alone. From there you can meet an educator who claims to care about you while she secretly uses your trust for her company’s own gain. Your own mother can even turn your pain into a reality show pitch, no different from a fame-hungry jerk in the dorm room next door.

Being everyone’s Golden Boy and a kind, generous kid won’t protect you, either. All your powers won’t stop your mentor from locking your brother away. And when you stop a real monster, the same people who championed you will tell the world you were a villain. Only then will your friends who knew your true heart care enough to right that wrong.

The students of Godolkin University are incredibly powerful. But that’s exactly why they should be treated and cared for as the innocent, vulnerable young people they are. They should be nurtured during a time when they’re learning who they are and who they can be. They have a burden most will never know. Instead, just as it has been their entire lives, the adults who should look after them use those kids as pawns in a game they never consented to play. They’re not treated or even thought of as real people with real feelings. They’re commodities in a society that raises them to think they’re special specifically so it can exploit that specialness.

And now, because we’ve seen what the young supes of Gen V could be and want to be, we know that if the real villains stopped worrying about making money and instead worried about making the world a better place, they could do just that. The cadre of super cretins that populate The Boys are not an inevitability; they are a tragedy. They could have been real heroes with just a little nurturing.

Gen V‘s main characters are good people now, but they might not end their story that way. Like Homelander, Black Noir, and the rest, they will ultimately decide what path to go down in life. They will then own the responsibility for their choices. But it’s obvious how easily the very system that created them actively pushes them in the wrong direction. It doesn’t want or reward them for doing the right thing. It actively punishes them when they do. Even Marie, who knows better than anyone the true horror Vought creates, almost lost herself that way in just a matter of days.

That sad truth makes for an engaging, heartbreaking story that is both of The Boys and different from it. Because supes aren’t born, they’re made. Just not by Compound V alone. They’re made by the worst kinds of monster. They are people who victimize kids, because the only power they believe in is the power of money.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He doesn’t have any super powers as far as you know. You can follow him on  Twitter and  Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Gen V is obviously set in the bloody and supe-laden world of The Boys. The show takes us to Godolkin University with a slate of college-aged superpowered people, including Marie Moreau, who want to use their powers for a bigger purpose. Some of them want to follow in Queen Maeve’s steps and become the #1 so they can secure a spot in the Seven. There are certainly some spots open there after The Boys season three. How long has it been since Homelander lasered a Starlight supporter in front of his adoring fans, anyway? Let’s get into Gen V and The Boys timeline shenanigans. 

When Does Gen V Take Place in The Boys‘ Timeline?

The answer to this is fairly simple. Gen V takes place between The Boys season three and whatever debauchery we will see in season four. The Boys confirmed this via X (forever Twitter in our hearts). So there are things that could happen in Gen V that will set the stage for next season of The Boys.

Honestly, after seeing the Seven in shambles, we are not sure why anyone would want to be a part of this mess. Vought International must be more convincing than we thought. 

Does Gen V Reference The Boys Season Three Moments? 

Why yes, Gen V does affirm that it takes place after The Boys season three. Gen V’s first episode shows Marie in a Red River Institute group meeting where one person says that Starlight leaving the Seven encouraged them to speak their truth. There’s a Vought news broadcast that claims the Russians plotted the attack at the Seven’s tower. Homelander also appears to be on trial with his lawyer saying he simply stood his ground. 

There’s internet chatter about Queen Maeve’s death and autographed merch for auction. In episode two, we see a student wearing a red “Keep America Safe” hat, which is a Homelander slogan that his followers have adopted. Many of them were wearing the same type of paraphernalia when Homelander lasered introduced his son. 

None of this puts a super specific pinpoint on how long it has been since the season finale. But it can’t be any more than a few weeks to months after all of this took place. All of these events seem to be very fresh in everyone’s minds.

We will have to wait and see if future episodes give us more insight into Gen V’s timeline in relation to The Boys.

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Class is almost in session for Gen V, the college spinoff series set in The Boys’ universe. There will be secrets, blood, and even a puppet in the mix of whatever’s going down at Godolkin University. It’s safe to say that Marie Moreau and her fellow students could use some words of wisdom and comfort as they embark on a brave new journey. Never fear, a few familiar faces are here to do that for them. Behold this video of The Boys cast welcoming the Gen V cast into the fold in a hilarious and lowkey offensive way. 

Actors Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko), Antony Starr (Homelander), Jack Quaid (Hughie), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Erin Moriarty (Starlight), Colby Minifie (Ashley Barrett), Claudia Doumit (Victoria Neuman), and Cameron Crovetti (Ryan) wish everyone a warm and seemingly normal welcome. That is, until a few of them give the classic salute of The Boys: a middle finger. Some of them double up on it for extra care and affection. We can already feel the warm and fuzzy feels brewing between The Boys and Gen V casts. 

Jessie T. Usher doles out solid advice about avoiding early morning classes. Jack Quaid also gives necessary tips on how to clean up loads of blood. Apparently, shampoo, shaving cream, and two showers will do the trick. Marie Moreau’s power in Gen V is blood manipulation, so this advice from The Boys star will come in handy. Karen Fukuhara tells them to not trust Vought but, of course, Colby Minifie says they should always trust Vought. She does portray the very-shady CEO of Vought International, so that totally checks out.

The Boys cast wishes the Gen V cast the best of luck in the video and encourages them to make good grades. We are sure they won’t have time to study because, well, everything is f**ked at God U.

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In The Boys universe, Compound V babies are growing up and going to college in their own live-action spinoff, Gen V. How will the series connect to the original show? What can we expect from a Vought-led school of hero higher learning? Well, we can’t say for sure yet.

Here’s everything we know about Gen V so far.

Title

The title of this The Boys spinoff is Gen V.

Gen V‘s Plot

Here’s the initial Gen V synopsis from Prime Video and Sony:

Set at America’s only college exclusively for young-adult superheroes (run by Vought International), Gen V is an irreverent, R-rated series that explores the lives of hormonal, competitive Supes as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities. It’s part college show, part Hunger Games—with all the heart, satire, and raunch of The Boys.

Gen V will take place at Godolkin University (and within its “School of Crimefighting”), an exclusive university of higher supe learning. The series will borrow from The Boys comic, specifically from the “We Gotta Go Now” arc.

This Gen V trailer reveals that Victoria Neuman, Ashely, and Adam Bourke will appear alongside these new characters. And Marie, whom we previously saw a photo of on The Boys in a Red River Institute file (more on that later), is the main character. Love that for her… or maybe not.

And, yes, there will be puppets.

We also know what The Boys‘ spinoff’s college student union and dorm rooms will look like. Gen V‘s setting is looking pretty clean… for now.

We also have quite a few new photos of all the characters we will see in Gen V. They are also remarkably clean for now. Well, except poor Andre.

Click To View Gallery

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, speaking with Empire, promise there are some shocking scenes to come. Rogen notes, “Gen V has some really crazy shit in it. The fact that they’re in college, they’re a little younger, makes it more shocking, maybe.”

And more widely, Rogen offers this insight into creating The Boys‘ worlds. “In general, if you’re making an R-rated thing, they let you do whatever the fuck you want, unless there’s some real legal thing that they think you might be bumping against… With The Boys, maybe it requires one extra five-minutes phone call, where they’re like, ‘Really?’, and you’re like, ‘Really.’ There are other things you’re on hours of phone calls about that are so much less interesting than that.”

Gen V‘s Connections Within The Boys Universe

The Boys Presents: Diabolical‘s second episode introduced the Red River Institute. It’s a group home for abandoned and parentless super-powered children. But the animated series (with the exception of the final episode) is not canon. The Boys season three made Red River canon when Hughie discovered that congresswoman Victoria Neuman was a secret Supe named Nadia. She grew up at the not-so-great Red River Institute after accidentally killing her parents.

Some children at Red River—whose ages range from 3-17 years old—ended up there for similar reasons. But others had been left/abandoned to Vought’s care when their parents decided they either couldn’t or wouldn’t raise their super-abled child. The case files Hughie stole from the group home included a photo of Gen V‘s main character Marie Moreau.

The Boys‘ showrunner Eric Kripke has said Gen V will react and continue building on events introduced during the original show’s third season. Here’s what Kripke told Deadline:

There’s definitely crossover, and we’re doing our best to design a universe that sees some of the issues and storylines in Season 3 hand off to the first season in Varsity (the previous working title of the show). Like there’s a presidential campaign happening in the background of that season, and there’s certain things that are happening at that school that are both in reaction to Season 3 of The Boys. There’s Soldier Boy, etcetera, but also some new storylines that are happening in that season of the spinoff that we have to pick up and take into Season 4 of the show.

Gen V‘s Cast

Jaz Sinclair (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) will star as Gen V‘s lead Marie Moreau, an 18-year-old Godolkin freshman who can control and weaponize her blood. She wants to be the first Black woman in the Seven. Sinclair will star opposite fellow co-ed Emma, a supe called Little Cricket played by Lizze Broadway, and Chance Perdomo’s Andre Anderson, the son of the famous supe Polarity, played by Sean Patrick Thomas. London Thor and Derek Luh both play the college supe Jordan Li, who can change between man and woman forms. Patrick Schwarzenegger is Luke Riordan a.k.a. Golden Boy, a Godolkin senior set to be in the Seven.

Maddie Phillips portrays Luke’s girlfriend Cate Dunlap, a junior who can encourage people to do as she wishes with the touch of her hands. Clancy Brown is Professor Rich “Brink” Brinkerhoff, the professor of crimefighting who trained several members of the Seven. Asa Germann is Sam, a troubled and very powerful supe and Shelley Conn is Indira Shetty, the dean of Godolkin University who surprisingly doesn’t have any powers. Marco Pigossi is Dr. Edison Cardosa, a doctor with ties to Godolkin University. Alexander Calvert and Jason Ritter will also appear in recurring roles. For more info about Gen V‘s characters, check out our character guide.

One interesting addition is Derek Wilson, who will portray Tek Knight. This is shocking to a few fans who assumed that Jeffrey Dean Morgan would portray the character in The Boys season four. The plot thickens, indeed.

Speaking of The Boys, actors Jessie T. Usher and Colby Minifie will make appearances as A-Train and Ashely Barrett, respectively. And P.J. Byrne’s Adam Bourke will also show up on campus to make the next great Vought movie. Propaganda really, but whatever. We will also see Victoria Neuman, played by Claudia Doumit, in some capacity.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Chace Crawford will reprise his role as the Deep on Gen V. We don’t yet know how this aquatic Supe will figure into the Gen V world, but we do know that we’re excited and a little terrified to see him.

Additionally, Jensen Ackles, who played Soldier Boy on The Boys, teased a cameo in Gen V at a fan convention. Entertainment Weekly reports that Ackles shared the following:

Soldier Boy pops up for a brief moment in this new spin-off of The Boys. In fact, there’s a few cameos from the mothership that come into this spin-off. My little bit there was heavily [improvised].

Behind the Scenes

Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters will serve as Gen V’s showrunners. They will also executive produce alongside Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur, Pavun Shetty, Ken Levin, Jason Netter, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Craig Rosenberg, Zak Schwartz, Erica Rosbe, and Michaela Starr. (That’s all?!) Brant Engelstein also joins the show as co-executive producer.

As with The Boys, Sony Pictures Television Studios will produce Gen V alongside Amazon Studios.

Gen V‘s Release Date

Gen V will release its first three episodes on September 29, with weekly releases to follow.

Early access tickets for a screening of the first two episodes of Gen V are now available. These screenings of The Boys spinoff will take place in a number of theaters and will occur on 9/27, two days before Gen V releases on streaming. If you want to try your luck at getting tickets, head to this page now.

Finally, Little Cricket on the BIG screen🍿

Prime members have the chance to receive early access to watch the first two episodes free in select cities! Use code GENV to secure your tickets at https://t.co/MKLujTryJm pic.twitter.com/bcFI6io62l

— GEN V (@genv) September 19, 2023

Originally published on September 9, 2022.

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Is God U the right place for you? Sure, if you’re a young supe with hopes of making it into the Seven. That’s what The Boys‘ spinoff series Gen V will explore when class begins session on September 29. It’s almost time to begin our freshman year alongside Marie Moreau, Andre Anderson, Little Cricket, Golden Boy, and a slate of college superheroes and characters at Godolkin University. We know that this institution for higher learning isn’t what it seems and, if you’re a comic book fan, there’s a pretty disturbing arc that this The Boys show will draw inspiration from. A new Gen V trailer dives into the bloody dark side of God U, and, well, it is indeed f**ked up. 

In the Gen V trailer, Marie is hype about being at God U for her freshman year. She quickly meets a few new faces, including the very handsome Andre. (We love the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina reunion here.) Speaking of Andre, whose father is a famous supe, he knows something dark and can’t talk about it. As confirmed by Entertainment Weekly, we also meet Derek Wilson’s Tek Knight in this Gen V trailer. This is pretty shocking considering many people thought Jeffrey Dean Morgan would be Tek Knight in The Boys season four, but he is not. There’s also Sam, a weird dude who can flip cars and refuses to go “back to the woods,” where something is happening that could cause a catastrophic problem.

A puppet (possibly with powers?) is in the mix in the Gen V trailer. Sick experiments are going down in the depths of God U. Little Cricket pulls a Termite (but less gross) and takes a trip through someone’s head, coming out of their ear. And there’s blood …a lot of blood. But we’d expect nothing less from a trailer for a The Boys spinoff series—good job, Gen V. There are also evil people at the school, and Marie tells her crew that they need to make things right. We will have to wait and see how this crew of young heroes will save the day. 

The Gen V trailer mixes in a few familiar faces from The Boys, including Victoria Neuman, Vought leader Ashely Barrett, Sean Patrick Thomas’ Polarity, and the not-so-great film legend Adam Bourke. He’s probably already making plans to turn these events into a flick full of lies. You gotta love The Boys universe and all of its twisted shenanigans.

Originally published September 6, 2023.

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The Boys’ college supes spinoff Gen V starts class on September 29. There are a ton of new faces and potential foes among a group of superpowered young adults who are battling for a coveted spot in the Seven. Gen V will once again expand this wild universe where heroes are horrible and aligned with corporations. There’s a lot of questions about how The Boys’ current storylines will intertwine with this new slate of drama and what this series will set up next. And some fans are probably wondering if the Gen V spinoff series is based on The Boys’ comics. The answer is indeed yes. Gen V draws comic inspiration from The Boys‘ source material. 

Which The Boys’ Comic Arcs Will Gen V Cover? 

Gen V will loosely bring The Boys’ “We Gotta Go Now” comic arc to life. This arc is the seventh one in the comics’ original 72-issue run. Interestingly, this is also the name of The Boys comic’s fourth trade paperback collection as well as a season two episode of the TV series.

What Happens in The Boys’ ‘We Gotta Go Now’ Comic Arc?

The “We Gotta Go Now” story is relatively self-contained. It makes sense to draw from this short arc considering Gen V will open up potential for new avenues. In “We Gotta Go Now,” The Boys collective are investigating the G-Men, an obvious reference to Marvel’s X-Men. Some of Gen V‘s characters might be a play on X-Men members. For example, Gen V‘s superstar supe Golden Boy can light his entire body on fire similar to X-Men character Pyro.

The G-Men’s leader is John Godolkin, hence the name of Gen V’s Godolkin University. Right now, it’s not clear if the university is named directly after a live-action version character or if it’s just a clever comic nod/Easter egg. God U, as they call it, is similar to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Anyway, the “We Gotta Go Now” arc is full of some sick material, even by The Boys’ standards. John Godolkin kidnaps kids and injects them with Compound V. The ones who survive the chemical get an array of superpowers.

Based on its trailer, it seems Gen V will borrow from this idea. Marie and others realize that Godolkin University has some dark secrets, including experimentations and torture. What the show will hopefully leave behind in the comics is the rampant sexual abuse of minors and deaths by suicide to escape a life of slavery. Horrible. The comic ends with Godolkin and the G-Men’s eradication, thankfully. 

The Boys TV show has done a great job of taking the stronger elements of the comics and building on them. Gen V will likely follow suit, even though it is based on a disturbing comics stuff from The Boys origin material.

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Class is about to be in session for Godolkin University students. The Boys spinoff Gen V is giving us more supe action combined with the oft-brash stupidity and hyper-competitive nature of college age folks. No one under the age of 21 should have all that power, tbh. Thanks to Prime Video, we finally have a final roster for all the major characters who will appear in Gen V’s upcoming season. Some of them are students fighting for a coveted spot with the Seven, while others are somehow trying to wrangle superpowered young adults. Here are all the new characters we will meet in Gen V when The Boys‘ spinoff releases in September. 

Who Are The Boys Spinoff Gen V’s Main Characters?

Godolkin University Student Supes 

Obviously, this series will center on Godolkin students. Let’s meet our new supes. 

Marie Moreau, Gen V’s Main Character

Anyone who has seen a Gen V trailer or paid close attention to The Boys is familiar with Marie. She’s the show’s primary protagonist, an 18-year-old superhero with the power to control and weaponize her own blood. As an incoming freshman at Vought-run Godolkin University in Gen V, Marie Moreau is eager to prove she has what it takes to join The Seven, but is sidetracked by a mystery she begins to unravel at the school.

Played By: The character of Marie Moreau is played by Jaz Sinclair in Gen V.

Andre Anderson 

Andre is a junior at Godolkin University—and this Gen V character has magnetic powers. He’s Golden Boy’s best friend and the son of famous superhero, Polarity; Andre has big shoes to fill as he’s set to take over the Polarity name once his dad retires. When Andre realizes that something is afoot at the school, he takes it into his own hands to try and figure out the mystery.

Played by: The character of Andre Anderson is played by Chance Perdomo in Gen V.

