'The Boys' Season 5 Episode 5: Who Is Jared Padalecki’s Mister Marathon—origin, powers, and more explained
Contains spoilers for 'The Boys' Season 5 Episode 5: 'One-Shots'
Introduced and killed off in the same episode of 'The Boys' Season 5, Jared Padalecki's Mister Marathon made quite the impact in Episode 5, 'One-Shot.' The latest episode finally introduced the character, who had been referenced but never shown to date. The actor's appearance, alongside Misha Collins, who also plays another supe called Malchemical, completes the 'Supernatural' reunion with Jensen Ackles in the mix. Minus the fun fact that all three actors finally share screenspace, Mister Marathon's origins are quite interesting. Introduced as the speedster of the original Seven, Mister Marathon was fast in his heyday, but was later ousted from the supe squad as he grew older and slower.
The lack of speed saw made him expendable, and he was later replaced by A-Train (Jessie T. Usher). In the show, he is introduced as a junkie drowning his sorrows in co***ne. Created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson in the comics, the supe came with abilities including durability and hearing, as well as the ability to race across the city in a jiffy. The show sticks to certain characteristics of the supe, introducing him as a supe in Los Angeles, addicted to his drugs, and living as a Hollywood celebrity. In the episode, Padlecki's Mister Marathon was supposedly aware of the V-1 compound's location, but rather than share it with Homelander (Antony Starr) and Soldier Boy (Ackles), he plans to kill the supe with the latter's help. The idea ends badly for him and Malchemical.
While Collins' chemical-breath supe is wrangled to death by Soldier Boy, Homelander gives the speedster the same ending he has in the comics —by brutally crushing his head after Soldier Boy breaks his legs. The ending confirms that the serum is in Bombsight's (Mason Dye's) hands and that Marathon's plan to kill Homelander fails. 'One-Shot' doesn't hold back on the death sequences as it also kills the actors who play themselves in cameo roles — Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, Will Forte, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Craig Robinson, all of them victims of Marathon's erratic speed. 'The Boys' season 5 is fully into the final battle against Homelander, who is determined to become a god by tracking down V-1, the more potent version of Compound V that can make him immortal. Only time will tell if he gets his hands on it or whether the boys can stop him. 'The Boys' Season 5 is streaming on Prime Video.
