Did Gen V Just Lay Groundwork For The Boys Finale?
The virus in the spinoff is eerily familiar to anyone who has read the original comics.
Summary
- Episode 7 featured two major characters from The Boys.
- The deadly Supe virus storyline will probably continue into The Boys Season 4 and play a major role in the finale.
- In the comics, Butcher is the one who wants to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill all Supes, leading to a devastating end.
- The creation of the virus is certainly a red flag.
The Boys spin-off, Gen V, comes to an end this week, wrapping up its first season based at Godolkin University. But don't worry, we'll have a chance to catch up with the young adult Supes in the future. The series has been renewed by Amazon for a second season.
In anticipation of the finale, co-showrunner Michele Fazekas promised an explosive end to the season with a cliffhanger that will bridge both the spinoff's Season 2 and the upcoming The Boys Season 4.
But in fact, Gen V have already foreshadowed a major storyline that is sure to play out in the next season of The Boys, and may have even laid the groundwork for the original's finale.
Latest episode features major players from The Boys
Gen V Episode 7, Sick, features not one, but two major characters from the original series. Both Victoria Neuman, the congresswoman and Supe in disguise, and Grace Mallory, the ex-CIA agent and creator of The Boys, learn about the deadly virus capable of killing people with Compound V in their blood that was invented at Vought's The Woods facility.
Not only that, but Neuman kills the scientist developing the project and gets her hands on the only existing sample of the virus at the end of the episode. And Mallory shares the information with a mysterious person on the phone.
The Boys fans are certain that the person on the other end of Mallory's phone was none other than Billy Butcher, and that was a huge hook for the development of his arc and its comic book finale.
How does Butcher end up in the comics?
The Boys is based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. While the show has already deviated from the source material in many ways, the creation of a deadly Supe virus references the book's finale.
Beware of major spoilers ahead!
The comics don't end with Homelander's death. When the main antagonist is finally defeated, Butcher takes his place. He becomes obsessed with wiping out all Supes and tries to use a chemical weapon designed to kill people with Compound V in their genes.
The Boys take it upon themselves to stop this genocide and all die, with Hughie being the last one standing and eventually killing Butcher. Sounds devastating, right? Well, this is the book ending that the showrunners can repeat or change.
But the creation of the virus, which sounds eerily like Butcher's weapon, certainly suggests that the toughest and goriest times are ahead for all The Boys characters and fans.
The final episode of Gen V Season 1, Guardians of Godolkin, is released on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, November 3.
Source: Variety.