One of the biggest questions in The Boys season five is whether the supe killing virus really works… and does it work perhaps too well. Sure, we want to see the Boys finally get the best of Homelander and take down Vought for good. But a supe killing virus could possibly kill ALL supes, including those we love like Kimiko and Annie. (We love Butcher sometimes, even if he is a real jerk.) How well does it actually work? We begin to see in season five’s second episode.
After killing A-Train, Homelander wakes Soldier Boy up and sends him on a mission to hunt down Annie and Butcher. Of course, he doesn’t tell his father about Butcher’s supe killing virus, instead promising Soldier Boy that he will have power and a pardon if he does this. For all of his faults, Soldier Boy is a great tracker. Meanwhile, Butcher and friends (including Victoria Neuman’s not-so-dead scientist husband Sameer) are in Erie, PA, where Butcher has an entire lab to work on the virus.
The Boys Test the Supe Killing Virus on Teenage Kix to Deadly Results
They decide to do a test run on a local supe with the Teenage Kix, who has become a rocky volcanic version of himself. Butcher, Kimiko, and Hughie are transporting the virus when Soldier Boy intercepts them. Butcher fights Soldier Boy and allows Hughie and Kimiko to escape, but Soldier Boy still ends up on their tail. He goes into the room with the Teenage Kix supe, and Frenchie unleashes the virus.
It’s quite the gamble, even with masks on. Sameer says it is a very unstable virus and they are conducting things in a very uncontrolled environment. It could cause the death of any nearby supe, and could possibly be fatal to humans as well.
The virus appears to kill Soldier Boy and the other supes, which is devastating to Homelander. However, as he turns to walk away from Soldier Boy, we see him sit up inside his body bag. Welp. Will Soldier Boy be the same again, or more like a zombified/less hot version of himself? We truly don’t know. So it seems the supe killing virus in The Boys does work, but not on every supe.
Why Didn’t the Supe Killing Virus Work on Soldier Boy?
It is possible that because Soldier Boy took Compound V-One (or V1), the supe killing virus did not take hold. It did make Thomas Godolkin immortal, and we see that Soldier Boy has never aged at all. So we guess the only thing that can stop him is Marie Moreau popping his noggin. Homelander doesn’t have V1 in his veins and it is not clear if any is still lingering around. Hopefully not! Let’s see what happens as The Boys final season progress, and which supes can survive the supe killing virus.