The Boys Season 5, Episode 7 features a surprising but hilarious MCU cameo, and it’s genius for a couple of reasons. SPOILERS ahead for The Boys Season 5, Episode 7. Following Homelander’s terrifying upgrade at the end of The Boys Season 5, Episode 6, this week’s installment feels like a suitable lead-up to the series finale. Although Gen V‘s missing characters only make a brief appearance, and The Boys breaks the show’s biggest rule in “The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man Called Mother’s Milk,” the episode has adequately high stakes and closes out several character arcs.
Frenchie gets the most definitive ending, but Soldier Boy is also put back in cryo, taking Jensen Ackles’ supe back out of the equation. And on the heels of The Seven being disbanded, The Deep also receives a conclusion of sorts. Although he could still appear in next week’s finale, The Boys‘ penultimate episode offers a fitting fate for Chace Crawford’s character. Not only is he callously removed from The Seven, but he’s barred from ever going in the water again. All the sea creatures hate him after the incident with his pipeline, a reality that prevents him from saving a drowning man. With his cowardice caught on camera, The Deep’s hero days are over, with or without The Seven. And his fall from grace includes an incredible MCU cameo, making it that much more satisfying.
The Deep learns he’s no longer safe in the sea from his former shark friend, Xander, who is voiced by Samuel L. Jackson in The Boys Season 5, Episode 7. Jackson obviously has a huge list of film and TV credits to his name, and his MCU role is one of the most memorable. He’s iconic as Nick Fury, shining every time he’s on-screen — and capturing the character’s commanding presence, which he doesn’t even need superpowers to achieve. He brings Fury to life with charm and humor, but he also knows when to be intimidating. Funnily, it’s that combination that makes his cameo on The Boys work so well.
It’s nice to see someone properly tell off The Deep, and Jackson is the perfect star to do it. His remarks are biting and daunting enough that we can feel how unwelcome Kevin is now, yet the humor of seeing a shark curse someone out isn’t lost. Jackson really is great casting, especially with all the layers to his appearance.
The Boys Season 5, Episode 7’s MCU cameo is genius, and not just because Jackson nails Xander’s threats against The Deep. With Nick Fury essentially serving as the architect of the MCU — he’s the one who brings Earth’s mightiest heroes together — it’s fitting for Jackson to show up in a superhero franchise that frequently parodies it. Additionally, his timing is comical. Jackson’s MCU character is known for putting together a team, but in The Boys, he shows up just as Homelander disbands his. It’s safe to say that Xander won’t be offering The Deep the chance for a team-up, nor will anybody else.
Thanks to 1999’s Deep Blue Sea, Jackson also has a history with shark content. In that movie, he’s killed by shark, something his latest cameo flips. In The Boys, he gets to be the shark, and it’s possible he’ll get to make a kill. After all, The Deep may get even more comeuppance in Season 5’s eighth and final episode.
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