Emma Meyer (Also known as Little Cricket)

On Gen V, Emma is also known by her superhero name, Little Cricket, thanks to her ability to get super small. Though insecure and naive, which often leaves her in compromising positions, she becomes close friends with her freshman roommate, Marie, and together they navigate the mysterious dangers at Godolkin University.

Played by: The character of Emma Meyer is played by Lizze Broadway on Gen V.

Cate Dunlap 

Cate Dunlap is a junior at Godolkin University who is good friends with Jordan and Andre. On Gen V, the character of Cate has the power to push people to do anything she commands using the touch of her hands, which she uses to her advantage. Powerful and confident, she’s also Luke’s girlfriend, making her one of the most popular supes on campus.

Played by: The character of Cate Dunlap is played by Maddie Phillips in Gen V.

Jordan Li

Jordan is a competitive student at Godolkin University who will do anything to get to the top. They have a unique ability of changing between male and female forms, through which different powers manifest— the man is dense and indestructible, while the woman is agile and can launch energy blasts. Their distinct sets of powers make them a standout TA at Brink’s School of Crime Fighting.

Played by: The character of Jordan Li is played by London Thor and Derek Luh on Gen V.

Luke Riordan (Also known as Golden Boy)

Luke Riordan is a Gen V character also known by his superhero name, Golden Boy, on The Boys spinoff show. This is because of his power to light his entire body on fire. He is a senior at Godolkin University and is in the top rank, having the brightest prospects of joining The Seven.

Played by: The character of Luke Riordan/Golden Boy is played by Patrick Schwarzenegger on Gen V.

Godolkin University Staff, Parents, and Other Gen V Characters

What’s a college supe story without alumni, professors, and other miscellaneous people?! Here are the main Gen V characters who are not college students. 

Polarity 

The supe known as Polarity is Andre’s father and a largely celebrated Godolkin University alumnus and trustee. Polarity expects his son to follow in his footsteps by taking over the Polarity name when he retires. He believes Andre is destined for The Seven and will stop at nothing to make his dream become reality.

Played by: The character of Polarity is played by Sean Patrick Thomas on Gen V.

Professor Rich “Brink” Brinkerhoff 

This Gen V character is a renowned professor of crime fighting at Godolkin University who taught superheroes such as A-Train, Queen Maeve, and The Deep. He is dedicated to finding the top new talent at Godolkin University to join The Seven, and believes Golden Boy has what it takes to be next.

Played by: The character of Professor Rich “Brink” Brinkerhoff is played by Clancy Brown.

Dr. Edison Cardosa 

Dr. Edison Cardosa is a gifted doctor with ties to Godolkin University. Hmmm.

Played by: The character of Dr. Edison Cardosa is played by Marco Pigossi on Gen V.

Indira Shetty

Indira Shetty is the dean of Godolkin University. She doesn’t have powers, but her background in superhero psychology and her peerless ability to analyze what makes supes tick make her indispensable to the school. Her goal is to transform Godolkin University into the most elite college for supes and she takes a special interest in Marie when she arrives on campus.

Played by: The character of Indira Shetty is played by Shelley Conn on Gen V.

Sam

Sam is a troubled supe who is desperately trying to escape his unfortunate circumstances. He’s extremely powerful, with super strength and invulnerability. Despite having a good heart, this Gen V character is plagued by his hallucinations, which sometimes make it hard for him to discern between what is—and is not—reality.

Played by: The character of Sam is played by Asa Germann on Gen V.

Of course, we will also see The Boys characters like A-Train, Vought’s Ashley Barrett, Victoria Neuman, and (terrible) filmmaker Adam Bourke cross over to Gen V. They will give the show more of a tie to the main series, but there’s a lot of exciting stuff to explore with these new characters. 

Gen V will hit Prime Video on September 29 with its first three episodes followed by weekly Friday releases.

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Welcome to Godolkin University! The Boys universe is expanding to college with Gen V, a spinoff series hitting Prime Video on September 29. The series will follow college age supes who are learning how to become “heroes” (using that term loosely because, well, Homelander exists) through competitive training. We get to see a glimpse of that and darker secrets lurking beneath this esteemed university’s surface in a full Gen V trailer. It brings the blood, the gore, the powers, the one-liners, and much more. 

Our main girl is Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), a Godolkin student who could become the first top-ranked freshman in history. She’s set her goals even higher than this, desiring to be the first Black woman in the Seven. Marie discovers that there’s something amiss at her new school. Or, as she eloquently puts it in the Gen V trailer, everything is f**ked. We can all rest assured that we’re in the world of The Boys at this point. We see secret experiments, slaughtered bodies, sex, and apparently, Marie exploded someone’s private part. It is a glorious ending. 

Here’s an official synopsis to further bring together what we see in the Gen V trailer: 

From the world of The Boys comes Gen V, which explores the training of the first generation of superheroes to know about Compound V, and that their powers were injected into them, rather than God-given. These young, competitive heroes put their physical and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the school’s highly coveted top ranking. They quickly come to learn that ambition comes with sacrifice, and the difference between right and wrong is not as clear as they once believed. When the university’s dark secrets come to light, the students must come to grips with what type of heroes they are going to become.

Gen V also stars Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Shelley Conn, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Marco Pigossi. And, we will see familiar faces from The Boys in Gen V like A-Train (Jesse T. Usher), Ashley (Colby Minifie), Adam Bourke (P.J. Byrne), and Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit).

As we already know, Victoria Neuman is incredibly dangerous, powerful, and set to be the major villain of The Boys season four. She shares something in common with Marie as a former Red River Institute resident, except she’s been using her powers to literally and politically bust heads. We can’t wait until class is in session and the “We Gotta Go Now” comic arc begins.

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The Boys hit Prime Video back in 2019 and TV hasn’t been quite the same since. Over the past three seasons, we’ve watched a band of morally corrupt supes maim, kill, and completely destroy lives without remorse. And, no matter how much the Boys try to mitigate the Seven’s impact, it seems that nothing can stop the worst of them all—Homelander—from becoming an increasing threat. So, what does the future hold for these characters? That remains to be fully seen next season. Here’s everything we know about The Boys season four so far. 

The Boys Season Four’s Plot 

Right now, there are little to no specific details about the plot. Based on the season three finale, we do know that the events of season four will center around a couple of key storylines. Homelander will be a terrible father to Ryan and have to potentially face his previous actions. Butcher will also have to cope with his grim diagnosis. It remains to be seen how the other characters will weave into the events of The Boys season four. But, according to showrunner Eric Kripke’s interview with Deadline, the Gen V college spinoff will somehow affect the events of season four. 

For now, we have the title of its first episode.

Behind the Scenes 

Eric Kripke will continue to be the showrunner for The Boys season four. The season began filming in August 2022.

The Boys Season Four’s Cast

The titular crew is coming back for another round with Karl Urban (Billy Butcher), Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell), Tomer Capone (Frenchie), Karen Fukuhara (Kimiko), Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk), and Erin Moriarty (Starlight) reprising their roles. From the evil supes (and those who support them) side, Antony Starr (Homelander), Jessie T. Usher (A-Train), Chace Crawford (The Deep), Colby Minifie (Ashley Barrett), and Claudia Doumit (Victoria Neuman) will return. Giancarlo Esposito will also make his way back onto the show. It’s not clear if Dominique McElligott will return as Queen Maeve. But we do know that Black Noir actor Nathan Mitchell will return as a new person in that infamous suit. 

In August 2022, Variety revealed that Cameron Crovetti—who plays Ryan—will be upped to a series regular. Newcomers Valorie Curry and Susan Hayward will portray Firecracker and Sister Sage. They are not comic book characters, so fans will have to wait and see how they fit into the season’s puzzle. Jeffrey Dean Morgan will join the cast, too

The Boys Season Four’s Release Date 

The Boys season four has officially wrapped production, but we don’t have a release date yet.

Originally published on October 10, 2022.

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We know Homelander and Billy Butcher are sworn enemies. But as The Boys has shown many times, they also have a lot in common. That’s also true of the two actors who play them. The unhinged Supe might fly around with the red, white, and blue flapping around his neck, but Antony Starr himself is a native New Zealander, as is his co-star Karl Urban. But their shared home is just one of the things the two discussed in a delightful The Boys “For Your Consideration” video from Prime Video.

Oi, Amazon! Don’t make us like Homelander this much. We have a lot invested in hating that guy. Not that we could ever hate Antony Starr, someone who desperately deserves an Emmy nomination for playing television’s most terrifying monster. He’s so good in the role it’s nearly impossible to imagine anyone donning his Supe suit. But that easily could have happened if Starr hadn’t ended up becoming an actor, something, he revealed in this video, he never wanted to be.

That’s the complete opposite of how Urban ended up in front of the camera. His desire to act started at the age of eight. He grew up around movies because his mom worked on “film facilities.” Because of her he got to experience “the sense of unity” and “family” crews had when they’d screen the movie they just worked on.

All fans of The Boys will want to check out this conversation for some on-screen insights, too. The two also talked about filming scenes together and what goes into their performances.

Everything about this chat is delightful, minus the length. This is way too short. We could watch these two—whether as Homelander and Butcher or Antony and Karl—go back and forth all night. That’s something we hope Prime Video considers with future For Your Consideration videos.

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The Boys season four is one step closer to raining blood and debauchery on our screens again. The popular Prime Video series is done filming, and we are getting some great photos from the wrap. That includes a clear first look at Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character and his The Boys costume. We see him alongside Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher, who looks mighty lively for a man who is supposedly dying.

For now, we still don’t know if Jeffrey Dean Morgan will be a supe, a friend, or a foe on The Boys season four. The former seems a bit less likely considering he’s rocking a suit and tie instead of spandex, but we can’t quite rule anything out yet. It’s possible we haven’t seen Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s full The Boys costume just yet, his character may just be hiding it beneath layers of fabric. He could also be Tek Knight (a.k.a. Robert Vernon), a supe with a very high-tech suit whom we haven’t met yet on The Boys. Maybe the blue tie is a small hint?!

Of course, The Boys always makes parallels to other universe heroes. So think of Tek Knight as this world’s Batman or Iron Man. There have been Tek Knight mentions throughout The Boys‘ first three seasons, so perhaps Jeffrey Dean Morgan will portray the character in season four. He doesn’t have a big comic presence outside of being a founding member of the Payback collective. And he was actually fairly decent in comparison to his counterparts. (We are using the word “decent” very loosely here.) Maybe the show will bring Tek Knight into the fold in a different manner. He could totally be some rich jerk with too much money, too many expensive toys… and zero good intentions. A supe that Butcher doesn’t know is a supe. Sound vaguely familiar?

A villainous Tek Knight on The Boys would fit Jeffrey Dean Morgan perfectly, considering his turn as Negan in The Walking Dead.

Or perhaps he is some other The Boys character altogether, maybe someone on the investigative front into Vought’s latest scandal. Whoever he is, it’s nice to get a better first look at Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character in The Boys. Season four cannot come fast enough.

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“It starts slow, but it starts to pick up after episode seven.”
“The first two years aren’t very good, but it gets really interesting in season three.”
“It’s not like a TV show. It’s more like a 20-hour movie.”

We’ve all heard some variation of those exhausting lines far too many times during this era of “Peak TV.” Almost always delivered without any self-awareness, they suggest it’s perfectly fine to ask audiences—already inundated with more viewing options than they can handle—to invest time for a payoff that may never actually come. But you know which series none of those sayings will never apply to? The Boys. The Prime Video hit isn’t just a great show, it’s the show that does TV incredibly well. The Boys being one of the best shows on TV that really gets the medium is true for one simple but vital reason. It knows every single episode should entertain us while also offering other necessary elements of development.

The Boys announced what it was all about in it’s season one opening scene, when A-Train turned Robin into two hands and a Jackson Pollock painting. This is a show where sh*t happens. And then it keeps happening. And, when you think it might finally stop happening, other sh*t you didn’t expect happens. Action aside, every episode comes loaded with plot development, meaningful characterization, insightful social commentary, and world-building. All of which is is delivered with a combination of drama, comedy, gore, and outright absurdity. You will never walk away from an episode thinking, “The writers were just treading water,” or, “Nothing important happened,” or (worst of all) “That was a waste of time.”

That’s not even close to hyperbole, either. Pick any single installment from the show’s first three seasons and list what happens. In an age of television where so many shows love slow, monotonous builds to nowhere, it doesn’t seem possible what The Boys pulls off on a weekly basis.

I picked a random episode to highlight just how true that is. (To make it truly random I asked one colleague to pick a number between one and three. And then I asked another to pick a number between two and seven. I omitted season premieres and finales when we’d most expect stuff to happen on any show.) The result was season two, episode six, which is an absolutely incredible hour of television.

This is an incomplete (I repeat: incomplete) list of what happens in “The Bloody Doors Off“

• Frenchie flashbacks that reveal his emotionally devastating backstory with the group
• Homelander crushes a mugger’s head while Stormfront rubs his groin, followed by them having sex in an alley
• The Deep gives Maeve a GoPro with footage from the airplane she and Homelander let crash which she then decides to use to blackmail Homelander
• The Deep begins recruiting A-Train into the Church of the Collective
• The Boys break into the Sage Grove Center and discover a secret adult-Super test facility
• Frenchie, M.M., and Kimiko watch their archenemy Lamplighter burning a Supe test-subject alive on Stormfront’s orders
• A Supe named Cindy who can crush things with her mind escapes and causes a hospital-wide riot
• To survive the riot the Boys work with Lamplighter, who reveals he never mean to kill Mallory’s grandchildren and is haunted by his mistake, same as Frenchie who wasn’t there to prevent it because his best friend OD’ed that night
• A Supe named Love Sausage chokes M.M. with his giant anaconda penis
• An escaped patient causes an EMP blast, which leads to Hughie getting impaled
• A lovesick Homelander burns down Stormfront’s trailer, then nearly chokes her to death after he catches her lying to him
• Starlight accidentally kills a father whose car she needed to save Hughie’s life
• Stromfront tells Homelander her real Nazi identity and that he will lead a new race of white super people

That’s one episode! One single episode that is at times absolutely heartbreaking, laugh out loud funny, absolutely bonkers, genuinely shocking, and always engrossing. There are shows that don’t accomplish that much in one season, let alone with the incredible writing, directing, and acting that The Boys is the best at delivering every week.

In terms of modern shows that fundamentally understand what TV is supposed to be (an episodic storytelling medium) and what it has become in the 21st century (shorter seasons with overarching stories), The Boys is the best at combining both aspects. It can—and will—make you laugh, cringe, gasp, and cry all in 45. And it will do that week after week as a reward for putting in the time to watch, because it respects your time and appreciated your decision to invest in it. There’s no making you wait for the “good” stuff. It’s all good stuff. But because it also does all of that while also remaining mindful of its larger story, you still get the same emotional payoffs that “slow build” shows spend years working towards.

The Boys is great for a lot of reasons. It features some of the smartest writing on TV even while it also features some of the most absurd. But it never forgets we have to care about it’s characters if we’re going to care about the absurd things that happen to them. But it’s approach isn’t the only successful way to make great television. This year alone series like Andor and Better Call Saul highlighted there are many ways to make an all-time great show. But in terms of fully embracing the fundamental building block of the medium, the episode, and remembering that every episode should be great unto itself so we’re rewarded for watching every week, The Boys holds the top spot as television’s best show at being what is it, a television show.

And if anyone ever tries telling you The Boys is really like a 30-hour movie, just respond like Butcher probably would, oi?

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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What’s (potentially) worse than a group of terrible adult supes who are wreaking havoc? A group of college aged supes who are doing the same thing. We all know that time of our lives is not when we make the best decisions, generally speaking. Fans of The Boys will get a taste of what university life is like for a group of supes with Gen V, a spinoff series coming our way in 2023. The first look at Gen V finally came to us in the form of a high-octane trailer that’s full of blood, twists, and a couple of familiar faces. 

In the Gen V trailer, we find ourselves at Godolkin University, a safe space for students to thrive. Yeah right. Nothing is safe in this wild universe. Things immediately go awry for Jaz Sinclair’s Marie, who runs into lots of blood, dead bodies, and the word “murderer” scrawled in red across a dormitory door. Apparently, there is a series of Hunger Games-style challenges for this young supes, and, well, things go how you’d expect. Vought International runs this school, so nothing good can come from being here. The question is, who is a “good” supe and who is there on some Homelander-type stuff? That remains to be seen, and we can’t quite tell from this first look offered by the Gen V trailer. 

Gen V’s timeline runs concurrent with season four of The Boys TV show and is (loosely?) based on the “We Gotta Go Now” arc of The Boys comic. So it is a mixed bag in terms of how things will play out in the series. One thing we do know for sure is there will be a few familiar faces in the mix. First, there’s the appearance of A-Train, who is wearing a white “The Seven” hat and looking like he’s doing pretty well considering the events of The Boys season three. Vought Studios legend (haha) Adam Bourke will also get into the mix in some way.

And we also see Ashely for a split second in the Gen V trailer. She seems to have come around to being a slightly better human being; however, she still works for Vought, so we don’t trust her. But it is really about getting to know these new faces, their wild powers, and how their time at the School of Crimefighting will change the world. We can’t wait until class is in session.

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No one is ever safe on The Boys. Not when the world’s most powerful Supe is a sociopath with a taste for blood. That’s why we never know who will survive and who will get swallowed up like Timothy. But it won’t be all death and farewells when the Prime Video series returns. In season four, the show will finally introduce a character we’ve only ever heard referenced before. And like most things on the series, it won’t make Hughie’s life any easier. Rosemarie Dewitt is joining the show as the mom who left Hughie and his dad long ago.

Prime Video has announced Dewitt (Rachel Getting Married, The Estate) will get in on the gory superhero fun. She’ll star as Hughie’s mom, a character only known for leaving behind her family. Because we’re familiar with the concept of Chekhov’s Gun, we’ve always suspected we’d meet her one day. Especially because her departure was a seminal moment in Hughie’s life that still impacts him. But why she left and why she is finally returning now remain a mystery.

