Jared Padalecki’s The Boys Character, Mr. Marathon, Explained

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Be warned, this article reveals major plot points from The Boys season 5, episode 5, “One Shots.” Fans have been excited to see Jared Padalecki join The Boys, and after five episodes, he finally made his debut as Mister Marathon. While it took over half the season for Padalecki to appear alongside Jensen Ackles again, many viewers felt the wait was worth it.

Considering The Boys has already included references to Supernatural in past episodes, it wasn’t surprising to see a major focus on the scene between Mister Marathon and Soldier Boy. This is because Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who played those characters, worked together for 15 years on Supernatural, a show led by The Boys creator Eric Kripke.

Although this part of the episode seemed mainly designed to please fans of Supernatural, Mister Marathon’s appearance was still important to the overall story. The latest episode didn’t advance the main plot much, but it did lead Homelander and Soldier Boy to Mister Marathon in their hunt for V-One from The Boys.

He collected old items from Vought, so everyone assumed he might have the valuable substance they were looking for. However, he didn’t have it. Instead, he said Bombsight probably did, forcing the villains to wait at his mansion for the superpowered individual to show up.

The entire situation was a setup designed to weaken Homelander. Mister Marathon and a group of well-known actors tried to convince Soldier Boy to kill Homelander, but he defied them and instead killed everyone else present. However, this scene revealed a lot about how Prime Video is portraying this classic, fast-moving hero.

What We Know About Mr. Marathron’s History & Powers In The Boys

Despite only appearing briefly in The Boys, we found out some details about Mister Marathon’s past and abilities. Similar to A-Train, he’s a super-speedster with comparable powers. He used to be known as the fastest man in the world, but A-Train surpassed him, both in speed and by taking his spot on the Seven after winning a race against him.

Mister Marathon felt unfairly sidelined and never got a second chance to compete, explaining why A-Train was so desperate to win his fight against Shockwave in the first season. The speedster is incredibly powerful – he can even unintentionally cause fatal injuries just by running into people, as demonstrated by a couple of accidental collisions while searching for Soldier Boy.

Similar to the other members of The Seven, he appeared in a number of films, but these weren’t connected to Vought’s popular superhero franchise and didn’t bring him much money. His home displays a collection of movie posters alongside Vought memorabilia – things like trading cards, comics, and items related to Vought’s founder, Frederick Vought. Disturbingly, many of these collectibles include Nazi symbols.

In season 5 of The Boys, Mister Marathon wasn’t powerful enough to defeat Homelander directly, but his past experience with the Seven makes it clear he strongly dislikes him. Though scared of Homelander, he tried to trap him in his home with a plan to have Soldier Boy remove his powers, hoping to make the villain helpless.

The supervisor believed Homelander had destroyed his life. However, Mister Marathon seemed to secretly want to rejoin The Seven, even though he said he didn’t care. He appears to have similar speed abilities to A-Train – he ran to Columbia and back as quickly as Soldier Boy could finish using the restroom.

However, his past is truly compelling. Like many others, he once worked with Homelander, but grew to despise him – eventually wanting him gone for good.

How Mr. Marathon Compares To The Comic Version

Despite both sharing speed-related abilities and being founding members of the Seven, the two versions of Mister Marathon differ significantly in The Boys. The Mister Marathon shown on Prime Video is clearly fearful of Homelander, but he remains rich, well-connected, and generally lives a comfortable life after his time with Vought.

Despite a tragic tendency to accidentally harm those around him, Mister Marathon generally appears to have a good handle on his powers throughout the series. He even demonstrated courage by confronting Soldier Boy, despite the significant power difference. Ultimately, however, his story mirrors the comic book version, as he is killed by Homelander in both cases.

Mister Marathon has a small role in the source material, appearing with Homelander and Queen Maeve during the 9/11 attacks as they try to prevent a plane from crashing. Homelander initially tried to abandon the situation after disabling the plane’s controls, which would have killed everyone on board, but Mister Marathon pleaded to be saved as well.

Homelander, though hesitant, allowed the man to hold on as he flew away from the crashing plane. But when he tried to steer the falling aircraft, he accidentally killed the speedster, ending his life instantly.

Despite having very few scenes, Mister Marathon surprisingly survived much longer in the live-action show, and even seemed a bit more self-assured. He was even shaping up to be a powerful supe in season 5 before the main villain killed him.

Jared Padalecki plays a character with powers and a destiny very much like the one in the original comics. However, Padalecki brings so much depth and personality to the role that it feels like a shame his character wasn’t featured more prominently.

Who Misha Collins Plays In The Boys Season 5

Jared Padalecki isn’t the only star from Supernatural joining season 5 of The Boys. Misha Collins also made an appearance in the latest episode, playing a character named Malchemical. While he was seen mingling with other celebrities at a party, Malchemical is actually a superhero who also appears in the original The Boys comic books.

The Prime Video series takes a different approach to the character. Instead of shapeshifting, Collins can create powerful, debilitating gases – strong enough to even affect someone like Homelander, as demonstrated in the show. He says he’s met Homelander multiple times, but the villain doesn’t seem to remember him.

We don’t learn much about this character’s past, but he’s established as an ally of Mister Marathon, shown by his willingness to help fight against The Boys’ enemy. Unfortunately, he didn’t last long – Soldier Boy brutally killed him by breaking his neck. It was still a nice nod to the comic book source material to include him.

Even though Collins’ part was small, casting another actor from Supernatural helped bring Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles back together on The Boys. He’s now one of several actors from Kripke’s earlier successful show to join the cast.

How Strong The Boys’ Mr. Marathron & Malchemical Are

Though Mister Marathon and Malchemical didn’t seem particularly powerful during their appearances on The Boys, they both showed potential. Mister Marathon, for example, was able to withstand a hit from Soldier Boy and quickly recover, suggesting a surprising level of durability.

He can move through people unharmed and probably could have escaped Soldier Boy if he’d run instead of chasing him. In terms of strength, he was likely as powerful as A-Train was before he died in season 5 of The Boys, though A-Train had more experience because he used his powers to help others.

Despite being easily injured – Soldier Boy broke both legs and Homelander crushed his skull – these individuals still posed a threat. Similarly, Malchemical managed to incapacitate Homelander, a feat almost no other supes can achieve.

The fact that the villain almost defeated someone shows he’s incredibly powerful, but otherwise he’s surprisingly weak – that’s why Soldier Boy was able to kill him so quickly. This suggests the new superpowered characters in The Boys season 5 rely more on cleverness and strategy than brute strength, even if they don’t seem that way at first.

These characters probably appeared as a nod to the original comics and a treat for Supernatural fans, rather than as genuine threats to powerful supes like Homelander or Soldier Boy. Because of this, while they showed promise, they aren’t among The Boys‘ most formidable characters.

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2026-04-29 19:50