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What is The Odessa Project in Gen V season 2? The Boys universe’s latest big mystery explained

AnyFans 2025-09-17

By Tom Power

What is The Odessa Project in Gen V season 2? The Boys universe's latest big mystery explained

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Amid the Nazi, KKK, and other right-wing paraphernalia, Emma finds a file on The Odessa Project. Racing across campus, she finds Marie and Jordan, and hands over the file to the former. Cue a stunned Marie reading it and learning that not only was she part of The Odessa Project, but she was also the only survivor.

Hang on, is that… Cipher?! (Image credit: Prime Video)
But wait, there’s more. Episode 3, titled ‘H is for Human’, Marie visits Aunt Pam, the best friend of Marie’s dead mom who’s refused to see Marie for years. Remember, Marie accidentally killed her parents when her blood manipulation powers manifested during puberty.
Anyway, after an initially frosty reunion at Aunt Pam’s home, Pam begins to open up to Marie about what she knows about The Odessa Project. Essentially, Marie’s parents couldn’t conceive naturally, nor could they resort to IVF treatment because it was too expensive. Step forward Vought, which offered them a way to have a baby (i.e. Marie) via its own IVF-style treatment at God U.
That’s not all. Pam shows Marie some print photographs of the day she was born – and, who’s standing there holding Marie as a new-born? None other than Cipher, aka the university’s enigmatic and recently installed new Headteacher. As it happens, Cipher, who Pam calls “Doctor Gould”, helped to deliver Marie.

The Boys season 4 was the first time that Project Odessa was teased (Image credit: Prime Video)
That’s… a lot for Marie – and, by proxy, us as viewers – to take in, but the three-episode premiere of one of the best Prime Video shows’ second season isn’t the first time we’ve come across Project Odessa.
In The Boys season 4 episode 4, aka the one where Homelander takes a ultraviolent trip down memory lane to the lab he grew up in, a reference to something called ‘Odessa’ can be seen on a bulletin board.
At the time, the only thing we learned about Odessa was that it’s a “high security project of the strictest confidence”, and that anyone found to have broken the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) over the secret project would be sacked and sued by Vought.
Now that we know The Odessa Project has been going since the 1960s, it’s plausible that Homelander, who was born in 1981, was its first success story. It’s also possible that, given her own birth, Marie is the only time Vought has recreated the process that created Homelander.

Is Homelander behind the decision to restart The Odessa Project at God U? (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios)
As much as Gen V continues to pull the veil back on The Odessa Project and Marie’s involvement in it, though, the things we learn in The Boys’ sibling show raise some interesting questions.
For starters, is it a way for Vought to create new-born humans with Compound V already woven into their genetic make-up? Thanks to The Boys, we know the chemical substance can cause side effects. Injecting it into children, teens, and even adults is an invasive and incredibly pain procedure, too, so these two issues would be solved if Vought finds a way to engineer new-borns with Compound V already locked into their DNA.
If Vought wants to restart The Odessa Project, does that mean Homelander, the US’ newly-installed shadow president, wants to create an army of Supes from birth, too? Considering he’s just been drafted in as God U’s new Dean, is Cipher secretly overseeing the resumption of this research? Is Marie safe or, because she’s the only other success story besides Homelander, could she be used a guinea pig to try and recreate/perfect the procedure? And what impact could all of this have on The Boys season 5, aka the Amazon TV Original’s final installment that’s due out in 2026?
Hopefully, Gen V season 2 will satisfy our need for answers in its next five episodes. With a week to go (at the time of publication) until its fourth chapter lands on one of the world’s best streaming services, let me know about your Project Odessa theories in the comments below.
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Senior Entertainment Reporter

As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.

An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Tom also writes reviews, analytical articles, opinion pieces, and interview-led features on the biggest franchises, actors, directors and other industry leaders. You may see his quotes pop up in the odd official Marvel Studios video, too, such as this Moon Knight TV spot.

Away from work, Tom can be found checking out the latest video games, immersing himself in his favorite sporting pastime of football, reading the many unread books on his shelf, staying fit at the gym, and petting every dog he comes across.

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