Hughie’s mom isn’t the only parent Hughie will see in season four. Simon Pegg will also return to the show as his dad/Dewitt’s ex-husband. Fellow newcomers Rob Benedict (Supernatural) and Elliot Knight (Animal Kingdom) will also join them as series regulars in still unannounced roles. They’re the latest editions to season four—currently in production in Toronto—which will also include new Supes Susan Heyward (Sister Sage) and Valorie Curry (Firecracker), as well as Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

At this point we assume any and all new characters will mean more trouble for poor Hughie Campbell. But the return of his mother, under any circumstances (can’t rule out her being take as a hostage), has the potential to upend his life in a way not seen since the death of his girlfriend Robin in the show’s first scene.

Bad news for him, but good news for us. The Boys is always better when Hughie’s life is a disaster. But hey, maybe him and his mom will see a Billy Joel concert together and make things better…right until something inevitably goes horribly wrong.

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Some of the weirdest and most memorable moments of season three of The Boys involved the Deep and octopuses. But thankfully they were all filmed using realistic props made by MastersFX. In the video below, Insider gets a peek behind the process of making fake animals so that practical and visual effects blend together. The video also shows off the secrets behind a silicone frog in Firestarter, a chicken from Nightmare Alley, and the clay hamster The Boys used for some scenes of the superhero Jamie.

Replacing animals with fake versions is more humane, and the prop is much easier to act with than a tennis ball or laser pointer. Thankfully, Chace Crawford didn’t actually have to eat an octopus the way his character did. Instead, he bit into a silicon octopus filled with syrup and black food coloring, which was still probably pretty gross. He also had fishing line tied to his face which pulled to simulate the octopus tentacles as his food fought back.

Multiple octopuses were made for The Boys, each serving a different purpose. In order to get hyper-realistic look and movement, the effects artists used a variety of materials and painting processes. Getting the texture and jiggliness just right is important, as is the fur and feathers on the hamster and chicken props. The video shows the painstaking work of getting it all layered in and looking realistic.

There is at least one movie with a similar octopus scene where the actor did in fact eat multiple live animals in order to get the shot. Octopuses are smart, sentient creatures and the disturbing scene in The Boys gets that across while only using silicon creatures.

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth. 

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The Boys has become a worldwide sensation, mainly thanks to the clever way it mocks superhero culture. Both the streaming series and the original comic portray superheroes as narcissistic celebrities at best, and sociopathic monsters at worst. In an era where superheroes dominate media, it’s a refreshing (although cynical) take on the very concept of heroism and celebrity. But what if Marvel heroes came to The Boys? It’s time for a MCU and The Boys mashup.

YouTube channel Alternative Cuts has created a hilarious parody video that perfectly edits Marvel heroes into scenes from The Boys. And it pulls no punches. You can watch it in full right here:

Most of the footage used comes from a conversation between Hughie and Billy Butcher from The Boys’ pilot episode. Butcher explains the truth about Supes to the then-innocent Hughie. Only now, they’ve littered the scene with promotional material from the MCU. You can see posters for movies like Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and more. The video also includes some cleverly edited footage of a drunk Tony Stark going on a dangerous rampage from Iron Man 2. Only this time, there are casualties. As would be common in the debased world of the Seven.

Despite using lots of MCU signage, the footage in the video seems to poke the most fun at a non-MCU hero, Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man. (Although, we guess he’s technically part of the MCU now, thanks to No Way Home). The mashup includes a lot of edited footage of Maguire’s Peter Parker being an outright menace. Although most of it is from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, a lot of it is new footage made to resemble Maguire’s Spidey. While it’s fun seeing the Marvel heroes be total jerks, we’re glad they’re the (mostly) nice guys they are. The Boys is fantastic, but we like our jerk superheroes in limited doses, thanks.

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The Boys season four is drumming up a ton of excitement already. We know that our supes and our titular antihero crew are coming back for another round. But now we are getting news about new faces coming into Vought’s ridiculous world of superhero crime, blood, and butt stuff. The Walking Dead’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan—who still portrays Negan—will join The Boys in season four. 

Right now, the details about Morgan’s character are under wraps. However, we are sure that Supernatural fans are once again flailing at this crossover. They already got Jensen Ackles a.k.a. Dean Winchester in season three, and now Dean’s father is coming in the next season of The Boys. Will Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character have a connection to Soldier Boy? That remains to be seen. In fact, it is not completely certain if Ackles will reprise his role as Soldier Boy next season or not. Of course, Morgan will have a Supernatural reunion with The Boys‘ showrunner Eric Kripke, either way.

In classic The Boys fashion, the show’s always hilarious Twitter page posted the announcement. And, along with welcoming Morgan to the show, they posted a photo of him with the caption, “Give me some tights. I’m ready for some tights.” Honestly, we’d love to see it. We already know that Jeffrey Dean Morgan would make a great villain on The Boys. He terrified all of us back when Negan was ruling the Sanctuary with a barbed wire bat. Sure, he’s less evil now but just imagine how terrible he would have been with Homelander’s powers. And, it would be cool to see Homelander get some stiff competition next season.

There’s still so much to be revealed about The Boys season four, which you can keep up with in our nifty “Everything We Know” guide. Until the next big annoucement or tidbit of information, we will continue to speculate on if Jeffrey Dean Morgan will be a friend or a foe in The Boys.

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Soldier Boy is back on ice now after causing a flood of deaths—including Vought’s bravest lesbian hero Maeve—and general mayhem. But that doesn’t mean that Vought International isn’t still celebrating this good ole American hero. In The Boys season three, we caught glimpses of Red Thunder, a 1983 movie starring Soldier Boy as he goes up against the Reds. Now, it is available on the fictional Vought++ streaming service that we totally wish was a real thing. (We would have loved a Black Noir horoscope show.) And it is just as ridiculous as anything else coming from a supe.

The content warning is a clear dig at streamers who have put them up as a way to explain why they have wildly offensive content available. In this one, Vought brushes off Soldier Boy’s actions, blaming the Russians for radicalizing him. Nevertheless, the warning reminds us that he is still an American hero and that we can “learn” something from this propaganda. I mean… film. Please don’t send A-Train to run over me. 

The brave Soldier Boy (who Jensen Ackles always plays to perfection) is tied up. And he’s facing a Soviet commander named Yuri. The latter threatens the American captive, saying he doesn’t look like a hero. Soldier Boy jokes that he is in town to buy rugs, gets a fist to the gut, and claims he will kill every Commie bastard who tries to hurt his Payback comrades. He does get off a good line, saying “God would have mercy. I won’t.” 

The Soldier Boy movie clip continues with Yuri taunting him while Soldier Boy plays the heartfelt hero. He does with a very thin veil, but it works long enough for the TNT twins to strike Yuri. The three run to the airfield to stop a strike and, well, I lowkey want to see the rest of this movie now.

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The Boys’ characters are full of personality. From the two-faced antics of the very psychotic Homelander to Butcher’s often abrasive and snarky mood to MM’s stern yet loving persona, there’s a lot going on in that universe. And, as always, it is super fun to categorize and put our favorite characters into groupings based on their personalities. (We have done it before with the Yellowjackets collective and fairytale archetypes.) We have often wondered what Zodiac signs the wacky folks from The Boys fit into. And now we don’t have to wonder anymore. The Boys actor Nate Mitchell, a.k.a. Black Noir, gave it some deep thought, assigning all the main players a sun and moon horoscope sign based on their personality. 

And boy, is this not only accurate but ridiculously funny for so many reasons. First, there’s the fact that this is coming from Black Noir, who famously doesn’t talk in the present timeline. (Also, RIP my guy.) And the obvious fun being poked at some of them tracks for this show. 

Here are the Zodiac signs for The Boys characters: 

The Boys and Their Zodiac Signs

Billy Butcher

Zodiac Signs: Gemini sun and Aries moon 

Billy Butcher is a fighter and warrior so we get the Aries moon. And the Gemini comes from him either being a jovial and somewhat loving (in his own gruff way) dude while also being a complete d**khead at other times. 

Hughie

Zodiac Signs: Virgo sun and Cancer moon

He speaks to Hughie’s Cancer side, noting his heart, emotions, and desire to protect those he loves. (Explains why he went all supe this season.) But, to me, that Virgo sun reveals itself through Hughie always wanting to know a plan and thinking ahead. He’s the one who uses the world’s upgraded technology to convince Soldier Boy to work with them. 

Kimiko

Zodiac Signs: Aries sun and Libra moon 

As Mitchell says a few times, Aries is the warrior of the signs. And Kimiko is the ultimate warrior for the Boys so it makes sense for this one to be in her Zodiac lineup. But the Libra moon gives her balance where she still holds onto the normal things like wanting to eat cotton candy and watch romantic movies. She’s the best of both worlds. 

Mother’s Milk, a.k.a. “MM” 

Zodiac Signs: Taurus sun and Virgo moon

Mitchell points out that MM is calm and grounded compared to his crew. But, I think there is more. Like the Taurus bull, once MM gets his sights set on something, it is very hard to change his mind. A stubborn one, indeed. And his Virgo moon explains why he is so meticulous and organized about everything. The Boys knew what they were doing when they brought him in.

Frenchie 

Zodiac Signs: Aquarius sun and Pisces moon 

Yes, he is a romantic and poetic guy. And that Pisces sun only takes it up a notch, putting him deeply in touch with his feelings. This is why he should ride off into the sun with Kimiko for a happily ever after. 

The Supes and Their Zodiac Signs

Homelander

Zodiac Signs: Scorpio sun and Gemini moon 

Sorry to all the Scorpio suns out there. Mitchell has placed the infamous Homelander into your realm… and he’s not wrong. He points out that Scorpio is closely tied with intensity and a fear of abandonment. And boy is that the truth with Homelander. His entire arc, especially in season three, has been about wanting familiar love. Gemini is the twin sign and we literally see that play out with Homelander when he faces his dark inner voice. 

Queen Maeve 

Zodiac Signs: Aries sun and Pisces moon 

Mitchell gives Maeve the Aries sun because she is a warrior woman, much like her DC Comics counterpart Wonder Woman. But that Pisces moon explains why she is very sensitive to the things around her, unlike Homelander, and strives to hold onto her empathy and humanity.

Black Noir

Zodiac Signs: Various 

Mitchell admits that his character Black Noir could be anything. An intense Scorpio and mysterious. A Sagittarius because he is goofy. A confident fighting Aries. But he says that the core part of him falls under Cancer because of his deep emotions. Love it. 

Starlight

Zodiac Signs: Capricorn sun and Scorpio moon 

Starlight is officially one of the Boys now but she’s still a supe so that’s why her Zodiac signs fall in this category. According to Mitchell, her Capricorn sun gives her that drive to accomplish and change things. It is why we saw her join The Seven in the first place. But a Scorpio moon shows up with Starlight often. (I know this as a Scorpio moon myself.) She will deliver a calculated strike back when necessary, like livestreaming Homelander’s sordid admissions on her socials. Or she will sting directly, putting someone in their place while her eyes are glowing with energy. 

The Deep

Zodiac Signs: Leo sun and Cancer moon 

This is spot on. As Mitchell points out, his Leo makes him love the spotlight and being the center of attention. But that Cancer moon makes him super sensitive. He is constantly groveling for Homelander’s approval and desperately wants to be loved. 

A-Train 

Zodiac Signs: Sagittarius sun and Capricorn moon

Sagittarius are sometimes called Sagiterrorists for a reason. And while A-Train isn’t wreaking havoc like Homelander, he’s not a great person either. In fact, him killing Hughie’s girlfriend is what sparked all of this show’s events in the first place. Mitchell points out that his sun sign is a traveling one, which is appropriate for a man who goes really fast and far. He doesn’t get into his Cap moon but we all know that he’s also driven, although his morals and motivations are teeming with selfishness. 

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The Boys season three is done and we are left with a huge hole in our TV programming. Is there another show with as much blood, NSFW content, sex jokes, social commentary, and overall wild supe action to replace it? Absolutely not. It’s probably going to be a while before we see Homelander and the titular Boys crew again. But until then, we’ve got something to celebrate. As we already knew, this wacky universe is expanding with a college spinoff following a gang of superpowered students. Now, we have a name for it. The Boys spinoff is aptly titled Gen V. Love it already. 

And we love it even more after seeing the Gen V title announcement featuring some of the cast. (We don’t see Sean Patrick Thomas nor Marco Piggosi here. But they are certainly not the college kids.) The group of The Boys college supes includes not one but two Chilling Adventures of Sabrina alum—Chance Perdomo and Jaz Sinclair. Fans knew them as Roz and Ambrose, respectively.

Gen V also stars Lizze Broadway, Shelley Conn, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, and Patrick Schwarzenegger. They all appear together to talk about Gen V, saying it will have The Boys’ intensity and grit while bringing in the classic raging hormones and drama of college life. As Chance Perdomo says, “It’s f**ked up. You’re gonna like it.” Sounds like the The Boys college spinoff will be the good time we all signed up for when we became The Boys fans. 

We also have a clearer synopsis of Gen V that teases some competitive supe action: 

Set at America’s only college exclusively for young-adult superheroes (run by Vought International), Gen V is an irreverent, R-rated series that explores the lives of hormonal, competitive Supes as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities. It’s part college show, part Hunger Games—with all the heart, satire, and raunch of The Boys.

Right now, we don’t have a release date for Gen V. But we are ready for this The Boys spinoff whenever it wants to hit us with nonstop chaos.

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Nerds contain multitudes. And that applies to your friendly Nerdist crew, too. Our staff doesn’t always agree on everything going on in pop culture. But that doesn’t mean we don’t talk about things, though. Sometimes, us nerds like to debate and argue a bit. Call us “argumentanerds,” if you will. So we are going to doing something unorthodox and let you into one of our discussions about perhaps the wildest show on TV: The Boys. After spending all season attempting to kill Homelander, he survives to the end. Quite the choice, indeed. Let’s dig into what ultimate fate should befall one of TV’s most loathsome characters ever.

Eric Diaz (Nerdist Staff Writer): Homelander is the most hatable character in genre TV. I think only Joffrey on Game of Thrones was on par. (Which is funny, since they are kind of the same character at different ages. But I digress.) Homelander needs a death as horrible and painful as Joffrey’s. Actually, he needs a worse death than Joffrey’s. He’s just too despicable, too irredeemable, and has caused too much harm. The audience needs this catharsis.

I realize Antony Starr is the MVP of this show and one of TV’s best villains ever, but there is only so long he can go without getting his comeuppance before the audience has had enough. Without Homelander, you kind of have no show, though, so we have ourselves a dilemma. 

Mikey Walsh (Nerdist Staff Writer): I think you’re actually shortchanging Homelander. He’s the most hatable character on TV period. (I think I hate him more than Joffrey as well, because at least Joffrey was just a kid. But hoo boy, you know you’re genuine garbage when your closest pop culture comp is Joffrey freaking Baratheon.) That’s why dying is too good for Homelander. He fears death, but it might ultimately be a gift to him. In some ways he hates himself as much as we do. His little talk in the mirror highlighted what a scared little boy he is. Why let him off the hook by taking that away from him?

The far better punishment would be to rob him of his powers. Take away everything that makes him both special and beloved. Let that coward rot in prison for all of his crimes, unable and unwilling to defend himself. If you want to see Homelander truly suffer that’s how you do it. That might not be as cathartic as watching a blonde monster choke to death at his own wedding, but it would be a more fitting end for Homelander.

Eric: Yeah, Homelander being robbed of his powers might be the most fitting end for him. And it’s also a way to keep the actor around in some capacity. I suppose in some ways it would be even more satisfying than just him dying. I would still love to see a scene where everyone just kicks the shit out of him, though, like they did to Stormfront. We should at least get that.

But I think you have to rob him of more than his powers. He needs his adoration taken away. Right now, he has the love of a sycophantic cult, one that cheers on his most awful acts. He’s going to see how far he can push that. How long can he go on murdering people who annoy him without any backlash? At some point, he’s going to truly lose it and slaughter a bunch of people like he did in his fantasy in season two. And then he’ll lose all but the most fervent of his cult, and maybe even the love of his son. That’s when the gloves are going to come off. We’ll really want him dead then. Is just taking away his power good enough at that point?

Mikey: You’re right. Taking away his power won’t be enough on its own, because that also leaves open the possibility of him becoming a martyr. He needs to be both powerless and hated by just about everyone. Even getting sent to jail and convicted for crimes won’t be enough for the Storm Chasers, who will just see that as more deep state persecution. We know reality never stops certain people from believing what they want.

He needs to lose his powers the same way he exploited them – publicly. He needs the whole world to see, almost certainly on live television, that he is a scared coward. And hopefully that will happen before he loses his powers so he has no excuse. Let everyone learn exactly who he is at his core. That way he can live out his days in shame, a disgraced fraud hated by everyone and everything. 

That would also be a pretty funny ending for a guy that is fermenting civil war. His downfall might be the only thing that saves America. Which is yet another reminder that this is a) definitely a work of fiction and b) showrunnner Eric Kripke was right that the series is strangely hopeful. I’m way more optimistic for the future of The Boys‘ world than I am our own. Hell, the conversation we’re having right now could be outlawed by early 2025.

…Okay, never mind. I just talked myself into wanting to see Homelander die before it’s illegal to kill off fictional fascists on TV. So the question now is “How?” What’s the best way to murder the worst person in the world?

Eric: Well, without getting too spoilery, they are definitely not going to kill off Homelander the same way he went in the comics (Spoilers: in the comics he ultimately does die. But the show veers wildly from the source material more often than not). I feel like it has to be Butcher who does the deed, even if other people help. The character who takes him out in Garth Ennis’ story is no longer even still alive on the show, and wasn’t  even really the same character. I don’t think TV audiences would be satisfied with anyone but Butcher getting to kill Homelander. Or at least Butcher having a big part in his death or at least his downfall. It would not satisfy viewers if Homelander goes out like a redshirt or dies taken out by a redshirt. 

