The Boys Season 5, Episode 3 confirmed the return of an important character from the franchise, and his comeback is crucial to learning more about a huge MacGuffin that is pivotal to Homelander's journey. The final season of the hit Amazon Prime Video series is not holding back with the major reveals and deaths in its first two episodes, and more revelations are bound to happen as the secrets behind V-One will be pushed to the forefront. Gen V Season 2 pulled back the curtain on what V-One really is through Thomas Godolkin's explanation, confirming that it is the first successful version of the Compound V formula that renders users biologically immortal.
The official trailer for The Boys Season 5, Episode 3 spoiled the return of Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito), the longtime Vought CEO, and he can be seen giving a history lesson about the V-One to Starlight, Frenchie, Kimiko, Mother's Milk, and Hughie.
Stan Edgar was last seen in Gen V Season 2, where he and Zoe Neuman helped Marie Moreau and her friends escape Vikor and provide them with a temporary safe haven in a fortified underground bunker. The Boys spinoff revealed that Edgar has been actively plotting a return to power at Vought, viewing Homelander as "bad product" while trying to recruit Marie Moreau as one of his strong allies, intended to bring down Homelander once and for all.
Edgar also confirmed that both Marie and Homelander are survivors of Project Odessa, an old Vought project aimed at creating "god-tier" heroes. Following the escape of Marie and her team from Stan Edgar's underground bunker in Gen V Season 2, Episode 6, it seems that Edgar is back to square one and trying to find new allies to help him take down Homelander.
It seems that these new, temporary allies would be The Boys team itself. It's possible that Marie told Starlight where to find Stan Edgar's underground bunker, which explains why Annie is seen in the trailer pushing him to reveal everything he knows about V-One.
This is a crucial encounter because Stan Edgar is bound to give Starlight and her crew much-needed information about V-One and possibly where to find the remaining vials. This is important because The Boys Season 5's main trailer revealed that Homelander is also after V-One, mainly because he wants to be immortal and immune to the Butcher's supe-killing virus.
The fact that Homelander is actively hunting V-One makes the race even more desperate. If Homelander secures the formula first, his already god-like reign could become unkillable, turning the final season's conflict into an existential nightmare for Starlight and her resistance.
This is a desperate attempt by the Boys, who have allied themselves with a notorious, morally grey character like Stan Edgar. Interestingly, a shot of Zoe Neuman unleashing her powers in the same room as the Boys suggests that Edgar would betray Starlight for his adoptive granddaughter.
It's possible that Zoe is still out for revenge against Butcher for her mother, Andrea Neuman's, death at the end of The Boys Season 4, and she could take them hostage to bring Butcher out from hiding.
Watch the official trailer of The Boys Season 5, Episode 3 below:
The Boys Season 5, Episode 3 premieres on Prime Video on Wednesday, April 15 at midnight PT/3 a.m. ET.
Everything We Know About V-One So Far In The Boys & Gen V
Unlike Compound V, V-One is a baby-blue serum that grants its users immense superhuman abilities and immortality, transforming them into more powerful Supe. Some of the supes who have successfully taken V-One and turned out okay are Stormfront, Soldier Boy (who survived the supe-killing virus at the end of The Boys Season 5, Episode 2), Bombsight, and Torpedo.
Gen V Season 2 confirmed that an early version of V-One was unstable and used in Vought's Project Odessa. Thomas Godolkin (Ethan Slater) desperately injected himself with the same unstable V-One strain, and his body unexpectedly adapts, unlike the other test subjects who suffered gruesome deaths. Godolkin gained the abilities of puppeteering and immortality, which exposes the huge Dean Cipher twist in Gen V Season 2.
Godolkin leveraged the V-One in his system by orchestrating events from the shadows, controlling Cipher, and manipulating Marie into "healing" him so that his ageless body could be restored. His pursuit of a twisted agenda to cull weak supes and create godlike beings is firmly rooted in his dark V-One transformation.
The Boys Season 5 is expected to reveal new details about V-One and how Homelander being injected with be could prove to be the worst nightmare for everyone, including him. Edgar could disclose the location of the remaining V-One vials, making him a wildcard ally who could betray the Boys at any time due to his self-serving nature.
