Summary. The Boys is a dark superhero show that cleverly parodies Marvel and DC giants in a satirical and bloody manner. Characters like Homelander, Queen Maeve, and Black Noir draw clear inspiration from Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.
The Boys Was Originally Set in the Canon DC Universe - IMDb. For a brief time, the hyper violent and crude superhero story, The Boys, was considered to be considered a canonical part of the DC Universe.
This character is exclusive to The Boys (Volume 1), a comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. WildStorm Productions cancelled it after six issues and DC reverted the rights to the authors, allowing them to take it to Dynamite Entertainment. As such, only the first six issues of the series are covered on this wiki.
He's exactly like Batman in many ways, but more violent, and he spends a lot of his time beating the hell out of white supremacists. While Black Noir may look a lot like Black Panther, he has a lot more in common with Nighthawk.
Nearly every Marvel character has well-defined character flaws, and half of the characters' struggle is about overcoming their flaws. While DC characters certainly have character flaws of their own, they noticeably did not have them during the Golden Age - and The Boys uses these versions of the characters to parody.
Who's the Most Powerful Supe in The Boys? | Ranking Every Supe in The Boys From Weakest to Strongest
Who is Black Noir a parody of?
In both the comic and television series, Noir is a member of the hedonistic and reckless Vought-American superhero group the Seven and is depicted as a "silent ninja" type parody of Batman, Snake Eyes and Deathstroke.
Billy Butcher was designed as a parody of Punisher, a character that series creator Garth Ennis had written for nine years, prior to creating The Boys. Both characters are family men who become violent, unhinged vigilantes who allow their constant thirst for revenge to take them over completely.
Starlight is based of a pair of DC female superheroes: Her appearance, especially her original costume, is based on Mary Marvel, where as her abilities are based on Stargirl.
A serum-enhanced super-soldier, originating in WWII, with a patriotic theme and a clean-cut, morally superior persona — it's pretty clear that Soldier Boy is an exaggerated parody of Captain America.
The character was designed as an evil version of Superman and Captain America in terms of powerset and costume. His cape pulled to the left resembles the first costume of Captain Marvel a.k.a. Shazam. Homelander's backstory in the original comics is similar to that in the television adaption of The Boys.
The Boys is a dark superhero show that cleverly parodies Marvel and DC giants in a satirical and bloody manner. Characters like Homelander, Queen Maeve, and Black Noir draw clear inspiration from Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman.
Mental Illness: Homelander is a mentally unstable man. His obsessive need to be adored coupled with his consummate lack of empathy and lack of moral reservation about harming, even killing others suggests he is afflicted with Malignant Narcissism.
DC canceled The Boys reportedly due to its hyper violence and general anti-superhero message, at which point the title was released from any contracts, allowing Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson the freedom to go with a new publisher, Dynamite Entertainment.
Hughie is intentionally drawn to resemble the British actor and writer Simon Pegg. According to Robertson, he drew the character based on Pegg after seeing him in the sitcom Spaced, and thought that Pegg captured the balance of "innocence but tough determination" that Ennis wanted in the character.
They're not DC properties... The first six issues of the boys were published under wildstorm which is an imprint of DC. Now, DC comics were uneasy with the anti-superhero tone of this series so they gave the rights of the characters to the writers and cancelled the comic.
Longevity: Black Noir has been active since the 80s. He is older than Gunpowder and is likely somewhere around his 50s or 60s, however he shows no signs that his age has affected his physical condition and he even appears to be even stronger than he was forty years prior.
Neither of them would hold back in a fight! However, Omni-Man is clearly more powerful than Homelander. While Homelander has other abilities such as heat-vision that Omni-Man doesn't, he still lacks in other areas. Nolan Grayson aka Omni-Man is a part of the Viltrumite race, who are known for their extended lifespans.
Lamplighter is a parody of Marvel's Pyro. Shawn Ashmore, the actor who plays Lamplighter in season 2, previously played Iceman in 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise, making his appearance in The Boys a meta-joke, as his powers on The Boys are the opposite of his powers on X-Men.
Supersonic is likely a parody of DC's Vibe. Supersonic had the shortest known membership out of anyone in The Seven, past or present. He was killed mere days after joining the team. Supersonic is a second generation Mexican-American.
Fans of the original comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson (spoiler warning) will know that Black Noir is actually a secret clone of Homelander, an insurance policy on the part of Vought to kill the crazed Superman if he ever slips out of their control.
The evil Supes' DNA was used to clone Homelander and even helped make Black Noir. However, the origin Homelander never wanted and kept hidden was borrowed by the "Children of Stormfront" and Vikor, The Boys' parody of Thor, who seems completely fine pretending to be connected to the Nazi Supe.
Queen Maeve sacrifices herself for Starlight to escape Homelander's influence, while A-Train finally pays for killing Hughie's girlfriend. Starlight is one of the few characters who survives the entire series, alongside The Deep (while Homelander is killed off-panel by Black Noir).
Hughie. Hughie certainly is the most good-hearted character among all (considering that a huge majority of them are either deeply rotten or have vague, ambiguous morals). He cares about people and not just the people he loves.