Mikey: I don’t know, it would also be pretty sweet to see Starlight or Hughie—or Starlight AND Hughie—kill him. And I’d definitely be down for a non-super powered Maeve murdering a non-super powered Homelander. I’d also be fine with the poetic cruelty of Soldier Boy nuking his own needy son…right before Soldier Boy eats it too.

Besides, I think Butcher is likely to suffer the exact same fate as Homelander ultimately. “Two sides of the same coin” and whatnot. However, I promise I do not want to see that. Let our poor little rage monster get his revenge and then maybe find some peace. I want to see that almost (almost) as much as I want to see Homelander slowly bleed to death over the course of seven hours. In real time.

Eric: The Boys has some of the best writing on TV right now, so if anyone can pull off someone other than Butcher getting to be the one to bring down Homelander, I trust them to pull it off. But the heart wants what the heart wants. And my heart wants Butcher to be the one to do it. And yeah, he’ll probably die in the process, too. It’s not like he deserves happiness either, he’s just not as scummy as Homelander. But that would be a good death for both of them.

I just hope the writers don’t nerf Homelander’s fate, whatever it is. We deserve some form of comeuppance for him. It’s not like the people in real life who deserve punishment get any, ya know? 

Mikey: Sadly, on that we agree.

You can follow Eric Diaz (@GeekBoyEric) and Mikey Walsh (@burgermike) on Twitter, where you’ll often see them talking about pop culture during their free time.

The post What Fate Does THE BOYS’ Homelander Deserve? appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys’ writers have managed to raise the stakes (and gonzo gore) with each season. And they’ve also come down harder on white Christian nationalism each passing year, brandishing their acerbic wit. For those who don’t know, white Christian nationalism is a movement founded upon the belief that the U.S. is a kind of “promised land” from God, established by protestants for protestants. The OG subscribers of replacement theory, these proponents are terrified of “The Other,” and often especially perceive racial minorities as infringing upon their God-given, white Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) dreamscape.

The show’s creators have intentions that seem poignantly synthesized in the gravelly words of one of my favorite season three additions, the Stan Lee-adjacent character known as The Legend. “Being American means knowing you’re the hero,” he tells Hughie while smoking a cigar. “So what do we do? We sweep our filthy shit under the rug and we tell ourselves a myth like Soldier Boy.”

The Boys‘ Characters and Their Societal Reflections

One way the writers critique this specific mentality is in their constant portrayals of the cut-throat (laser-throat?) underbelly of capitalism. Vought has only ever been an über greedy corporation that long ago traded its moral compass for a spreadsheet that calculates a person’s monetary potential. And knowing the buying power of middle America, Vought opened the series pilot by procuring Starlight.

She’s a white, blonde, corn-fed girl from Iowa who demurely describes herself as “five-foot-six and 110lbs” in her Seven interview tape. Thus, it was no surprise this season when Homelander finally coerced Starlight into playing a couple. Her social image is the perfect yang to his all-American, Superman-ish yin. Meanwhile, bisexual, brunette, and sword-wielding Maeve was always going to be mere fodder for the leftist youth of The Boys universe. She is Vought’s compromise to prevent cancellation and budding feminists’ incentive to buy Vegetarian Pride Lasagna.

Which brings us to Dean Winchester—erm—I mean, Soldier Boy. (Anytime someone said his name this season, my brain immediately went to Soulja Boy’s “Crank That.” Anyone else? No, just me? Coolcoolcool.) This season’s walking MacGuffin is a literal Reagan Era relic, complete with the whole surly “Marlboro Man act,” as Hughie calls it. After being freed from one of those damn commie laboratories, he finds himself in a strange world where Vought actually cares about appealing to newbie feminists.

“Do men really walk around like that?” he asks after seeing a father toting his child in a baby carrier. Initially, his gruff, “Back in my day…” brand of xenophobia contrasts with Homelander’s PR-conscious two-facedness. But by the time we learn that the former unwittingly fathered the latter, the resemblance is uncanny. Soldier Boy and Homelander are both merciless psychopaths. In a parent-child reunion worthy of Jerry Springer, Homelander says that he’s just like Soldier Boy. “I know,” Soldier Boy grumbles in reply. “You’re a fucking disappointment.” *cue chair-throwing*

White Christian Nationalism Through Capitalism and The Boys‘ Classic Satire

Corporations may change the face they show the public but it’s always about the bottom line for them. Any researchers of white Christian nationalism will admit that a fervor for free-market capitalism is inextricably woven into its fabric. German economist Max Weber observed this connection way back in 1905 when he penned his now-famous work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. The Boys obviously critiques capitalism through Vought; however, capitalism is just one of the facets of white Christian nationalism that this show tackles.

There are many in-your-face satirizations, like when racist Stormfront-lovers march with Tiki torches. It is a disquieting nod to the tragic 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA where a counterprotestor was viciously mowed down. One can’t help but draw this comparison yet again during this season’s closing scene. Homelander murders a counter-protestor at a pro-Homelander (read: white Christian nationalist) rally.

Numerous shows entertainingly satirize hypocritical and xenophobic white Christians for laughs. In fact, The Righteous Gemstones is currently working on its third season of just such content. And The Boys does the same, from Ezekiel’s Believe Expo (a “Capes for Christ” affiliate) in season one to Starlight’s tribute song for Translucent. The latter sounds like it’s straight from Christian radio.

But what sets The Boys apart in its irreverence (besides, y’know, the giant penises, exploding heads, etc.) is its ruthlessness in some instances, as demonstrated in what follows the aforementioned Homelander murder. The counter-protestor’s lifeless body drops, there’s a beat of silence, and then… applause for Homelander. 

Homelander and the Ideals He Upholds in The Boys

It seems that no matter how awful Homelander is, his supporters will continue to love him as long as he represents an ideal. Because that’s all that Homelander is: a walking conglomerate of jawline, blue eyes, ‘Murica, and fireworks that test groups responded well to. Although The Legend said that the myth Americans tell ourselves is Soldier Boy, it’s clear that Homelander is just the 2022 version of that same myth.

White Christian Nationalism (and most kinds of fervent nationalism in general) is built on myth-telling, and worshiping an idea—typically a nostalgic past that never quite existed. It’s a monument, built of words like grace, valor, freedom, liberty, and sacrifice. Evangelicals and white Christian nationalists aren’t interchangeable (some deplore each other); but they do overlap.

As Kristin Kobes Du Mez observes in her insightful book, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, many evangelicals’ language and practices indicate they uphold their evangelicalism in a position parallel to Jesus Christ. Thus, evangelicalism in and of itself has elevated to the position of myth. Similarly, white Christian nationalists in the U.S. do not worship the real America but an idea of America, a portrait of purity and patriotism. (Don’t look too closely, or you’ll see that it’s full of flimsy buzz words.)

Homelander fully embodies this kind of fallacious thinking. His personality is inhuman(e), engineered by a lab full of scientists directed by a boardroom full of suits. This is why when he yearns for the maternal love he never had. He of course reaches for the idea of it, guzzling breastmilk first and then—after he’s murdered his only source in Stillwell—cow’s milk. Perhaps he thirsts for milk also for its Biblical, honey-adjacent history that recalls the manifest destiny of white Christian nationalism. Regardless, there’s no quenching this thirst because he only ever chases after something that represents an ideal of what he needs.

So we see the crowds of supporters falling for someone who embodies their idea of America. He’s strong, speaks his mind, and doesn’t condescend to what’s politically (or morally) correct. And The Boys is unafraid to show a suburban husband’s stomach-churning descent into just such a Homelander-loving crowd. It’s ruthless in that it traumatizes us again and again by portraying powerdrunk villains mercilessly and unrepentantly eviscerating innocent people. Viewers see this from literally the opening scene of the show. This bloodshed is motivated by prejudice or—you guessed it—just because they can.

The Just Desserts of White Christian Nationalism

We witness horrible things like sexual assault and racist brutalizing. But The Boys is also ruthless in its just desserts. It stokes our anger into a bonfire until we think we can’t handle any more heat before giving us the ending that we all yearn for. The vengeful capitalist Madelyn Stillwell receives fatal LASIK from Homelander. Stormfront (a.k.a. “Nazi b***h”) is beaten by the woman who’s brother she killed, and then set to broil by Ryan’s lasers. The racist “Supes Lives Matter” loser, Blue Hawk, is road-rashed to death by A-Train. The Boys likely won’t help deprogram any white Christian nationalists. But for the rest of us who are in on the joke, this show is a balm to our weary souls. 

The post THE BOYS Expertly Lampoons White Christian Nationalism appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys season three sets up a story that causes division among the titular crew. Butcher, whose life purpose is to eliminate supes, becomes one. Well, sort of. In the show’s first three episodes, we see him meeting with Maeve, who has been feeding him information about supes. But what they both really want is to take Homelander down. And that’s for good reason considering how he’s spiraling further and further into pure evil. Maeve discovers a weapon that might kill Homelander and gives Butcher Compound V24 a.k.a. Temp V because he will surely need it. The chemical levels the supe field and make Butcher’s comrades, especially MM, quite angry. However, Hughie takes his side in more ways than one.

What Is Compound V24 (Temp V) on The Boys and Why Does Butcher Use It?

Episode one introduces us to Compound V24 via a meeting Stan has with Bob. According to him, the Compound V24 super serum is “the future” because one dose will allow a regular person to be a supe for 24 hours. It is two million dollars a hit (whew) and supposedly meant for soldiers. Bob says supes shouldn’t be in the army (TRUE) and that V is associated with Nazis (also true). I mean, the original serum was created by Frederick Vought for the Third Reich, after all.

Stan agrees and insists testing still needs to be done. Stan’s goal is presumably to get into pharmaceuticals and out of the supe business. Queen Maeve gives Butcher a few doses of Compound V24, saying that if he wants to pursue members of Payback and Soldier Boy to find BCL Red, then he will need powers. After an encounter with Gunpowder, Butcher realizes that the only way he can fight is on an even playing field. He finds that he’s unable to be hurt and he has the cool laser eye power. 

Later one, Hughie swipes some of it and gets the ability to teleport along with an additional boost of strength. The downside is, he loses his clothing in the process. Yikes. Hughie’s reasons are more than just wanting to help, though. He wants to protect Starlight and have some level of power in a world where he feels too normal and powerless.

How Does Compound V24 work? 

Well, we do know that it gives a normal person super powers for a full day. After that, it supposedly wears off. But, like any drug, Compound V24 boasts some nasty side effects. We see Butcher vomiting green liquid and sweating profusely. He’s also really irritable (even for him) and has a hard time controlling his laser eyes from surfacing. And Butcher and Hughie appear to be in physical pain at times with black goo coming out of their ears.

Maeve claims the drugs are further along in development that what Stan does but boy does it get worse. Compound V24 doesn’t appear to be addictive outside of the ego boost. But, we later find out via Starlight that Compound V24 is fatal with more than three or so uses. Butcher tricks Hughie into not taking more doses but he does it and finds out in the finale that he will die in 12-18 months. Yikes.

Will Anyone Else Use Compound V24? 

Maybe they will in season four. But we are sure it won’t be a Boys member who does it, especially after seeing how it affected Butcher. If anyone regular gets their hands on all that power, it can be really, really bad. 

Will Compound V24 tear the Boys apart? 

It nearly did this season. Butcher went against his cardinal philosophy that humans shouldn’t have this kind of power. He’s in a bad place with MM and the others but perhaps a grim diagnosis will change their hearts. Still, it remains to be seen if those bonds can ever fully repair themselves after this Temp V debacle.

Of course, the first three episodes of The Boys only scratch the surface about Compound V24. We will have to wait and see what effects it has as this story unfolds. 

Originally published on June 3, 2022.

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Soldier Boy made his mark in The Boys season three and he was definitely no Captain America. Jensen Ackles totally embodies the role of a “Marlboro man” and supe who literally doesn’t give a s**t about anyone nor anything but himself. It’s a big upgrade from his comic version (more on that later). Season three takes us on a wild ride with Soldier Boy and his (former) collective of fellow heroes known as Payback. Let’s dive into all things Soldier Boy, Payback, and what roles they play in The Boys season three. 

What We Know About Soldier Boy, Payback, and Their Vought Connection on The Boys

We uncover our first bits of information about the TV version of Soldier Boy in The Boys first episode of season three. Maeve brings Butcher a file about Soldier Boy, saying that a weapon used to kill the supe might be strong enough to take out Homelander. Butcher knows who Soldier Boy is immediately, recalling that he died in a “nuclear meltdown” back in 1983 or 1984. It’s a fact that he doesn’t quite believe. Maeve encourages him to keep reading Soldier Boy’s confidential file, revealing that he was killed by BCL Red, some kind of advanced weapon.

She surmises that if they can find this weapon, then they can kill Homelander. He also uncovers a photo of Payback, a Vought supe collective he that he calls a bunch of “f***ing wankers.” Maeve tells him that the Seven passed them as the superior crew and that Crimson Countess, Soldier Boy’s girlfriend, would know what really happened to him. So Payback and Soldier Boy are essentially the older version of Seven and Homelander. As with all these heroes, Crimson Countess does borrow from Marvel/DC with some Scarlet Witch-esque powers. 

The plot thickens in episode two when Frenchie and Kimiko head to VoughtLand, where they find Crimson Countess at a Soldier Boy exhibit. But, before things go awry, they watch a quick history video about him. Soldier Boy was born poor in South Philly and allegedly became a war hero (thanks to Compound V) against the Red Menace. He is Vought’s very first superhero (using that word loosely here). Soldier Boy is super strong, fast, can fight hand to hand, and has a shield in addition to his powers. A very Cap type of story, indeed. He gets all the props for being an all-American hero and saving us from a nuclear holocaust. Riiighhhttt. In the comics, he’s more of a bumbling weirdo who wishes he could be more like Homelander. We get the feeling this guy is much more confident.

Gunpowder, another Payback member, is a “rights to bear arms” dude who ends up tussling with Butcher after the latter says he would tell people that Soldier Boy allegedly abused him. So yeah, neither one of them are doing really great in life right now. There’s not much more to learn from Gunpowder after Butcher lasers his head in half. Sigh. 

The bulk of the backstory comes in episode three when they visit Grace Mallory and Ryan. Grace tells them the story of her short yet critical time with Soldier Boy and the Payback collective. (Butcher blackmails her into honesty.) She was into some shady drug trafficking business in Nicaragua during Operation Charlie. The “higher ups” decided to bring a crew of supes into an active war zone. The chosen supes were Payback, including Crimson Countess, Gunpowder, Soldier Boy, Noir, Mindstorm, the TNT Twins, and Swatto.

This somewhat lines up with the Payback collective from the comics, except that one includes Stormfront and Eagle the Archer, whom we met last season via Deep’s storyline. They are quite the tough villains who are dead set on killing our Boys crew. But, while Stormfront ultimately runs the comic Payback show, Soldier Boy is in charge in the TV lineup. He grossly “flirts” with Grace, who is disgusted with the group’s cocky, brash nature. Things quickly go awry when Swatto buzzes in the air and attracts enemy attention. Nearly everyone dies and Soldier Boy’s body is flown away with the enemy to parts unknown.

In later episodes, we get more of the scoop with Solider Boy and the Russians. It turns out Vought’s Stan set him up to be taken by the Russians with the remainder of Payback’s assistance. And honestly, it was not hard to convince them to turn on Solider Boy. He was mean, abusive, and just really sucked in general. The Russians did a number on experimentations on him, which took his powers to an unprecedented level.

When the Boys break him out, we see that Soldier Boy can emit a burst of energy that pretty much kills everything in its path. And, if it is a supe, they will lose their powers. We see it happen to Kimiko and later with Maeve, although they both survive. Shockingly, Butcher and Hughie team up with Soldier Boy to show him the modern-day ropes and help him find (and kill) his Payback friends in exchange for killing Homelander. Very dark content. Solider Boy even gives Homelander a run for his money in terms of strength and pure meanness. Lowkey loved to see it.

Where Is the Rest of Payback? And What Happens to Them?

Well, we knew where Noir was because he’s in the Seven. And Swatto died during that battle where 160 men died and Vought wasn’t held responsible. But, thanks to Butcher and Hughie’s relentless effort to kill Homelander, Soldier Boy tracked down and killed Crimson Countess, Mindstorm, and the TNT twins. He did not get to Noir but that is only because Homelander killed him first.

All of it seems like it is for no reason, though. Solider Boy lives and goes back on ice. Many people die. And Homelander is worse than ever before with Ryan in tow. Soooo…yeah. We could see Solider Boy again in future seasons perhaps. And maybe they can somehow take him AND Homelander out.

Originally published June 3, 2022.

The post Soldier Boy and Payback in THE BOYS Season Three, Explained appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys‘ A-Train got a new outlook on life during the show’s third season. Unfortunately it wasn’t much better than the previous life he had. Murdering Blue Hawk got him a replacement heart, but vengeance cost him his brother’s love. His ludicrous attempt at giving himself a different image didn’t go any better, either. He then ended the season by staying loyal to Homelander, which might eventually get him killed. And in the middle of all that he filmed the dumbest ad ever made. All of which gave us plenty to talk about with A-Train himself, Jessie T. Usher. He told us what was going through his character’s mind during his biggest moments this year, what it was like playing such a wide spectrum of scenes, and what he thinks should happen to the world’s fastest killer.

(Note: Jessie T. Usher has one of the best, most joyful laughs you will ever hear. We demand someone crack up A-Train in season four.)

Nerdist: A-Train got the full range of The Boys‘ experiences in season three. He filmed the world’s worst commercial, became a joke with an ill-conceived rebranding, fought another superhero, suffered personal heartbreak, killed someone, betrayed another, and he even grew personally. Which of those moments are the most fun for you as an actor and which ones are the most challenging?

