The Boys Boss Breaks Down Whether Gen V's Marie Really Is Homelander's Kryptonite

The following article contains spoilers for season 2 of "Gen V."

Much like the Marvel and DC shows and movies it riffs on, Eric Kripke's Prime Video series "The Boys" has finally gotten its own need-to-watch spin-off with huge implications for the main show: "Gen V." While the first season of the Godolkin University-set series had a few cameos from "The Boys," the two still seemed fairly distinct. Now, season 2 has revealed a huge twist that might change everything for the final season of "The Boys." It turns out that God U. student Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) was created and pushed by Godolkin himself to become the ultimate supe, and she could potentially have the power to take down megalomaniacal uber-supe Homelander (Antony Starr).

In an interview with Variety, Kripke revealed that while Marie is one of the most powerful supes in the world, that doesn't necessarily mean that he and "Gen V" showrunner creator Michele Fazekas intend for her to be some kind of magic secret weapon against Homelander. Marie's blood control powers have proven to be very useful, and she's leveled up quite a bit since she first began attending God U, but there are still quite a few other factors at play. Marie, after all, is young and inexperienced, and her control over her abilities is shaky at times, which could become a life-or-death problem when going up against the wildly powerful Homelander.

By the end of "Gen V" season 2, we've seen Marie use her powers to not just heal a wound, but to also bring her younger sister back to life and even heal the ravages of age and disease in Godolkin himself. She can pop heads like the late Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) and so much more, but is it enough to stop Homelander on her own? Kripke doesn't seem to think so, saying:

"She's super powerful, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she's amazing at controlling it. She's not Keanu at the end of 'The Matrix,' because — based on the next couple 'Matrixes' — it's not great for drama. You want a character who's really struggling and growing, especially a kid like Marie. So, even though she has a lot of raw power, she has to learn how to control it."

The second season of "Gen V" focused heavily on Marie gaining more control over her powers, but she's still rather young and very new at having unlocked her full potential. While Kripke says that her power is that "she has ultimate control over any cell that's part of someone's blood — question mark?," it remains to be seen how that would actually impact her in a fight against Homelander. Marie's abilities take a bit of concentration, while Homelander is purely instinctual and instant, and that could give him the upper hand no matter how powerful Marie might actually be.

While Marie might not be able to take on Homelander by herself, she might stand a chance with some help from some of the other major supes. Homelander's biological father, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), is going to be back out of cryosleep in "The Boys" season 5, and while he'll be primarily focused on taking out his nemesis, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), any alliance he forges with Homelander is sure to be short-lived. Homelander's biological son on "The Boys," Ryan Butcher (Cameron Crovetti), has also shown that he has his father's powers, but he's still just a kid, which means he doesn't have the strength to stop dear old dad just yet even if he wanted to. Both could play major roles in taking down Homelander, though Marie is more likely to find help from familiar corners first. That includes Annie (Erin Moriarty), who's seemingly invited Marie and the other "Gen V" rebels to join her and the rest of the Boys in their fight against Vought and Homelander. 

When you add in A-Train (Jesse T. Usher), Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), and possibly a returned/re-powered Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) to the mix, the Boys actually might be able to take down Homelander once and for all. The real wild card is going to be the Temp V-maddened Butcher, but we'll just have to wait until "The Boys" season 5 arrives sometime in 2026 to see what happens.

"Gen V" is currently streaming on Prime Video.