The Boys Reveals the Real Villain of the Series (& It Spells Doom for Homelander)

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One of the strengths of *The Boys* is how subtly it reveals the true nature of its villains. Initially, something feels amiss with The Seven, Vought’s team of superheroes, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what. It takes a tragic event – the death of Hughie’s girlfriend – and a fateful encounter with Billy Butcher to make Hughie realize the extent of the corruption. This sets him on a difficult path to expose the company behind the superpowered individuals. However, taking down one villain only seems to create two more. Ultimately, the only way to truly solve the problem is to defeat Homelander, who has now gained control of the U.S. government.

Now that Homelander has effectively taken control from the Oval Office, he’s free to deploy his team of Supes anywhere he chooses. Consumed by his own power, he’s begun arbitrarily arresting people he dislikes and imprisoning them. However, Homelander doesn’t seem to realize his control won’t last, and it won’t be Butcher who ultimately stops him. A new, ruthless villain has emerged, and they’re willing to kill anyone who doesn’t align with their goals.

Gen V Reveals the Real Mastermind of the Supe Crisis

The central mystery of *Gen V* revolves around Dean Cipher, the new head of Godolkin University. He quickly becomes fixated on Marie Moreau, dispatching Vought’s top operatives to find her and bring her to him. Marie agrees to return to Godolkin and participates in Cipher’s plans in order to uncover the truth about Project Odessa. It’s revealed that Marie is actually a product of that program, and Cipher thinks she has the potential to be as powerful as Homelander. To prove this, he puts her in a high-pressure situation: saving her sister’s life. Marie succeeds, but this causes Cipher to lose control, allowing the former Vought CEO, Stan Edgar, to take custody of Marie and her friends.

In Season 2, Episode 7, “Hell Week,” Edgar shares his suspicion that the elderly man Cipher is protecting is actually Thomas Godolkin, the founder of the school. Believing she can help stop Cipher, Marie attempts to rescue Godolkin while her friends distract him. Once healed, Godolkin shockingly reveals he *is* Cipher, and explains he needed Marie to restore him so he could eliminate weak Supes. He immediately demonstrates this by manipulating a follower of Sam to commit suicide, and hints that more Supes – potentially even those at Vought Tower – will be targeted after he finishes with the school.

Homelander Could Meet His Match in The Boys Season 5

It’s a huge challenge for Marie and her friends to defeat someone as powerful as Godolkin, who can control almost any superhuman. They’re at God U precisely because they *don’t* fully control their own powers. While they’ll likely put up a fight in the season finale of *Gen V*, they’re probably going to lose and need to restrategize, either in a future season of their show or when *The Boys* returns for its fifth season. If they end up on *The Boys*, they might escape unharmed, as Godolkin could become distracted by a new enemy: Homelander. *Gen V* showed that Homelander was created by Project Odessa, but Godolkin clearly didn’t anticipate creating someone so unstable. He might even view Homelander as a danger and try to eliminate him with his mind control.

It’s still unclear what role Marie will play, but *Gen V* keeps suggesting she’s as powerful as Homelander. More training with her friends, or even Starlight, could give her the boost she needs to defeat Godolkin, though that’s not certain. It increasingly looks like the *The Boys* universe is developing a villain poised to bring about the grim conclusion fans have long predicted.

Gen V Season 2 is streaming on Prime Video.

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2025-10-15 18:43