Jessie T. Usher: I think the most challenging aspect would be those in-world moments. Because then you’re almost being a character within a character, but you can’t forget the character that you’re ultimately playing. Like for example when A-Train is doing the commercial. Yeah, he’s doing the commercial, but he’s doing it for a specific reason. He feels a certain way about being a part of that project and the way it’s being received, and the way it’s being developed and taken over by Vought.

And all these things, you have to keep in mind as an actor who I’m playing in those moments. It’s easy to get caught up in it and say, “Yeah, this is like a joke. We’re just having fun, and it’ll fit in where it fits in.” But that’s not really the case. This is still a person with a consciousness and a trajectory that we cannot forget about even in those moments. So that’s pretty challenging.

But it’s fun to see him grow. It’s fun to change his perspective a little bit. It’s fun to almost feel those moments in real time, to hear another character on the show say something that’s never been said and have A-Train process it. Those are things that I enjoy. It’s always different and I love that.

Speaking of different, you had a sincere moment of reflection, guilt, and remorse with Hughie. What was it like to finally show a more mature, unselfish side of A-Train?

Oh man, that was a very interesting moment. I didn’t necessarily know how that was going to go. Reading it on the page it just sounded crazy. We’re at Herogasm and all this stuff is going on. But in that moment, all the weight that has been on A-Train’s shoulders from when we meet him til now kind of rests on that moment. And he’s never been able to be honest about it. At all. Not with Hughie. He didn’t trust him enough to finally open up. And he could never say anything publicly without incriminating himself even more. It was just one of those things where it was the undercurrent of a lot of things that he did and said. So to finally rip that back and kind of just let it go?

There’s something about working alongside Jack [Quaid] who’s very raw and honest in his performance. I didn’t expect it to be that emotional. I just thought it would be a thing where he takes a breath and he says it, but it felt like so much more. So I’m really eager to see where the writers take it from there, because it kind of cuts abruptly and we don’t get a chance to finish that moment. But it’s one that definitely needs to be finished.

Your character gets a new lease on life by getting a new heart, but once again he loses the person he’s closest to. Now that A-Train has recognized the pain superheroes cause, but doesn’t have his brother or someone who really loves him, what do you think he wants from life going forward?

I think like a lot of the characters on the show he kind of just wants to feel some genuine love. It’s misconstrued. These characters are so huge, so famous, so rich, they’re numb to a lot of things. And the love that they’ve been getting has been artificial for a very long time. They’re making these crazy decisions and choices, and it’s really just they’re looking for something very, very simple.

For A-Train he’s always been looking to his brother for that stamp of approval. It’s that unconditional love that, “No matter how screwed up I am, I know I can always turn to my brother and he’s going to make me feel better about it.” He doesn’t have that anymore. So where’s he going to get that from? I have no idea. But it will be interesting to see what type of fight he puts up for his brother, because I know in my mind how much that means to him.

It’s interesting you say that, because it brings another question to mind. Does A-Train hate himself?

That’s a good question. I think at the end of the third season, no. I think at the beginning of the third season, yes. I think a lot of his trajectory in this season was him realizing that yeah, he kind of does. He kind of does hate himself. He hates the position that he’s in, he hates what he’s doing, he hates the people around him. It’s just not what he thought it was going to be. Yeah, he may have made it seem like, “I’m going to do this thing for my brother” or “I’m going to do this because it’s right” but none of that means anything to A-Train.

Let’s be honest, he does not care what’s right or wrong. It’s what feels good. And in that moment that felt like something he needed to do to feel better. And it’s because of how badly he felt about himself up until that point.

I think now, at the end of the third season, being weak and torn down and vulnerable, he’s finally able to feel something else. I just don’t think it’s hatred.

It’s funny you’re talking about where he is at the end, because despite all the bullying and threats, your character was very loyal to Homelander this season. But A-Train also saw firsthand what happens to anyone who gets close to Homelander. So what was your character thinking while sitting on that couch during your final scene of season three?

He was thinking, “Somehow, someway, I still managed to screw up.” (laughs) I know—I know—that A-Train just knew that doing the right thing was going to have the right outcome. But somehow it still feels like a screwup. And I think he’s just baffled at how deep and dark this environment is and if it’s even possible to ever really live the life that I think he’s trying to live now.

At some point—this is a show that this reference would only work for—there had to be a Nazi who looked up one day and said, “This just isn’t right.” But you’re still a Nazi. So the rest of the world, no matter what— you can turn on Hitler—the rest of the world is still going to say, “You’re a Nazi.” And I think that’s A-Train’s moment of like, “I’m doing everything I possibly can, I basically killed myself to do the right thing, and I’m still here. How is this possible?”

It’s funny you say that, because my next question isn’t about A-Train, it’s about you. When you start reading a script for the first time, how much do you fear that this episode, or this arc, or this season, could be it for A-Train? And how confident were you that he was going to survive season three?

Oh man, you never really know. (laughs) You never really know. And this is another one of those show’s where it’s kind of like Fantasy Island, where I can know in my heart that A-Train is going to survive, but what does that look like? I don’t know. It might not be an ideal situation.

I love that, though. It’s kind of a thrill. From page-to-page I’m like, ‘”Oh shoot! This might be where he goes!” (long laugh) Or you know, he may never be able to walk again, and all of a sudden I’m playing a totally different character. One episode he can be A-Train. The next episode he could be Reggie Franklin and never see A-Train again. We honestly don’t know. But that’s the fun and the beauty of it. I’m here. I’m here to play him.

Objectively, what do you think would be the fairest, most just ending for A-Train? And how is that different from what you want for personally want to see happen to him?

Initially I was thinking, like in the comics, he dies. I was thinking there’s some justified version of that, but I don’t think that’s the fairest. I think the fairest is for him to lose everything and then still live to have to deal with that. He has to spend the rest of his life cleaning up the messes that he made, because they are lifelong messes. Him just sacrificing his life is the easy way out. What happened with Blue Hawk would have been way too easy. There’s so much more behind A-Train he has still yet to address. If he were to lose his powers and have to live with it I think would be for him the end of the world, but if that’s something he has to live with it justifies a fair ending for A-Train.

Personally, for the show, I want to die in an epic way. (big laugh) I want something legendary to happen. (more laughter) I don’t know, like some slow motion scene, something crazy that only we can do on this show. I want to see something cool, that’s all.

Whatever A-Train’s fate is we hope it a) makes Jessie T. Usher laugh and b) we get to see him watch it.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post THE BOYS’ Jessie T. Usher on A-Train’s Season 3 Journey and His Future appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys has become a true sensation for Amazon Prime Video. The extremely timely superhero satire series recently launched its second season with the most-watched global launch of any Amazon original series ever. Not only did the adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s cult series from Dynamite Comics get a third season order ahead of season two, but according to Variety, a spinoff of The Boys is now in active development. The show is called Gen V and this one is going to focus on what it’s like for young superpowered people in college.

Gen V‘s Plot

According to the original report, this new spinoff will be set “in America’s only college exclusively for young adult superheroes (or supes) that is run by Vought International.” It will explore the lives of “hormonal, competitive supes as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities. Part college show, part Hunger Games—with all the heart, satire and raunch of The Boys.”

The Boys Season 3 and Gen V‘s Crossover

As reported by Deadline (via io9), the spinoff found its first lead in Jaz Sinclair. Sinclair, best known for playing Rosalind in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, will headline the series. She will play a college student and superhero named Marie.

For those who don’t want spoilers for The Boys season three, look away now, because an Easter egg from the latest season gives us our first look at Marie in The Boys‘ universe.

As first spotted by Entertainment Weekly, this spin-off tie-in appears in episode two of The Boys. The Red River Institute, which first appeared in a non-canon episode of The Boys Presents: Diabolical, now makes it onto canon. It’s revealed that Congresswoman Victoria Neuman grew up there, along with other child supes that struggle to control their powers because of their age. The organization is ultimately owned by Vought International.

During season three of The Boys, Hughie visits Red River, pretending he’s interested in adopting a child. And thus, he’s shown images of children currently living at the Red River Institute, including Marie. How exactly this Easter egg will tie into The Boys‘ spinoff is still unclear, but it sets up a little bit of Marie’s backstory.

And this is only the beginning of the crossover between the two shows, teases showrunner Eric Kripke. We can expect to see things in the Gen V spinoff happening “in reaction to Season 3 of The Boys… There’s Soldier Boy, etcetera, but also some new storylines that are happening in that season of the spinoff that we have to pick up and take into season four of the show.” It sounds like the spinoff will not only react to the main The Boys universe but also impact its direction.

More About The Boys’ Spinoff Series

In addition to Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, also joins the show as another college student/supe named Emma. Maddie Phillips and Chance Perdomo will appear as well. And after a few shakeups in the cast, Shameless‘ London Thor will also join The Boys‘ spinoff as a lead. According to Deadline, she will replace Reina Hardesty who recently exited from the project. Other newly cast regulars on the series include “Derek Luh (Shining Vale), newcomer Asa Germann and Shelley Conn (Bridgerton).”  Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Marco Pigossi have also joined the cast in recurring roles.

Craig Rosenberg was writing the pilot and was set as the series showrunner. Rosenberg departed over “creative differences.” Deadline reported in late September that Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters will executive producer and serve as showrunners for the untitled series. Amazon Studios has formally given a series greenlight, too.

So far on The Boys, we only see brief glimpses of the supes who aren’t members of The Seven. This spinoff will show whether or not all this world’s superheroes are awful. They can’t all be as bad as the likes of Homelander and The Deep, right? The school setting makes it sound like this is a twisted version of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters from X-Men. Hopefully, this new series will maintain the same balance of satire, genuine emotion, and raunchy humor that makes the original series so brilliant.

Originally published on September 24, 2020.

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The Boys season three finale left us with a lot to think about. The titular collective is different in many ways after a lot of fraught tension with the Soldier Boy and Homelander mess. The Seven and Vought are quite different too with dead (and not-so-dead) members and the loss of Starlight. We know that The Boys is returning for season four and cannot wait to see where this story goes next. In fact, we have a few things that we already want to see in the next round. 

Homelander Dying in Spectacular Fashion

Antony Starr seems like a really nice guy who deserves a great job. But his character Homelander might be one of the worst beings on TV right now. Homelander has done more damage than anyone on this show and he must die. We know that it won’t happen like it did in the comics because, well, Noir is dead. But maybe Billy Butcher can finally take Homelander down before he dies. 

A Temp V, a.k.a Compound V24, Cure 

Or better yet, there will be a cure for Compound V24 that lets Butcher live after Homelander dies. It would be sad to see the leader of the Boys go out in such a sad way. Especially if Homelander lives in the end. 

MM Finding Love and Happiness

MM has sacrificed his home life for the Boys’ missions. And while he has a solid relationship with his daughter, it would be nice to see him find love and happiness at some point. His heart is the size of Vought and he deserves it. 

Ryan Using His Powers For Good (After Being Evil First)

Ryan is heading down a dark path with Daddy Homelander. And we don’t like it. Somebody please intervene and save this kid before he destroys the entire city. (But also, let him f**k up some things first.) There’s the grim possibility that Ryan could die but it would be better to see him recognize his dad’s ominous ways and use his powers/influence to somehow defeat Homelander.

A Frenchie and Kimiko HEA

The progression of Frenchie and Kimiko’s relationship is one of the best parts of The Boys. They finally went the romantic route this season with a kiss, so give them a happily ever after in the midst of guts and wild sex stuff. 

The Fall of Victoria Neuman 

Not the head popper running for VP! Neuman’s been getting away with a ton of stuff and virtually no comeuppance. And season three affirms that she is willing to scheme and scam to get what she wants. Or just explode a person’s head. Whatever works. But the Boys are gunning for her next. Please give them a win. 

A Farewell to Vought 

Vought is a crumbling ship at this point. Homelander is essentially doing his own thing to the 12th power and everyone else is either dead or just going through the motions. Even Ashley seems to be having some change of heart after deleting the footage of Maeve surviving. It’s time to watch the crumble of Vought go down and explore even more entities in this world if the show goes for a fifth round. The possibilities are endless.

The Return of Maeve and Maybe Soldier Boy

As we know, there weren’t many big deaths this season. The members of Payback, including Noir, bit the dust but the remainder of the Seven and the Boys are still here. No one can have peace in this universe, so Maeve will return and face Homelander another day, right? Yes, according to Eric Kripke’s interview with Deadline. “We definitely won’t reach the end of the series without seeing Maeve again,” he confirmed. “I’m hoping we see Soldier Boy again.” Well, this will be really interesting.

More Blood, More NSFW Jokes, and More “Bold and Bats**t” Antics

The Boys knows what fans want. And we are 100% sure that we will have plenty of entries for not one nor two but three installments of weird, wild, and gross moments in season four.

So, When Will The Boys Season 4 Release and What Do We Know About It So Far? 

Those are two great questions without answers at this point. The announcement is still relatively fresh so it will be some time before we get news about the next season. And we don’t know what direction the show will go in next season yet. But, as we find out, us Nerdist fans will be talking about it. 

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When The Boys first introduced Compound V24, a.k.a. Temp V, in season three, I knew it wasn’t going to go well. Butcher and Hughie shot up a few doses of it in their relentless attempt to kill Homelander. And, well, they made a big mess in the process. Not only did they free Soldier Boy, who killed hella people, but Homelander is still alive and has Ryan under his wing. And, to cap it all off, Butcher is apparently dying from Compound V24 after taking one too many doses in The Boys season three. Let’s talk about what we learn in the finale and what the future could hold for Butcher with his grim diagnosis. 

What Diagnosis Does Billy Butcher Get in The Boys Season Three? 

In the finale, Butcher keeps Hughie from taking another dose of Compound V24. We already know Butcher’s guilt over what happened to his brother so it’s understandable that he’d hide the truth about the drug from his comrade. Starlight fills Hughie in, who is understandably terrified. Butcher uses his powers during the big Vought Tower fight and ends up having to subdue Soldier Boy after he tries to kill Ryan, a move that he might live to regret. That is, if he sees it at all.

At the end of the episode, Butcher is in the hospital. A doctor is talking to him but he’s not listening so we don’t get a clear diagnosis. There is a treatment—likely involving draining fluid—but it will possibly impact his quality of life without extending it. Butcher bluntly asks how long he has to live and the answer is a grim 12-18 months, if he’s lucky. He lights up a cigarette and tells the doctor to f*ck off. Seems like he’s full of regret about a lot of things. 

Will Billy Butcher Return for The Boys Season Four? 

Our poor, dying Billy Butcher will presumably be in The Boys season four if they don’t do a long time jump. He does pop up in the final moments at their headquarters to say they need to get rid of Neuman, after all. I cannot imagine them starting a new season off with his funeral or anything like that. Butcher still needs to accomplish a few things before he dies, including killing Homelander and maybe saving Ryan from becoming the next evil supe.

But it remains to be seen how his health will deteriorate from Compound V24’s deadly effects. In fact, he might just throw all caution to the wind and take more of it. And it’s also not clear if any of his comrades know that he has less than two years to live. That is, if we don’t get some kind of cure for Compound V24.

If next season ends up being the final one for this show (that’s my theory for now), it could all end with Butcher’s death. He’s a total jerk most of the time but he is the driving force of the Boys. Let’s see how the crew will continue their missions without him.

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The Boys season three has had one major question: Will Homelander die? It’s the big goal that’s brought nearly everyone together from the Boys to Starlight to Maeve and even Soldier Boy, who doesn’t even like his own biological son. And this episode gives us the answer that we kind of already knew. Homelander will live to see another day in this universe and return for The Boys season four. While he’s always been a secretly vile human being, he brings it to the light for all to see. And, this big episode hints at him getting even worse next season. 

Here’s all the terrible things Homelander does in The Boys season three finale:

Homelander Kills Noir

Homelander kills Noir for no other reason than he’s mad about him withholding the truth about his parentage. It’s a sad and shocking way to see this silent yet relatively good (in Boys/Payback terms anyway) character go. And he exhibits no remorse for it at all. He even goes on to admit what he did in front of Ashley, A-Train, and the Deep before essentially disowning them too.

Homelander Gouges Maeve’s Eye Out 

The Boys’ great Vought Tower battle is one to remember. Yes, we get a flying Starlight and Maeve sacrifices herself (and subsequently her powers) to save everyone from Homelander. But the big fight between Homelander and Maeve show just how much she is sick of his sh*t and just wants him to die. Even after Homelander takes Maeve’s eye out with his brute strength, she continues to fight with all the strength she has. But, thanks to Soldier Boy being willing to kill Ryan, Homelander doesn’t die. 

Homelander Kills a Man at a Rally… and His Supporters Cheer 

Homelander’s been building his band of supporters who buy into his “cancel culture” bullsh*t all season long. Of course, we obviously know who he’s being modeled after in this case. But it goes to a new level in the finale Homelander lasers a Starlight supporter’s head off in front of a crowd and Todd, of all people, leads them in cheering. Knowing that he can 1) do what he wants in broad daylight and 2) have no consequences for his actions is a very scary reality. And who knows what Homelander can influence his followers/fans to do in The Boys season four.

Homelander Begins to Craft Ryan in His Own Image

This is perhaps the most disturbing part of it all. Homelander has taken Ryan, his child who already felt abandoned/betrayed by Butcher among other things, under his evil wings. Ryan’s latched onto him as a father figure and Homelander is living his dream of having a family. Homelander even introduces Ryan to the world and shows off his powers, clearly intent on continuing the legacy of the supes with a new generation. And, Ryan’s creepy and proud smile at watching his dad kill a man means we will have not one but two antagonists in season four. Big Yikes.

So there you have it. Homelander somehow manages to get even worse by the season finale and there’s no one around to oppose him. A-Train is essentially trapped with nowhere to go. The Deep would never try and is too weak to challenge him. Ashley cannot control him. And Maeve is reclaiming her life far, far away from Vought. Starlight is with the Boys now, but with Butcher’s grim diagnosis, things are rocky in that group. We are already ready for another round to see what Homelander does next.

