The Boys Secretly Revealed Victoria Neuman’s One Weakness

Caution: spoilers ahead for The Boys season 3

Did you spot how The Boys season 3 sneakily revealed the secret to defeating Victoria Neuman? Played by Claudia Doumit, The Boys season 2 introduced Victoria Neuman as a riff on comic character Victor Neuman, but with an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez twist. Initially, Neuman appeared as an anti-Vought congresswoman bravely speaking out against the multitude of crimes and corruption committed by Homelander and his cohorts. The Boys later revealed Neuman was season 2's mysterious head-popper - a powerful supe with the ability to psychically explode body parts at long-range. Her victims include Susan Raynor and Church of the Collective leader, Alastair Adana.

The Boys season 2 ended with Hughie joining Neuman's Federal Bureau of Superhero Affairs, and they've developed into quite the dynamic duo by the time season 3 begins. Regardless, it simply wouldn't be right for Hughie to go an entire The Boys season premiere without getting covered in guts. "Payback" sees a mysterious stranger called Tony visit the FBSA office weirdly calling Victoria "Nadia." When a concerned Hughie follows Tony and Neuman into an alley, he witnesses a brutal fight that ends with the congresswoman detonating her opponent into a bloody mess.

Without overtly drawing attention to itself, The Boys season 3's Neuman vs. Tony fight actually confirms the limits of her head-popping - and reveals her hidden Kryptonite. Before the battle, Tony confirms he and "Nadia" were once best friends growing up together at Red River, so we can safely assume he knows plenty about her Compound-V gift. When the hostility begins, Tony does two things - attack Victoria from behind, and desperately cover her eyes with his hands. The popping only commences when the congresswoman prises Tony's fingers off her face. Neuman's The Boys power must, therefore, require a direct line of sight to the target and a few seconds to activate the white glaze we saw during Alastair Adana's death. If Victoria shuts her eyes or the pop victim lies outside peripheral vision, she's as helpless as Hughie trying to open a jar.

Claudia Doumit as Victoria Neuman in The Boys

Because viewers only saw Victoria Neuman using her ability once in The Boys season 2 (on Alastair Adana in the finale), the mechanics were largely unclear. Standing outside Adana's office suggested some kind of proximity was necessary, but since Neuman wasn't visible during Raynor's death and the Vought hearing attack was pure chaos, the rules stayed ambiguous. The Boys season 3's "Payback" clears things up nicely. Neuman detonates Tony's hand because it's the only part she can physically see. She then maneuvers her head enough to barely make eye contact with Tony's face, and only then gets the headshot. Another important detail to note - Neuman's power is weaker when one eye is covered. Tony's hand is still gripped over Neuman's left eye the first time she pops his mouth, and her shot is nowhere near as strong as with Raynor, Adana, or the house hearing victims. Neuman needs both eyes open to give her popping power the full beans.

Hughie didn't get a perfect view of Neuman and Tony's fight, so probably missed this crucial detail. Once The Boys figure out the trick, however, they might stand a fighting chance of popping the popper. If Kimiko can ambush Neuman and slap on a blindfold quickly enough, Neuman will be helpless against them. Or maybe MM and Frenchie shine an industrial spotlight in her eyes while Butcher and Hughie goggle-up. Even Billy Butcher's powers won't protect him from a one-on-one against the congresswoman, but skillfully dodging her gaze might just do the trick in The Boys season 3.