I Think Gen V Season 2’s Cipher Is The Boys Universe’s Version of an Iconic X-Men Villain

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The first three episodes of Gen V Season 2 have made Cipher a breakout favorite, and fans already have a lot of theories about the dean’s true agenda and his identity. Being comic geeks, we’re focused on another theory: that Cipher is actually The Boys universe’s version of an iconic villain from Marvel’s X-Men universe.

Is Dean Cipher the Mister Sinister of The Boys Universe?

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What do we know about Dean Cipher so far? He seems to be one step ahead of everyone he engages with, often using a mix of subterfuge, misdirection, manipulation, coercion, and sociopathic brutality. He fervently believes in supe supremacy and pushing the limits of supe powers, in order to be ready for an inevitable war with humans. He’s been alive a long time – long enough to have engineered the birth of Marie Moreau and her blood powers, even delivering the baby himself, all without appearing to have aged a day. While we don’t yet know what his official powers are, there are clues in Cipher’s slowed aging, hyper-fast reflexes (like countering Cate’s persuasion attempt), and ability to “read” people.

If Gen V is to be taken as an X-Men allegory, then there’s only one best guess for who Cipher equates to, and that’s Mister Sinister. Mister Sinister’s most updated origin story is that of a 19th-century geneticist named Nathaniel Essex, who sought the answer to post-human evolution. After a doomed transformation by the mutant Apocalypse, Essex created four clones to survive him; the one called “Sinister” was tasked with studying the mutant gene pool and engineering it to follow key genetic pathways, with the larger goal of creating a god-powered being. Obviously, Gen V‘s Cipher wouldn’t have that much of a convoluted comic book backstory, but the basic framework is easy to fit over him: a supe geneticist with the power of molecular control (like Sinister) or slow aging, working to engineer a supe supremacy, with the ultimate supe weapon, “Odessa” (aka Marie), under his wing as his “Jean Grey.” It’s on the lower scale that you’d expect from The Boys universe, but it still works.

Of course, The Boys universe pulls a lot of references from DC, Marvel, and so many geek culture and pop culture figures in between. Cipher could definitely be a play on another famous comics character, but Hamish Linklater doing a riff of Mister Sinister just feels… right. The Boys universe is also already poised to have Cipher play the larger kind of mastermind arc that is Mister Sinister’s signature: it’s already been name-dropped that he popped over to Mexico (the setting of the upcoming The Boys: Mexico spinoff). The hint of him having a long life (or age regressing) power, or the potential reveal that Cipher’s been alive much longer than the 1970s, also makes him a possible crossover character for the Vought Rising prequel series (about Soldier Boy and Stormfront’s involvement with Vought’s inception). Obviously, Cipher could also show up as a major player in The Boys final season – provided he survives this one, of course.

But then, Mister Sinister’s other power is always having a backup plan for dying, so it’s a good bet Cipher has one too.

Gen V Season 2 is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.