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Marvin Milk, whom The Boys fans affectionately know as Mother’s Milk or MM, has been on quite the journey throughout the show’s run. We’ve seen him grapple with his decisions to pursue vengeance, go through morality spars with Butcher, and parse through the intricacies of PTSD. Season three takes him to a bleak place with the secrets of his past resurfacing both literally and figuratively. His story has extraordinary elements yet the crux of his emotional and familial journey roots itself in reality and resonates with many viewers. Laz Alonso embodies MM to perfection, delivering anguish, righteous rage, and the frustration of betrayal. And, because of him, MM is tethered to our hearts forever. Nerdist caught up with Laz Alonso to talk about MM’s T-shirt collection on The Boys, YouTube hair tutorials, generational trauma and his hopes for season four. 

Nerdist: MM’s T-shirts and overall style deserves more praise. Are those shirts from your wardrobe or do you work with a stylist on set? 

Laz Alonso: I work with our onset costume coordinator, the head of the costume department, and every episode, we pick a shirt that kind of thematically encompasses what MM is going through and where we are in the story. We have always done groups and artists and this season, we also started doing songs. For example, we did Childish Gambino’s “This is America.” …We did a shoutout to DMX and the Ruff Ryders this season. The DMX one is in the episode where I knock out Todd. That [moment] was declarative. And we wanted to have that shirt during a moment when MM exhibits a moment of gaining back his family and control. We tried to be as methodical as possible with picking out shirts that matched [the] level of intensity. 

It’s interesting that you brought up MM and family. One of the big themes this season is family and specifically fatherhood. And MM went through a lot with processing family deaths and other things this season. Can you talk more about the catharsis and realizations that came from his storyline? 

It was cathartic to be honest with you, you know, the relationship between [MM] and his father and him feeling a level of guilt over how he contributed to his grandfather’s death. And, his level of wanting to protect his daughter from the trauma that he lives through every single day. He didn’t want to pass that on. The way that MM has decided not to pass on generational trauma is by shielding her and hiding her from it.

And the problem with that is, he’s also hiding her family history. And he’s hiding where she comes from. You have to know where you come from in order to know where you’re going. Knowledge itself is everything. And I think that this season is when he realized that where he comes from and his family story is actually [him and his daughter’s] sense of power, not something they shouldn’t be running from. 

Absolutely. And that happens so often, especially with Black families. There are often family secrets and sometimes they surface and cause harm. 

Yes! This generation right now is doing everything in their power to break generational curses. Yes, absolutely. I think MM was trying to break the curse through omission. And that’s not always the best way to break it. But I do take pride in some moments that you know, we added to the script to really show that father-daughter relationship, like when he’s doing her braids.

Any Black father who’s raising his daughter has to learn how to do hair. Whatever your macho man card is, you gotta put that to the side. You know, because you have a daughter now. With that scene, they sent me wigs and these fake heads to my apartment in Toronto. And I was on YouTube, learning how to braid hair. They sent me barrettes and hair ties and all kinds of stuff. It was wild. 

And you did a great job! I love how everything ends this season, because MM seems to be in a good place with not only his family, but with most of the Boys collective too. What are your hopes for him in season four?

I think in season four there’s definitely gonna be a lot more working with Starlight. They have grown into a friendship that we didn’t see coming and work really well together. She’s got the powers and he has the brains and detective skills. I think she also has kind of evolved into the “MM whisperer” because she can talk him down off the ledge when he’s about to do something crazy. And that’s what pretty much MM does for Butcher. So having her on the team is really a big plus, because we have another supe. And it’s important to have somebody else on the team now that he trusts. 

I think the trust level between MM and Buchter has deteriorated after he teamed up with Soldier Boy. Butcher was the only person in the Boys that knew about his story with Soldier Boy. That tension between them needs to be addressed.

Watching their relationship crumble this season was a lot. But I like how MM always keeps his moral compass intact. At this point, I can imagine that it’s really hard to be shocked by anything that happens on set or in this series. But was there something that happened this season that made you go “Wow, this is wild?!” 

Episode six. I wasn’t expecting that. And when I read the script, I didn’t interpret it the way that I was supposed to. I did not think it was going to be human fluid. I thought it was gonna be something else. And I learned the hard way what “throwing rope” meant that day. 

Oh god. We got a great screenshot of it though and put it on social media for everyone to see. 

Yeah, I bet you did! I want to remind everybody that it was very thick hand sanitizer. That’s all it is. You know, the funny thing is all my fans were more worried about my Jordans… I would post a picture of it and most of the comments were about my shoes. 

That’s hilarious. One last question for you, Laz. What have you learned about yourself from portraying MM? 

I have learned that I am very good at getting into character but, until now, I had never seriously thought about how important it is to get out [of character]. I don’t live a toxic stressful life. I do everything in my power to cut toxicity out whether that be people, things, situations and I do my best to be as zen as possible. But in order to achieve these very honest moments on screen, you have to take on that energy. I have to get upset. And this character is very stressed out, and very wound up. And so in this next phase of my career, I am going to try to learn how to not take on that energy. It’s not mine. I’m going to be super, super vigilant and learn how to leave that character on set.

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The Boys season three is full of weird, shocking, gross, and very NSFW content. We took on the task of curating it here at Nerdist, and it was quite the task indeed. In fact, there were so many wild moments that we had to split up our coverage by chopping the season in half. For all of the WTF moments in episodes one through four, head over to our original post. And, if you’re here for the last half of bloody, funny, and game-changing hits, then look below for all the big moments from The Boys episodes five through eight.

Jump to: Episode 5 // Episode 6 // Episode 7 // Episode 8

Episode 5 – “The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies”

Homelander’s Very Bad Board Meeting 

Homelander leads his first board meeting, and it predictably goes very wrong due to his fragile ego. He treats one woman, Maureen, terribly for simply asking a question about numbers for the earnings call because he feels threatened. Like Stan warned, he knows nothing and will screw this up. And this idiot put Deep in charge of crime analytics. Just bad all around. 

Maeve and Butcher’s Late Night Romp 

Butcher continues to break his supe-hating boundaries by having sex with Maeve. He’s in a very interesting place right now, saying he wants all supes (good and bad) to die yet clearly having feelings for Maeve and continuing to use temporary powers to his advantage. 

Kimiko Loses Her Powers

She’s overjoyed to be rid of the powers that she never asked for, hoping to live a normal life. And it seems she wants to live it with Frenchie after she kisses him. This leads into the musical moment that the show has been teasing on social media for a while…and I love it. 

Blue Hawk’s “Supe Lives Matter” Moment

He is the epitome of a person wielding power over people he fundamentally hates. Blue Hawk says he isn’t racist yet that’s what he is, and he proves it at the apology meeting A-Train sets up in his predominantly Black community. He makes jokes about being “canceled,” and his apology turns into a disaster when he’s rightfully called out for being terrible. Oh, and he says “Supe Lives Matter” and calls them ingrates. Blue Hawk seriously injures several people right in front of A-Train, truly angering him and showing him how awful things are from a non-selfish perspective. His brother Nate ends up seriously injured as a result, paralyzing him.  

Welcome to the City, Soldier Boy 

Oh my. Soldier Boy makes it back to the city somehow and hears a song on the radio that triggers him. He has a flashback and, just like we saw in the last episode, bright light shoots from his chest. But this time, it’s bigger and takes down an entire city block. Good times. 

Homelander Fighting Cancel Culture…and People Like It

Well, doesn’t this sound familiar. A white guy gets on TV as though he is being oppressed in some way when he’s the culprit of mess. It causes a rift between MM and his ex-wife’s new boyfriend—who is a white man—because he’s buying into it and encouraging his daughter to watch. Big yikes all around. 

Everything About The Legend

He’s wild as hell. The Legend, The Boys’ Stan Lee parody, casually offers Hughie cocaine in the middle of conversation, is a friend of Soldier Boy, and admits to hating his kids. And apparently, Butcher led to him losing his leg. But he does have the information that helps get them one step closer to catching up with Soldier Boy. 

Maeve Calls Homelander Out…and Gets Kidnapped

Calling him a paranoid malignant narcissist is a spot-on observation. But, of course, he knows that she’s been involved with Butcher (in more ways than one). And he sends in people to cart her off to who knows where. The plot thickens. 

Kimiko’s Dance Break 

It is so pure. She imagines her life with her man, Frenchie, music, and a fun dance number in the hospital. This lighthearted and wacky moment is the best, feeling both in line with and completely out of place during this dark season. But it’s only fleeting with Frenchie leaving her room confused and not returning after Nina nabs him. Poor Miko is alone. 

Crimson Countess and Sir Cums-A-Lot 779

Crimson Countess has an interesting second job doing sex work on a live feed. She’s got some beads to stick, well, you know where on camera while a customer (played by Seth Rogen) is doing his own thing. His session of pleasure gets stalled when Butcher, Hughie, and MM break in and disturb the moment. Very awkward. Also, $19.50 a minute is a pretty good rate. 

Butcher Betrays MM for Soldier Boy 

We knew Butcher wasn’t simply trying to help MM take down Soldier Boy. He disables MM and offers Crimson Countess (who betrayed Soldier Boy) to the recently reactivated hero. This is in exchange for Soldier Boy helping him and Hughie with killing Homelander. This sets up an even greater divide with Hughie and Butcher teaming up with Soldier Boy while MM and Starlight are hurt and betrayed.

Episode 6 – “Herogasm”

“Imagine” Once Again

The Deep has some…not so deep things to say about the state of the world. And, he brings together celebrities and fellow Seven members alike to cure the ailments of society by singing a song together. Off key. For no reason. Their video is an obvious parody of that terrible “Imagine” celebrity sing-along during the beginning stages of COVID. The clip includes a few celebrity faces like Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Kumail Nanjiani, and more.

Noir’s Great Escape 

Noir finds out that Soldier Boy is back and he quickly skips town. As we saw, Soldier Boy is set on finding and killing his ex-comrades, so Noir leaving is understandable. The wild part is him ripping a tracking device out of his arm and then tossing it to a lady in the elevator. We cannot imagine why people work at Vought. 

Ashley’s A-Train Meltdown

Ashley is not a very good person. But she does make some points when she loses it on A-Train. He’s understandably upset about his brother and wants something to be done. Ashley quickly reminds him of the death and carnage he’s left behind for her to clean up while he hit the party scene. She rightly says A-Train’s never cared about the Black community nor getting hurt until it hit close to home. And, uh, she also rips out another chunk of her hair. 

Homelander’s Mirror Conversation 

Homelander’s continuous unraveling is something to behold. But, for one moment, we get to see a part of him that’s actually human. He has a convo with the “evil” part of himself, who chastises him for being weak and desiring love. Homelander admits that Stan Edgar was right about him not being ready to lead Vought and his deeply insecure nature. This doesn’t atone his great villany but it’s a wild scene to watch. 

Soldier Boy’s Bill Cosby Admission 

Soldier Boy missed out on so much. He still thinks Bill Cosby is “America’s dad” and even admits to hanging out with him. He says Bill knew how to pour a “strong drink.” There are no further words to say about this…

Herogasm 

This is the big WTF moment of this episode and season. Everyone ends up descending on the twins’ house during the 70th annual Herogasm. The “event” is rather disturbing with a mix of super beings and sex workers being subject to the former’s twisted desires. Of course, Soldier Boy founded it and Frenchie wants to see it in person but doesn’t get the chance. There’s so much going on here that it’s hard to concentrate on the plot development. The Deep gets oral sex from an octopus, the man with the very long penis, butts, and body part abound. Poor MM inadvertently gets into the mix Love Sausage’s…love sausage nearly touching him, a man brushing body fluid on him, and getting sprayed with ejaculate. 

Kimiko’s Bloody Escape  

Kimiko once again shows off how great she is with an escape. She doesn’t even have her powers but she manages to help both her and Frenchie get away from Nina and company. We wish them nothing but love and happiness by the end of this season.

A-Train’s Revenge 

A-Train exacts revenge against Blue Hawk. He finds him at Herogasm after the explosion by Soldier Boy and drags him face down along the road. The speedster does this despite warnings that his heart could explode. We see him collapse afterward and are left to wonder what will happen to A-Train. 

Episode 7 – “Here Comes A Candle to Light You to Bed”

Soldier Boy Loves Cleaning Ladies

While Butcher and Hughie try to get some information from The Legend, Solider Boy is busy entertaining the cleaning crew. And by that, we mean a self-pleasure session for three. He says they are “delicious but dry” and…yeah. Don’t make eye contact, Hughie.

Homelander Wants Maeve’s Eggs

Homelander is holding Maeve hostage in a concrete room. He reveals that he wants to have superhero offspring and will harvest her eggs to do so. This is disturbing and eerie, even for him.

Soldier Boy Maimed Noir

We finally get the full backstory of what happened during that attack. Soldier Boy was predictably terrible to all the members of The Payback. Soldier Boy beat Noir terribly for wanting an acting career and later maimed him while the Payback were trying to subdue him. Terrible.

Butcher’s Sordid Past

We discover more about Butcher than we’ve ever known before after he ends up under Mindstorm’s spell. He left his brother with his abusive father and did not return, leading his brother to die by suicide from desperation. It’s even clearer why Butcher’s latched onto Hughie now.

The Deep’s Open Bedroom

Welp, it looks like the Deep will be swimming solo. He is in bed with his wife Cassandra and wants to, uh, spice things up by bringing someone else in. She’s down for it… until she realizes that it is an octopus. Watching him being… sucked by one is enough to make her leave him behind. We know that Cassandra is the brains of their relationship so things will go downhill for him soon.

A Nun and a Priest Attack

Hughie is ready to help a nun and a priest whose vehicle appears disabled by the road. He is aghast when Soldier Boy is ready to kill them because they are probably under Mindstorm’s influence. And he’s right, which Hughie realizes when the woman tries to take a bite out of him. Soldier Boys shoots both of them and is like “ehhh moving on.”

Homelander’s Got Milk

Homelander milks a cow to calm himself and then drinks the milk. Straight up out of the tin. No pasteurization or anything. What’s wrong with this man?

A-Train’s Gotta New Heart

A-Train didn’t die. But he might wish he did. Ashley reveals that Blue Hawk’s heart is in A-Train’s body and he will get back to work ASAP. He’s confused and shocked as Ashley suggests he do a movie that leans into some horrible stereotypes. Yikes.

Starlight’s Gotcha Moment

We love when Homelander gets outsmarted. And Starlight is staying two steps ahead of him this season. She sneakily gets him to admit several of his crimes via her live page and escapes with Kimiko’s Compound V. It’s a shocker because honestly, he should have seen it coming.

MM Finally Punches Todd

Todd’s been under our skin all season long. He’s the classic case of a white guy who will date a Black woman yet buy into bigoted rhetoric. MM reaches a breaking point with him after discovering Todd took his daughter to a Homelander rally. Not only is Homelander very bad but, with Soldier Boy on the loose, she could have been hurt. He punches Todd to the ground and it’s what he deserves.

Compound V24 Is Fatal?!

Oh sh*t. We knew that Compound V24 would have some consequences. Starlight reveals that after a few doses it become fatal, which isn’t good for Hughie and Butcher. Of course, Butcher chooses to withhold this from Hughie and says they need more. Smh.

Solider Boy and Homelander Are Father and Son?!

Insert record scratch here. What the f*ck?! Soldier Boy drops this big news on Homelander and we are aghast. What does this mean for the future? Check out what Eric Kripke tells us.

Episode 8 – “The Instant White-Hot Wild”

Ryan Goes with Homelander

The entire exchange is intense. But honestly we cannot be mad at Ryan. He is a kid seeking parental love, even more so after Butcher seemingly rejected him. Homelander speaks to this and Ryan leaves with him, which will certainly set off a chain of very bad things in season four.

Starlight Supporters vs. Homelander Lovers

Things are spiraling out of control with the humans of this universe. They are divided between the two supes, leading to some fighting and eventually a person dying at the hands of Homelander. (More on that later.)

A-Train Is All Alone

A-Train goes to visit his brother and gets the biggest gut punch of his life. He’s rejected for being a sellout (true) and his actions leading to his brother becoming paralyzed (true). Sure, A-Train is not a good person but we might have felt slight sympathy for him for a second. Just one second.

Homelander Kills Noir

Poor Noir. Out of the many terrible things Homelander does in just this episode alone, this one stings. He kills ole boy because he’s salty about his secret dad. Shameful.

The Cringe Shaming of Ashley

Sure, Homelander is terrible to the Deep and A-Train during his “I care nothing about you all for real” meeting. But the way he forces Ashley to show her hair loss for no reason is plain cruel. She’s not a great person but that’s still so uncalled for.

Soldier Boy Rejects Homelander and Ryan

Homelander pulls up to the big Vought Tower battle with what he thinks is a secret weapon: Ryan. He gives a heartfelt spiel to Father Soldier Boy about how they can be one big evil family. For a moment, everyone else is hella nervous that they will team up and become a super killer duo. But they shouldn’t have been. Soldier Boy loves no one and he berates Homelander for being weak. It’s both dark and hilarious.

Maeve’s Big Sacrifice

Maeve spares everyone’s life by pouncing on Soldier Boy and flying with him out of the window. Of course, she doesn’t die from the big explosion due to her powers. But that’s the last time those powers will protect her. Like Kimiko, Maeve loses her powers. But she doesn’t want them back, electing to “die” publicly so she can go have a happy life with her girlfriend. We love to see it.

Homelander Kills a Protestor

This is no good, very bad indeed. Not only does Homelander live to evil another day, he’s got Ryan in tow with him. He introduces a group of supporters (using that word loosely) to Ryan and one Starlight fan throws a drink at Ryan. Of course, that’s an idiotic thing to do to any kid. But to a kid of a man who has super powers and kills people? Yeahhhh. Homelander lasered his head off and the crowd cheered for it. Season four will be a f***king mess.

