The Boys Season 5, Episode 5 will feature a supervillain previously unseen in the show, Eric Kripke has confirmed.
Warning! Spoilers for The Boys Season 5, Episode 5 follow:
Kripke told Entertainment Weekly that Mister Marathon, played by Jared Padalecki (Sam Winchester in Supernatural), appears alongside Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy and Misha Collins’ mystery character in Episode 5, which is set to hit Prime video next week.
In the show, Mister Marathon was The Seven’s original super fast superhero (supervillain), but was replaced by A-Train because he slowed down as he aged. But why does Mister Marathon, previously only mentioned up to this point, return now? Kripke teased that this is more than a cameo, adding: “I want a meaty, fun role that really turns the story.”
“He used to be at Seven Tower, he was in that conference room, he was a part of the lore,” Kripke continued. “So I thought that was perfect. And part of me just loved the idea of him playing a coke-blowing scumbag because he’s such a good guy both in real life and in all the roles he plays. I just wanted him to be really sleazy, and he crushed it.”
A TV spot for The Boys had shown Mister Marathon on the receiving end of a punch from Soldier Boy, so we can expect a decent amount of conflict when the pair get together. But we still don’t know why Mister Marathon appears in the first place. Could he be drafted back into The Seven to replace A-Train, who died at the hands of Homelander earlier in the season? Could Billy Butcher have enlisted him to help The Boys? Could he provide some new insight into the search for V-One? Could he have some dirt on Homelander that would tip the scales in Soldier Boy’s favor, given the dramatic events of Episode 4?
We’ve got plenty more on The Boys while you wait, including comments from Kripke on how it’s become increasingly difficult to present satire, given everything that’s happening in the real world.
Photo by JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
