Every Cameo in The Boys Season 5, Episode 5, Explained: Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, and 5 More

If The Boys wanted to remind us it can be both gleefully petty and brutally mean, a quick detour to LA just did it. Season 5, Episode 5 turns into a mini Supernatural reunion, a Hollywood roast, and a massacre, all in the time it takes to light a joint.

Spoilers for The Boys Season 5, Episode 5, 'One-Shots'.

The setup

After some quick check-ins with Firecracker, the new Black Noir, and Butcher's very good boy, Terror, the episode locks onto Soldier Boy teaming up with Homelander for a supply run of the rare V1 serum. Stan Edgar points them to Los Angeles, where a former member of The Seven, Mister Marathon, might know where the last batch went. The short version: a V1 supe named Bombsight boosted the remaining stock from Fort Harmony, and Mister Marathon is friendly with him.

The Supernatural trifecta (with a side of blood)

Eric Kripke has winked at his old show plenty in The Boys, from naming Jim Beaver's character Robert A. Singer to letting him drop an 'idjit' back in Season 4. But this is the first time in years Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins have shared the screen, and the reunion is about as tender as a buzzsaw.

Jared Padalecki debuts as Mister Marathon, once the world's fastest man and a short-lived member of The Seven. He was replaced by A-Train after slowing down, which leaves him with a lingering grudge, especially against Homelander. On the comics side, the character he's riffing on dies on a mission before A-Train steps in; here, the show tweaks that history so Marathon has every reason to despise the big guy in the cape.

Misha Collins shows up as Malchemical, a comics pull that the series retools. Instead of being a shapeshifter, this version can vent toxic gas, and he actually manages to briefly choke out Homelander with it. Politically, Malchemical is not subtle: he's furious that Homelander wants to ban pornography and abortions. He and Mister Marathon try to convince Soldier Boy to take out his son. That goes about as well as you'd think.

How it blows up

Soldier Boy picks a side, and it is very much the side in a red, white, and blue cape. He offs Malchemical first and then cleverly lets Mister Marathon do most of the dirty work for him. When the dust settles, Homelander is the one who finishes Mister Marathon off for good. So yes, if you were hoping for more Padalecki after this, that's not happening.

Hollywood cameos, industry in-jokes, and a pile of bodies

Because Mister Marathon runs with movie stars now, our duo crashes a very LA hangout: poker, weed, and a lot of career anxiety. The conversation even hints at how the regime's freedom-camp round-ups are rattling the business and turning people on each other. The satire lands with the kind of lines that make you wince and laugh at the same time.

'The famous actors who play the revolutionary characters we write don't do anything but collect their f***ing residuals.'

• Seth Rogen as himself: Executive producer on The Boys and a frequent in-universe presence (including Diabolical), Rogen is at the table insisting he doesn't actually like weed, despite the brand you've had in your head since 2007. He nearly gets out alive before Mister Marathon literally runs through him.
• Christopher Mintz-Plasse as himself: McLovin, yes, and he knows it. He wonders out loud if Michael Cera is a Starlighter and jokes that it'd be convenient if his current rival for a role just got 'vanished.' Soldier Boy promises to help him and Kumail Nanjiani escape, then deliberately feeds them the worst directions possible, sending them straight into Mister Marathon's path. Goodbye, both.
• Kumail Nanjiani as himself: He argues they should do something meaningful because they're 'storytellers' who can 'inspire hearts and minds.' Noble, sure. Useful against a speedster? Not even a little. Same fate as Mintz-Plasse.
• Will Forte as himself: The SNL alum is the resident realist, questioning why any of them should stick their necks out and noting that Bill Hader's on-screen execution did clear out some competition for him. It's a nasty little joke that lands because it's uncomfortably plausible.
• Craig Robinson as himself: The briefest and, somehow, funniest cameo. He misses the whole debate because he's in the bathroom recovering from 'Danny Trejo tacos,' then walks out and immediately gets used by Soldier Boy as a human shield against Mister Marathon. Timing is everything.

It's a reunion years in the making for Ackles, Padalecki, and Collins, but don't expect Dean and Castiel vibes. Malchemical is gone the second Soldier Boy picks a side, and Mister Marathon's final moment comes courtesy of Homelander. The scene also quietly moves the plot: Bombsight still has the last of the V1, and LA was a dead end with a body count.