Well, there you have it. So many shocking, wild, and WTF The Boys moments went down in season three. We cannot wait to see how they up the ante in season four.

The post The Most Shocking, Gross, and Plain Weird Moments of THE BOYS Season 3 (Part 2) appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys season three is proof that the more things change, the more they stay the same. The season started off chaotically with the Seven mostly in shambles, Hughie unable to escape bloody weirdness, and the Boys doing their own thing. And whoo did things get wild with Soldier Boy in the mix and weirdness from Herogasm. We couldn’t predict any of it but we did know one thing for sure: The Boys always delivers on some incredibly gross, odd, and uncomfortable moments to make us wonder WTF we’re watching. 

Here are all the completely wild moments in The Boys season three that made us laugh, cringe, or shift uncomfortably in our seats. 

Jump To: Episode One // Episode Two // Episode Three // Episode Four // Episode Five // Episode Six // Episode Seven // Episode Eight

Episode One’s Most Shocking Moments – “Payback”

Hair Ripping Sex 

Yep, episode one wastes little time before we get a sex scene. It’s Ashley and film director Adam Bourke going at it in a men’s bathroom stall. She tells him to pull her hair and well, he takes it to another level by ripping an entire chunk out of her head. The real awkwardness comes when Hughie runs into them coming out of the bathroom. Never a dull moment with these folks. 

The Tiny Supe’s Penis Exploration Gone Wrong

Hello again tiny supe a.k.a. Termite. We’ve seen this guy a couple times but this time the Ant Man-like figure gets into a romp gone wrong. He’s apparently not small all the time and is able to shrink himself down. A guy wants the tiny man… inside him. As in his butthole. He shrinks and goes into the man’s penis to head towards his prostate. The problem is, when Termite sneezes, he returns to full size. And guess what happens? Yep. Sneeze and guts everywhere in The Boys classic gross fashion. Good times. And, Frenchie and Miko’s fight against him is even funnier. 

Victoria Neuman Eating Hughie’s Sandwich 

No, this isn’t gory or kinda freaky. It’s weird in a different way. Yes, they have formed a close bond since working together at the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs. But taking a bite of a co-worker’s sandwich seems really wrong. That’s some work friendship I don’t want any parts of. 

Homelander’s Endless Shaming of… Everyone

Would it really be a WTF list without some Homelander content? As we know, he’s even more unhinged after everything that went down with Stormfront. His uncomfortable staring and confrontation with Deep and the meeting with Starlight where he realizes she will be his co-captain are both really awkward. Often times, he doesn’t have to cut deep with words. His blank stare is enough. Well, except when he randomly fat shames A-Train. Let that man eat his food in peace. 

Hughie’s Very Jealous Moment

It can’t be easy dating a famous and pretty superhero. It’s even harder to see her chop it up with her ex, who happens to be a contestant on a show to be a part of the Seven. He’s a handsome boy band kind of guy cracking his lady up with inside jokes. Hughie stands there like a weirdo while they chat with each other, reminiscing about their good times. Later, she jokes that they did a ton of butt stuff… which doesn’t make Hughie laugh. 

Stormfront lends Homelander a “Helping Hand” 

Stormfront is in some pretty nice digs considering how she went down in season two. Homelander goes to visit her and whines about Starlight becoming a co-captain. She offers to give him some “relief,” sticking out her hand to…well, you know. These two characters on The Boys are gross and disturbing in more ways than one.

Tony’s Bloody Ending

Poor Tony. He pops up to see Neuman, whom he calls Nadia several times. He finally tracks her down in an alley and says they need to tell everyone about “Red River.” It’s something connected to their childhood friendship but we don’t get much more information on it. They start fighting as a frightened Hughie listens from behind a garbage bin. And of course, this is when he discovers that his boss is the head popping supe. Tony loses not only his life but the bottom half of his face. Good times. 

Episode Two’s Most Shocking Moments – “The Only Man in the Sky”

The Deep’s Vtv (Lifetime) Film

The Deep is a terrible person. But that Vtv promotion for a movie about his life and involvement with the church is hilarious. It completely nails everything that we typically see in a Lifetime movie advertisement from the amped up drama to that lady’s voice saying the film’s title.

Butcher Steps on the Supe Side

Billy Butcher hates supes more than anything on Earth. But he’s willing to do just that to find a way to finally kill Homelander. It’s shocking to see him take Compound V24, which is still rather experimental at this time, and gain supe powers. Uh oh. Will Butcher get continually high off this power and lose his way? Or is he simply doing the needful to achieve his goal? We shall see. 

Homelander Making Supersonic Very Uncomfortable

Once again, Homelander manages to be both highly inappropriate and hella racist with one reply. He interrupts a conversation between Supersonic and Starlight for no other reason than to make her uncomfortable. Supersonic, who is of Latin descent, is happy to meet Homelander and hopes to be the next member of the Seven. Homelander says he’s doing great on the show but that’s probably because Starlight used to “get cum drunk on his chorizo picante.” Yikes. 

Mother’s Milk’s Big Revelation 

It turns out Mother’s Milk has a really great reason to not want to pursue anything Solider Boy related. His father was obsessed with him up until his death, often sidelining his children in the process. Mother’s Milk doesn’t want his daughter to be hurt the same way. But we find out that Solider Boy is responsible for that death and, like A-Train with Hughie’s girlfriend, didn’t get any comeuppance from his actions. 

What in the Woke Carnival Is Going On? 

Frenchie and Miko are on a mission to learn more about Solider Boy and the Payback collective. They go to the VoughtLand amusement park and it is a smorgasbord of weird fake work carnival tents. Brave Maeve’s “Inclusive Kingdom ” includes systemically oppressed tacos, BLM BLTs, Woke Wok, and LGBTurkey Legs. Oh, and lots of rainbows of course. It’s obviously poking fun at companies who try to cash in on movements and celebrations with frankly weird content. 

Crimson Countess Paints the Park Red 

Well, they find Crimson Countess, the former flame of Soldier Boy. The duo try to apprehend her but alas she makes her great escape. Her powers involve her being able to put her hands together and shoot out laser fireball of sorts. And that’s what she does… in front of a large crowd. A poor man gets obliterated to fleshy pieces with some of his blood splattering on a kid’s cotton candy. What a lovely family day. 

Happy Birthday to Homelander 

In the next chapter of “Homelander Makes Starlight Miserable,” he forcefully requests that she sings him Happy Birthday like Marylin Monroe did for JFK. And he’s also got some women in scanty Starlight costumes dancing in the back. She refuses and he tells her to lighten the f*** up, but Stan interjects and says she doesn’t have to do it. Of course, Homelander backs down because his approval rating is in the garbage. One point for Starlight. 

A-Train’s “Return to Blackness” 

What do you do when you cannot rely on your one superpower to give you any shine? You suddenly want to be a “proud Black man.” A-Train has never cared a ton about anything outside of his own scope but that’s what he tries to do. And boy, is his pitch to Ashley full of cringe moments. The docuseries A-Train to Africa on VoughtSoul (a play on BET Soul) and a game about the slave trade. He should be ashamed of this foolishness. 

Nadia’s Childhood Explosions

Red River is a Vought-owned group home for kids with supe abilities. And it turns out she was head popping employees as a child, which is why Stan “adopted” her and took her under his shady wing. The photos of her violence are pretty shocking, even for The Boys. 

Butcher vs. Gunpowder

Butcher tracks Gunpowder at—you guessed it—a gun convention. They have a tense exchange in the bathroom before engaging in a full showdown in the parking lot. Gunpowder is certainly a “mah rights to bear arms” kinda guy and admittedly a damn good shot, lighting lil Butchie up a few times. That is, until he revisits him and his powers laser Gunpowder’s head in half. 

Homelander’s Birthday Save Gone Wrong

It’s customary for Homelander to save someone on his birthday. He chooses a Jewish woman who is standing on top of a building. She’s contemplating suicide and he does a very poor job empathizing with her. Cameras are there, people are watching, and things get so much worse when he sees the news that Stormfront died by suicide on his birthday. It upsets Homelander and he turns on this poor woman, forcing her to die by suicide even though she’s changed her mind. He’s done a lot of disturbing things and this is one of the worst. 

Homelander Loses His Sh*t on TV 

Once again, he goes off the rails but this time it is very public. Homelander’s birthday party goes awry when he declares that he’s not “like the rest of us.” And he will, in fact, not donate money to Starlight’s organization. He says he’s better than everyone else and rants about rich and powerful people trying to control him like a puppet. He then says they are controlling the world, speaking directly to people who like that kind of talk. You know the ones. Big Yikes.

Episode Three’s Most Shocking Moments – “Barbary Coast”

Naked Homelander

We literally didn’t need to see Homelander naked on the couch watching his rant. And neither did Ashley when she ran in to let him know that his Trumpian rant got his numbers up. Now it’s burned into our brains. 

Break Hughie Back In… Literally 

The Boys are back in action with Hughie (the supe bootlicker) and Mother’s Milk returning. But Hughie needs an excuse to be MIA. So he asks Miko to break his arm on three, which she does on two. The moment gives Butcher and gang quite the laugh. Ahh, you gotta love a dysfunctional family. 

Return of the Deep 

“Homelander Makes Starlight Miserable” continues with Homelander using his “restored” image to bring the Deep back. Of course, Starlight doesn’t want this considering that he sexually assaulted her back in season one. But alas, it happens anyway and it is a horrible moment. And, Starlight cannot even use the Flight 37 video against Homelander because he simply doesn’t care anymore and will kill everyone. 

A-Train’s “African” Suit

Why… just why. Put the kente cloth and colors away and try to be a better person, sir. We’ve had enough. Like a true Black American family, his people clown him about his stupid new get up. Honestly, he should get beat up for looking like that.

Soldier Boy and Crew Ruin Everything 

Imagine showing up to an active war zone like a celebrity and getting everyone killed. That’s what Soldier Boy and company did (including Noir) when they came in for Operation Charlie to fight the Russians. Watching them completely grenade a mission (even a shady one) is gory and something to behold. Also, Soldier Boy is wildly sexist and brash… def not a gentleman like Captain America. 

The Deep’s Got It Bad for an Octopus 

Ummm, yeah. So he’s getting down to business with his girlfriend. But the whole time he’s looking at, talking to, and fantasizing about a nearby octopus. We get that he’s the man of the sea and all but ewww. 

A Sickening Seafood Feast 

Speaking of the Deep, Homelander hosts a dinner to celebrate his return. But he offers a ton of seafood that everyone eats in front of Deep, making him visibly cringe. Homelander weirdly compares himself to MLK before making Deep eat an octopus. Alive. Deep begs to not do it, saying that Timothy the octopus is pleading for his life, but he ends up doing it. He’s gagging with black juice running out of his mouth the whole time. Gross. 

Butcher Throws Up on Hughie 

The effects of Compound V24 catch up to Butcher during a conversation with Hughie. He spews green liquid all over his face right in the middle of a great monologue. Typical disgusting behavior. 

Starlight and Homelander… Together?!

Starlight must play along with Homelander while the Boys figure some things out. So, she enters into a fake relationship with Homelander to appease him. The episode ends with #Homelight kissing each other while she clutches her fist behind her back. Truly a nightmare ending. 

Episode Four’s Most Shocking Moments – “Glorious Five Year Plan”

Soldier Boy Raps on Solid Gold 

This episode kicks off with something both weird and funny. We get some throwback footage of Soldier Boy sing-rapping “Rapture” by Blondie as a featured guest on Solid Gold. For those of us who weren’t alive then, Solid Gold was a TV show featuring performance guests, music, and dancers. Think Soul Train and American Bandstand. And it is as odd as you’d expect. 

Homelander Makes a Starlight/Hughie House Call

In this episode’s continuing saga that I’ve dubbed “Homelander Makes Starlight Miserable,” he shows up unannounced at her home while she’s with Hughie. He makes everyone uncomfortable and angry after he asks Hughie if she’s a good f**k. Geez. Starlight threatens that she will leave and take her approval points with her so he backs off… for now. 

Ashley’s Black Screens

Homelander’s right hand woman is the worst. Ashley tells A-Train that she is totally down for supporting Black people. How do we know that? Because she loves the Black Lives Matter hashtag and she put up a black box on social media. In case you forgot, there was a wave of folks—celebs and others alike—who thought a little performative action went a long way back in 2020. So no she will not help him stop a racist supe from hurting and killing people because she’s done enough with her hashtag and square. Right. 

A-Train’s Turbo Rush Commercial 

But A-Train is also full of s**t too. His Turbo Rush commercial is a clear play on that infamous Pepsi commercial by Kendall Jenner that “ended racism.” Just give a cop an energy drink and BOOM, rioting and police violence over human rights is over! 

Homelander Brings Out Tacos

Homelander decides to welcome Alex once again by doing something odd and racist. He brings out taco bowls for everyone and starts saying needless Spanish phrases. By the way, Alex’s primary language is English. 

A-Train vs. Deep 

Both of them know they have done some stuff that could lead to Homelander lasering them into the great beyond. And, with both Seven members trying to win their fearsome leader’s approval, they are turning on each other in the process. Their little scuffle in the hallway and the tension between them will surely come to a nasty boiling point this season. 

Kimiko Slaughters for Nina 

Butcher isn’t a sunshine and rainbows kinda guy by any means. But he’s being a real d**k this season to everyone, including Kimiko and Frenchie. He basically makes Kimiko do a kill mission for Nina in exchange for getting the info about where the lab is in Russia. And whew does it get bloody fast with her ripping the men to shreds in front of frightened women. 

Seven-inspired Strap-ons 

Speaking of Kimiko’s mission, we see a wide selection of Seven-inspired strap-ons and dildos to represent our heroes at that guy’s house. Yeahhh. And apparently they are pretty popular because Ashley has a Homelander one, too. So bonkers.  

Homelander Takes Stan’s Spot 

What a twist of events. Stan and Victoria were going to do a press conference to take Homelander down a peg. But he gets the upper hand, giving Neuman some of the V she wants (and probably sparing her kid’s life) in exchange for blowing the whistle on Stan. Yes, Stan is not a good person but Homelander is infinitely worse… and now he’s in charge of Vought. 

Hughie Gets Powers 

Poor Lil Hughie. His desperation to not be a fearful loser who cannot open a jar much less defend Starlight leads him to nabbing some of Butcher’s V24. And his powers come to light at the Russian lab when he teleports and punches through a man’s stomach to save MM’s life. Oh, by the way, he loses all his clothes when he teleports. So much male nakedness. 

Hello Naked, Bearded Soldier Boy 

Well, they found who they were seeking. Solider Boy was at that Russian facility in some kind of chamber and, with the Boys help, he broke free and ran away…naked. He also blasts Miko, seriously injuring her on the way out to the point that she is not healing. Where is going? Will Kimiko die in The Boys? We don’t know. 

Homelander Hacks Up Alex in Retaliation 

One more thing for “Homelander Makes Starlight Miserable.” He flies her up to the top of a roof to show her Alex’s mutilated body. And she finds out that A-Train is a snitch. He says she must be dutiful and loving from now on or he will kill Hughie next. Dun dun dunnnn. 

Catch up with us each week as we detail all the gross, shocking, and plain weird moments in The Boys season three. 

Originally published on June 3, 2022.

The post The Most Shocking, Gross, and Plain Weird Moments of THE BOYS Season 3 appeared first on Nerdist.

Marvin T. Milk a.k.a Mother’s Milk b.k.a. MM, played by the fantastic Laz Alonso, is one of the most grounded and well-crafted characters on The Boys. He isn’t the fearful (until recently) Hughie nor the often callous and unpredictable Butcher. He’s not a supe but instead a highly skilled medic, loving father, clever fixer, and a man whose past haunts him. And, in the midst of many hijinks, he’s the serious yet caring guy who’s often unintentionally funny as hell. But, there’s one more claim to fame for MM: T-shirt God. It’s a small detail that many may not notice; however, it says a lot about his personality.

Alonso himself spills the details about his threads, affirming that the shirt choices are intentional. “I work with our onset costume coordinator, the head of the costume department, and every episode, we pick a shirt that kind of thematically encompasses what MM is going through and where we are in the story,” he tells Nerdist. “We have always done groups and artists and this season, we also started doing songs. For example, we did Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America.'”

And that’s just one of many incredible choices. In honor of his style, here’s an ode to a bunch of the awesome shirts that Mother’s Milk wears on The Boys. 

Season 1

Episode 7 – De La Soul

When we first meet Marvin Milk, we don’t know much about him. In fact, he’s the last member of the OG Boys crew who begrudgingly returns. Soon, we uncover more about his life in almost perfect tandem with the intro of his incredible shirts, majority of which lean into Black culture. This one’s an ode to the eclectic hip-hop trio responsible for songs like “Me Myself and I.” It’s a nice nod to a group that was highly influential when MM was likely coming of age. 

Episode 8 – The Big X

Mother’s Milk wears a black T-shirt with a big X scrawled across the front. It’s presumably a sign for “don’t cross me,” which, well, says a lot about him. (Sometimes, an X is used to represent the Bronx; however, MM is a Harlem native so that’s probably not it.) He doesn’t have the powers (or twisted mind) of supes like Homelander but he’s still a force when pissed off. And, he looks really, really good in black. Or anything, to be honest. Moving on…

Season 2

Episode 1 – Wu-Tang Clan

Wu-Tang ain’t nuthing ta f*** with and neither is Marvin. Once again, this logo shirt speaks volumes. I’m pretty sure that Laz Alonso himself likes Wu-Tang (because why wouldn’t he?!) but it is a known fact that MM is a Wu fan. And if you don’t know about Wu-Tang, you better ask somebody. 

