Just adding this simple method to your false template Marionette views makes them work the way I expect

gistfile1.txt

// A Marionette Collection or Composite view
...

// prevent the existing view.el from being cleared by rendering
attachHtml: function (collectionView, childView, index) {
  return (typeof childView.template === 'boolean' && !childView.template) ? false : Marionette.CollectionView.prototype.attachHtml.apply(this, arguments);
},

...

Useful for preventing a re-render when you want to preserve the html of a views element . Complex form html for example or a google map. You can still call render() to refresh event delegation etc.