Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Gen V episode 7!

Summary

• Gen V reveals the true nature of Victoria Neuman's powers, showing that she has the same blood-bending abilities as Marie Moreau.
• Some viewers speculate that Neuman and Moreau may be related due to their shared powers, but there is no evidence to this theory.
• While both characters are blood-benders, they use their abilities in different ways, showcasing the versatility of blood bending in The Boys franchise.

Victoria Neuman is one of the most powerful supes in The Boys franchise, and Gen V has just retconned them, revealing the true nature of her abilities as well as her connection to Marie Moreau. Victoria Neuman is being set up as the main antagonist of The Boys season 4, with the supe politican being a massive threat to the Boys as well as many of the supes that exist in the franchise. Victoria Neuman's head-popping abilities have been known for a while now, but the character has received an all-new upgrade in Gen V, revealing the true extent of the damage she can do in The Boys.

Gen V is finally here, with the highly-anticipated live-action spin-off of Amazon Prime Video's The Boys currently in the midst of releasing season 1. Gen V puts a new spin on the world of The Boys, with it exploring a Vought-run supe college known as Godolkin University. The series follows Marie Moreau, a young blood-bender who gets the opportunity to attend the prestigious school. Upon arriving, however, Marie unearths a massive Vought conspiracy, leading her to interact with some powerful supe figures. Victoria Neuman is one of the many The Boys characters that Marie has to deal with, but Gen V reveals something new about the villainous character.

Gen V Finally Explains Victoria Neuman's Power - It's The Same As Marie's

For the longest time Victoria Neuman's powers have remained shrouded in mystery, with it only being known that she can cause people's heads to explode. While characters like Hughie have discovered Neuman's true nature as a supe, the few interactions they've had on the show have led to The Boys not yet fully painting a picture of what she is capable of. Neuman is able to explode heads at a rapid rate, but up until Gen V episode 6, it seemed as if that is all she can do. However, Gen V has expanded on Neuman's powers, making her an even bigger threat to the world of The Boys.

As it turns out, Victoria Neuman's powers are the same as Marie Moreau's. When Neuman starts talking to Marie, Neuman has a surprisingly good grasp of what Marie is capable of, explaining that Marie can learn the truth about her by listening to her blood. Neuman then reveals that she has the same blood-bending abilities as Marie, with her cutting her own hand and then causing the blood to fly out of it. While Marie Moreau is still unlocking her Gen V powers, Neuman seems to have access to them already, with her possibly being far more powerful than Marie.

Are Neuman & Marie Moreau Related In The Boys?

Due to Victoria Neuman and Marie Moreau having the same powers, some Gen V viewers are theorizing that the two The Boys characters could be related. It has already been confirmed that characters who are related tend to share superpowers after taking Gen V, with Homelander and Ryan, Polarity and Andre, and Translucent and Maverick all having similar abilities. Because of this, it makes sense to think that Neuman and Marie could be related, as nobody else has been shown to posses these powers. However, the two having a familial tie seems pretty unlikely.

Gen V has given no evidence that Marie Moreau and Victoria Neuman are related, meaning that there isn't any reason to think that they are. It seems more likely that they simply have the same powers, with unrelated characters like A-Train, Shockwave, and Mister Marathon all being speedsters in The Boys despite being unrelated. Although it is possible that Gen V simply hasn't revealed it yet, the two blood-benders probably don't have any ties. With only one episode left in Gen V, a reveal like this seems unlikely, as there wouldn't be enough time to fully explain and develop it.

How Neuman's Powers In The Boys Differ To Marie's In Gen V

Although Victoria Neuman's powers in The Boys are pretty similar to Marie's, they do differ in a big way. Victoria Nueman's eyes famously turn white when she uses her powers, with this detail occurring since the very beginning. Marie Moreau's eyes haven't been shown to do this so far, differing her from Victoria Neuman. It isn't known why Neuman's eyes do this when Marie's dont, with the cool visual making the characters' shared powers a little more convoluted. However, this isn't the only way in which Neuman and Marie's powers differ.

Although Victoria Neuman and Marie Moreau are both blood-benders, they use their powers in incredibly different ways. Marie tends to use her blood as projectiles and whips, cutting her own hands in order to harness the power of her blood. Neuman, however, tends to use the blood of other people, forcing it to rush to their head until it explodes. Marie did pull off this trick once though, with her causing all of Rufus' blood to rush to his penis before it exploded. These two different strategies show just how versatile blood bending is, with both characters doing incredibly different things with the same move set.

Has The Boys Rewritten Victoria Neuman's Powers?

Victoria Neuman's powers are described more in-depth in Gen V than ever before, so did The Boys rewrite them? Up until now, Victoria Neuman has only ever been shown popping heads, with the series not even hinting that her true power is blood manipulation. Although nothing is confirmed, it seems more likely that Gen V retconned Neuman's powers into being blood manipulation in order to have a cool reveal with Marie Moreau. Victoria Neuman's powers have never been fully explained, meaning that blood manipulation could have been the plan all along. However, this seems really unlikely.

If The Boys always intended for Victoria Neuman to be a blood bender, then the choices she makes throughout The Boys don't really make sense. Exploding the heads of people is way more noticeable than simply causing their blood to stop flowing, something that Neuman and Marie can do due to them being able to control blood while it is still inside someone. Victoria Neuman has kept her supe abilities hidden throughout The Boys, so killing people in this way would make a lot more sense considering her goals. The Boys may answer more questions in the future, but Victoria Neuman's powers in Gen V seem like they were rewritten.

New episodes of Gen V release Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.