Episode 2 – Boogie Down Productions 

Boogie Down Productions was a hip-hop collective in the ‘80s featuring the legendary KRS-One, DJ Scott La Rock, and D-Nice, the DJ who infamously made the beginning of covid more tolerable with his “Club Quarantine” live DJ sets. Strong political and social commentary anchored their storytelling about the harsh realities of the South Bronx. It’s very dope to see him show such a pivotal and frankly underrated group so much love. 

Episode 3 – Public Enemy 

Once again, MM doesn’t miss, this time paying homage to Public Enemy. Long before Flava Flav became a reality show icon, he was a part of this collective alongside Chuck D. There isn’t a person over the age of 30 who doesn’t know “Fight the Power,” which is essentially what MM does as a Boys member. A true king of the people. Too bad it gets whale guts all over it. 

Episode 4 – NY Giants Love

MM is a NY native, so it’s not surprising to see this Giants shirt. This one has those nice pops of color that we all recognize from the NFL team’s uniform colors. More blues and reds, please. 

Episode 4 – Power to the People 

MM rarely gives us a double dose of T-shirts in one episode. He is a busy guy, after all. But we get a wardrobe change into a Black Panther shirt. No, not the comic character but the organization. His shirt is particularly about the program ran in the late 1960s-early 1970s to feed Black youth breakfast before school. And, I must admit, the material looks soft and cozy against his muscles.

Episode 5 – Run-DMC 

The odes to NY hip hop abound with the infamous Run-DMC shirt that MM rocks with his signature leather jacket. MM’s taste in music and T-shirts is truly unmatched. 

Episode 6 and 8 – Black Fist Hoodie 

A shirt looks great but a hoodie. Wow. Perfection on MM. This hoodie is actually a part of Mississippi rapper and humanitarian David Banner’s “Black Fist” clothing collection. Love to see him in a hoodie so nice that he wore it twice.  

Episode 7 – Camouflage Yankees 

The New York Yankees get some love in this episode with a camouflaged logo shirt. Marvin is a former Marine (and yes, they do wear camo sometimes) so it’s a small homage to his past.

Episode 7 – Phife Forever

MM pays homage to Phife, a member of A Tribe Called Quest. The rapper died in 2016 and Forever is the name of his final album, which was mostly completed at his time of death. 

Season 3

Episode 3 – N.W.A.

Our precious guy links up with the Boys and gets back on his T-shirt bullsh*t in the best way. He rocks an N.W.A. shirt as the crew reunites. We even hear the group’s single “Express Yourself” playing as MM does his usual meticulous cleaning. And he brings back the jacket AND shades. Very hot content. 

Episode 4 – Ruff Ryders 

RIP to DMX. MM’s Rough Ryders shirt is for the label and rap collective that included X, Eve, Swizz Beats, The Lox, and more. The “R” is instantly recognizable to ‘90s hip-hop fans, appearing on shirts as well as pendants for chains. 

Episode 5 – Stop the Violence

What a phrase to wear when you’re always in the midst of it. We’ve seen MM wear a Boogie Down Productions shirt and “Stop the Violence” is one of their song titles. Interestingly, this coincides with the division among the Boys when Butcher and Hughie start taking sh*t too far. 

Episode 6 – This Is America 

MM is tired of taking the high road and having to keep a level head as a Black man. (I’m not a man but whew, I get it.) This lines up well with his “This Is America” shirt, which shares a title with Donald Glover’s song about the injustices that Black people face. I don’t think MM will ever wear this shirt again, cause, well, Herogasm. 

Episode 6 – The TNT Smile Time Hour

This is one shirt that’s actually just specific to this universe and something that MM would never wear. It’s a shirt from the supe twins’ former show but you gotta wear what you can wear when your shirt gets… messed up. I must say, that color looks impeccable on his skin. 

Episode 7 – Dark Man X

Like the Ruff Ryders logo, DMX’s is also iconic. And MM continues his deep love of Black shirts, rocking one with a red logo on it. Love to see it. Alonso tells us more about why he wanted MM to wear this shirt in episode seven. “We did a shoutout to DMX and the Ruff Ryders this season,” he says. “The DMX one is in the episode where I knock out Todd. That [moment] was declarative. And we wanted to have that shirt during a moment when MM exhibits a moment of gaining back his family and control.”

Episode 8 – Snoop Dogg 

The West Coast gets a little love with this Snoop Dogg shirt. Perfect 10, no notes. 

Episode 8 – 2Pac 

He ends the season and this episode with a shirt that makes total sense considering his Snoop shirt. 2Pac is heavily associated with Cali thanks to his Death Row days; however, he’s an East Coast native who spent his high school years in the DMV, Baltimore to be specific. It turns out that Laz Alonso is himself a native of the area, hailing from DC. 

I’m thankful for every dope ass T-shirt he wears and how they fit. Give that costume person and Laz Alonso a raise. Let’s keep up the good work in The Boys season four. 

The post An Ode to Marvin ‘MM’ Milk’s Impeccable T-Shirt Collection on THE BOYS appeared first on Nerdist.

Homelander doesn’t just want public adulation. He also craves a real human connection with another person. It would be great for the world if he had that, because it might tether him to humanity. But the problem isn’t that he hasn’t found it yet. The problem is he’s a sociopath who lacks empathy; he’ll never find the personal connection he needs because he doesn’t know how to love anyone back. Now something even worse than him not finding love has happened. The desperate infant with the powers of a god learned he has a father who is nearly his equal in every way. That includes how his dad is also a sociopath. It’s why the shocking revelation of Homelander’s father is The Boys‘ single most dangerous twist yet. Soldier Boy will never be what Homelander wants and needs any more than Homelander will be the son Soldier Boy always wanted.

And the only thing scarier than the damage they can do together is what will follow when they ultimately disappoint each other. Because when that happens the only question will be whether or not they destroy everyone else before they destroy each other.

Soldier Boy and his dead-eyed son’s phone call capped off an episode that was all about family. Kamiko and Starlight both decided to risk their own safety to protect their family, even though their loved ones didn’t want them to. Meanwhile, Hughie double-crossed a mass murderer to save Butcher from a slow death stuck inside his own painful childhood memories. Those past experiences showed Butcher how much his father’s anger and hatred infected him. And MM once again failed to walk the fine line between keeping his daughter safe and keeping his emotions in check. Just like Compound V is neither inherently good or bad, family can drive us to greatness just as easily as it can drive us down a dark path. Family brings out who we really are, for good and for bad.

Homelander and Soldier Boy represent the very worst of what “family” can mean. Both men are narcissistic monsters who only think of themselves. As showrunner Eric Kripke told us earlier this season, each superhero is “so blinded by their ego that they feel like any love they put out in the world should be reciprocated.” But what they think of as love, which is all about giving yourself over to someone, is “inherently selfish, not at all stopping to pay attention, to see how the other person might feel about it.”

That is the story of Homelander’s life and why no one will ever really love him. Raised in a lab without human connection, physical or emotional, he doesn’t know what loving someone entails. He thought he had that type of connection with Maeve once, but she always hated him. Then Madelyn Stillwell became the object of Homelander’s desires. Only she never loved him, either, she feared him. The last mommy figure to satiate his creepy Oedipal issues was Stormfront, who loved what Homelander represented rather than who he was. And that lack of real affection went both ways. When she chewed off her own tongue Homelander didn’t mourn her. He viewed her death as being something terrible that she did to him.

Soldier Boy was no different. He claimed to love Crimson Countess, but he couldn’t see the truth about their relationship – she hated his guts. The whole Payback team did. They willingly served him up to the Russians so they could be free of his abuse. He was a well-curated hero to the American people, but they knew him for the false, empty, uncaring idol he really was. Soldier Boy didn’t raise his son, but the apple didn’t fly far from the rotten tree.

What made this earth-shattering revelation even more terrifying is that Soldier Boy previously told Hughie he wanted kids. He wanted sons he could raise up to be “men,” but instead ended up with “nothing.” Or at least he had nothing. Suddenly he has the thing he claimed he wanted, and that thing is a laser-eyed, invulnerable killer who’s just like him and wants a father to love him.

It doesn’t matter that Soldier Boy didn’t raise Homelander any more than it matters whether he’d truly give up the spotlight to his kid. (Which we very much doubt.) Soldier Boy never could have loved his child even if he raised him. We know exactly what he would have been like as a father, because we just witnessed how a similar type of man raised his kids. Billy Butcher’s dad was Soldier Boy without the super powers. And that violent animal without an ounce of love in his heart drove one son to the grave and another to a life of rage and pain.

Soldier Boy and Homelander seem likely to unite. At least initially. But both are incapable of recognizing how others really feel about them just as they’re incapable of caring about someone else. And a relationship without love is doomed to fail. When both men realize the other can’t give them what they want, what they have will blow up.

In the case of Soldier Boy that might literally happen. In fact, it might be the best thing that can happen. Because if it does Soldier Boy could do what no one else has – stop Homelander yet. Soldier Boy has the ability to drain his son of his powers. Meanwhile, Frenchie has figured out how to neutralize Soldier Boy just as the Russians did. A doomed relationship between the two might destroy both men.

So long as they don’t destroy the world before they destroy each other.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post THE BOYS’ Latest Twist Is the Show’s Biggest Ever appeared first on Nerdist.

Woooow. The penultimate episode of The Boys season three definitely left us with the biggest needle drop of the season. Yes, something even wilder than Herogasm. Now, we really understand why Homelander and Soldier Boy are d*ckheads of a similar vein. It is because Soldier Boy is Homelander’s biological father. We will have to wait until the finale to get further details on this but it will make things interesting. Underneath Homelander’s psychotic actions, he’s someone who desperately wants approval and a family. But we don’t get the feeling that Soldier Boy is going to embrace Homelander as his son. To showrunner Eric Kripke, this big revelation—and yet another departure from the comics—is perfect for The Boys TV show. 

“It makes logical sense that Vought would create the next generation of superhero,” Kripke tells Nerdist. “It’s really important to understand what your season-wide themes are and use them as signposts because they point you in the right direction. So much of this season was about fathers. It was about Butcher trying and failing to be a father and his past with his own father. You’re expecting Homelander and Soldier Boy to smash into each other. But what happens if that’s Homelander’s father? It makes heading into the finale complicated in a really good way.”

Hmmm. Is it possible that they will team up as powerful supes and kill many people? Maybe. Soldier Boy seems to have the killing thing on lock already this season so he doesn’t need his son. Or maybe Soldier Boy told Homelander this news just to mess with him mentally and emotionally to kill him easier. It seems like a move he’d pull. And if Soldier Boy is Homelander’s father, then who is his mother? The many questions that need answers on The Boys. Let’s see how it all ends during the season three finale next week.

The post THE BOYS Reveals a Huge Soldier Boy and Homelander Connection appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys season three is already giving fans all the wild, weird, and plain disturbing entertainment that they crave. Butcher and Hughie are on V24 to the dismay of the crew. Soldier Boy is a jerk. And Homelander is perhaps the scariest person in that universe. This season is only four episodes in with Herogasm to come (bad choice of a word, I know) soon. But the flood of viewers and overwhelmingly great response is already leading to some great news. The Boys will return for season four and we cannot wait to see what the creators do next. 

According to a press release, the first three days of season three led to a 17% growth in the show’s worldwide audience from season two and a whopping 234% from season one. Now that’s a lot of people tuning in to see this band of antiheros go against a supe collective. Of course, showrunner Eric Kripke is thrilled to continue expanding this saga with epic stories in this wild universe.

 “Speaking for the cast and crew, we’re so grateful to Sony, Amazon, and most of all the fans for embracing the show and allowing us to make more,” said Kripke. “We’re thrilled to continue Butcher and the Boys’ fight against Homelander and the Seven, as well as comment on the insane world we’re living in. Also, this is the first time in history that exploding genitalia has led to further success.”

Just imagine what else Homelander could have up his sleeves. Yikes. We don’t know how this season will end nor where the story will go next. We do know that the universe is continuing to expand with the upcoming Boys college spinoff and in this flagship show. And we’re excited to hear the next season will begin filming this summer. And we will be tuning in for every single gory, uncomfortable, and hilarious moment.

The post THE BOYS Will Return for More Blood in Season 4 appeared first on Nerdist.

The Boys stands among television’s best because it excels in so many ways. It seamlessly combines character-driven stories, insightful social commentary, and wildly entertaining, wildly inappropriate humor. A single episode can feature intimate scenes between family, meaningful explorations of corporate malfeasance, and a room full of exploding heads. But episode four of season three, “Glorious Five Year Plan,” highlighted how the show can also combine all those elements to create perfect moments of stupidity. Because even on a series that requires building massive realistic genitalia, The Boys most unbelievably dumb moments come directly from the real world.

And they kept that tradition going in “Herogasm” by recreating the pandemic’s most ill-advised celebrity singalong.

Homelander is literally the most powerful man in the world. He can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. If—as he threatened he would in the previous episode—he ever decides to take over the world nothing can stop him. He doesn’t have to carry the nuclear football with him. He is a nuclear weapon.

That’s why his latest appearance on the Vought News Network’s The Cameron Coleman Hour was patently ludicrous. Homelander’s company, the most powerful in the world, has its very own propaganda news network. He was a guest being “interviewed” by a corporate shill whose only job is to make the superhero look good. And why was Homelander there? To address legitimate criticism of something terrifying he said on live television. He wasn’t taking responsibility, though. Nor was he fairly addressing his critics. He was claiming he’s a target of unfounded “lies peddled by the mainstream media.” And who is actually behind these “attacks” on him? Rich and powerful “people you’ve never heard” who “operate in the shadows,” of course. It’s those unnamed, secret people—who are “everywhere”—that actually pull “the strings” of power. They’re always trying to silence an invulnerable god with laser eyes. Naturally.

That scene’s lack of shame would seem too over-the-top if not for the fact it plays out in the real world every day. Politicians and the uber-wealthy, those with actual power, do the same thing all the time. They use “news networks,” whose real purpose is to operate as a wing of the party, to amplify their endless list of grievances. Those stations let powerful people get their message, even the most heinous, out to millions of people unchallenged and unquestioned. Like Homelander, they’re so deplorable they’ll go on TV and deny what they’ve done even when there is tape of them doing it.

And it’s not enough to lie and never take accountability; they act like victims. You can have all the power in the world, get everything you ever wanted, and still sell yourself as the aggrieved underdog. All with a straight face. Forget fictional superheroes. No one does fake victimhood like real politicians.

But while that absurdity plays out every day on basic cable, the episode’s most embarrassing moment parodied one of the singular most ill-conceived moments in advertising history. A-Train’s exploitation of social justice movements to sell a drink really did happen.

In 2017, Pepsi quickly pulled a commercial starring Kendall Jenner. If you’ve never seen the infamous ad, which appropriated the Black Lives Matter movement, congratulations! You have truly lived a better, less annoying life than the rest of us. (Especially if you’ve never watched the full version.) But that also means you didn’t get to appreciate just how accurate A-Train’s parody was. They’re the same commercial. Except for his super speed, The Boys didn’t need to exaggerate a single aspect of the ad. The fictional version might actually be less mortifying.

How someone ever came up with the ad’s concept—let alone pitched it, got it approved, found people willing to film it, and then got it on to television—-remains one of mankind’s greatest mysteries. The Pepsi ad was so obviously asinine and offensive that, even within the world of The Boys, the parody stood out. A Wolverine-like supe murdering people with superhero sex toys? Sure, totally believable. But thinking you can pass off a reality star bridging the gap between protestors and the police by handing a cop a can of soda without anyone knowing how craven that is? No, that would be too much. Or it would be if we hadn’t already seen it.

(At least we now have A-Train’s commercial to go along with Beck Bennett’s pitch-perfect SNL sketch about it. We both want to never think about that Pepsi ad again while also making fun of it forever.)

People often say “we live in the dumbest timeline,” and The Boys certainly doesn’t disprove that. But that’s why we love when the show uses real events for humor. It’s a lot easier to laugh at things when it happens in a fictional world and not our own. And it’s not like we can’t still appreciate when the series invents its own absurd moments. Like when a blonde-haired racist sociopath tried ingratiating himself with a Mexican-American by serving him a taco bowl.

Could you imagine if someone were stupid enough to do that?! We can’t either! That’s why we’re laughing at the idea right now instead of staring off into nothingness while wondering how long humanity can survive.

Only The Boys can make a fictional buffoon incapable of genuine human empathy funny. But that’s why Homelander is both the show’s best villain and its best idiot. He’s too stupid to know why that is offensive and embarrassing. He’s also the last person we’d want to see become the most powerful person in the real world.

But we do have to give Homelander credit for one thing; he didn’t join in on The Deep’s off-key, celebrity-and superhero-filled rendition of “Imagine.” The opening to “Herogasm,” one of the most absurd television episodes ever, began by making fun of one of the most absurd singalongs in history.

At the start of the pandemic, a well-intentioned Gal Gadot and her famous friends clearly didn’t about the optics of their unifying musical message of hope. If they had, or if someone had realized how bad of an idea it was, they would have thrown themselves in front of the song’s release.

They also would have thrown hundreds of other people, a fleet of buses, and two cruise liners in front of it. No one needed to see that.

Or so, we thought. Turns out we really needed that performance, because without it we wouldn’t have seen The Boys pitch-perfect parody.

Sure, it was too absurd even for a show this absurd, but it sure was funny. And it’s a lot more fun to laugh at fictional versions of real life’s dumbest moments than to think about the world that created them.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post Real Life Is Never Too Ridiculous for THE BOYS appeared first on Nerdist.

The most not-safe-for-work episode of the most not-safe-for-work TV show is finally here. This latest episode of The Boys brought the highly anticipated adaptation of the “Herogasm” storyline from the comics. Filled with explicit content, easter eggs, and major character moments, Dan dives in to break down everything you might have missed in Herogasm on today’s episode of Nerdist News!

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The post The Boys Season 3 Ep. 6 Herogasm Easter Eggs & Things You Missed (Nerdist News w/ Dan Casey) appeared first on Nerdist.