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The Boys season 5 has officially kicked off, and the titular team has one objective in the Prime Video show's final chapter: kill Homelander. Given that he's the most powerful Supe in the world and has the backing of the US government now, though, it's not going to be an easy task.
If you've seen the two-episode premiere (caution: spoilers to follow!), you'll know that Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), Annie (Erin Moriarty) and co are planning on using a Supe-killing virus to take out the milk-guzzling villain. But there's one issue; it's not strong enough – so they've brought in R&D researcher Dr. Sameer Shah (Omid Abtahi) to pimp up its potency.
If you've only ever watched The Boys, you might be a little fuzzy on where the curious pathogen actually came from. That's because the substance was a thing long before Shah or Butcher got their hands on it in season 4, having played a big role in Gen V season 1. Its origins, interestingly, kind of stem from Homelander's heinous behavior aboard Flight 37, a video from which Annie has just leaked to the public. We dive into all that below, as we break down the bioweapon's backstory, from its creator to how Butcher got his hands on it, and whether Homelander can survive it. So, Eric Kripke's claims that you don't have to be clued up on all the shows to follow the action be damned, and scroll on...
What is the virus, and where did it come from?
So, the virus actually started out as a Vought-funded project, with the company hiring a scientist named Dr. Edison Cardosa (Marco Pigossi) to create something that could subdue and control Supes. To enable Cardosa to work without outside interference, Vought created The Woods, an underground medical facility, much like the one Homelander revisited in The Boys season 4 episode 4, for he and his partner Richard Brinkerhoff (Clancy Brown).
Over time, though, the whole operation was co-opted by Godolkin University dean Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn). Many of the Supes illegally experimented on in the lab were students, including brothers Luke and Sam Riordan.
Unsatisfied with the idea of merely controlling Supes, Shetty pushed an increasingly uncomfortable Cardosa to make the effects of the virus more and more devastating and, eventually, ordered him to make it airborne. While he refused to do the latter, he succeeded in making it lethal, and transmittable through bodily fluids.
Turns out, Shetty's husband Paul and their young daughter Lily were killed in the Crash of Transoceanic Flight 37, the rescue mission Homelander (Antony Starr) botched in The Boys season 1. After the plane was hijacked by terrorists, he and Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) were tasked with saving the day, but Homelander carelessly ended up destroying the pilot's control panel.
As the aircraft descended, Maeve suggested Homelander fly its passengers to safety, but he refused, complaining that it'd take him 123 trips. Eventually, the two Supes flew down on their own, leaving everyone on board to die – and setting Shetty on a grief-stricken quest for revenge against all Supe kind.
In the penultimate episode of Gen V season 1, Shetty was killed by mind-controlling Supe Cate (Maddie Phillips) after the latter forced her to reveal the truth about The Woods and its creator, Thomas Godolkin, as well as her own personal motivation for creating the virus.
How did The Boys antagonist Victoria Neuman end up with virus?
Disturbed by Shetty's vision for the virus, and haunted by the part he played in making it, a guilt-ridden Cardosa makes plans to start a new life for himself and his family in Gen V season 1 episode 7. But things take a tragic turn after he decides to hand over the last remaining sample of the virus to Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), who he believes is a straight-up, do-gooder politician. Albeit one with anti-Supe attitudes...
The pair meet in a secluded parking garage, where he asks her to assure him she's aligned with Vought's original plan for the virus: to use a non-deadly version of it to control Supes or, at their own request, rid them of their powers. She agrees.
Luring him into a false sense of security, Neuman vows to protect him and his family if news of the substance were to ever go public and goes to give him her card. As she does so, she asks him whether the sample he's brought is the only batch in existence and if there's anyone else in the world who can replicate it, to which Cardosa replies that there isn't. She tells him he's a hero, to which he smiles shyly.
With that, he looks down at the card, and realizes it's completely blank as a drop of blood drips from his nose onto it. He apologizes, blaming the dry air, but when he looks up at Neuman, he sees her eyes are glassed over. Neuman then uses her powers to explode his head. Part of said scene was glimpsed briefly in a "previously on" section of The Boys.
Neuman then turned to her long-term partner Dr. Sameer Shah to make the virus even deadlier. The corrupt congresswoman wanted the substance for a similar reason to Shetty, though she didn't want to use it to rid the world of all Supes being one herself, of course. She wanted it to control Homelander, to ensure her own safety as she continued to climb the political ranks.
Unfortunately for her, she was killed by Billy Butcher; the potty-mouthed Brit pulling her apart with his Compound V-powered tentacles in The Boys season 4 finale and stealing the virus for himself. We told you it had been passed through a fair few hands before it became relevant to The Boys' main storyline...
Who's in control of the virus now?
As evidenced by the first two episodes of The Boys season 5, Billy Butcher is still in possession of the virus. Though there's precious little left of the Supe-killing substance...
After having Shah tinker with it, Butcher suggests that the gang test its new strength on a supposedly indestructible Supe named Rock Hard.... to see whether it's finally fit to use against Homelander. They ambush the man mountain at this headquarters and seal him in with the virus, alongside his Teenage Kix teammate Jetstreak and Soldier Boy. But even though they all start vomiting black goo and their skin starts blistering, only the youngsters actually perish.
For now, Butcher is under the illusion that the virus is ready to go. But once Soldier Boy shows up alive and well, we imagine they'll either go back to the drawing board or abandon the plan altogether.
Will the virus ever be strong enough to kill Homelander?
You see, there's a chance that the virus will never be strong enough to take out a Supe like Homelander – and fans have already started theorizing as to how the creepy cape-wearer could be immune to its effects.
One strong suggestion, inspired by Soldier Boy walking away from his encounter with the substance, is that V1 could protect him. Soldier Boy was essentially made from the original strain of Compound V and we know from the trailer that Homelander will be on the hunt for it to make himself immortal like his pops in the coming episodes, so it fits in with where the story is going organically.
It's worth noting, though, that while we know Soldier Boy wasn't killed by the virus, we don't know how well he is after reanimating in that hazmat suit. According to The Boys lore, V1 can resurrect certain Supes but it also has the power to render them braindead zombie-like beings upon bringing them back. Uh oh.
The Boys season 5 is currently streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday. Ensure you never miss one with our guide to The Boys season 5 release schedule.
