The Boys: Every Superhero And Their Marvel And DC Counterpart

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The first season of Amazon Prime Video's The Boys has arrived on the service, and while the comic it's based on tends to be a bit too over-the-top for some people, the TV series tones it down a bit to tell an interesting, compelling story without entirely steering away from the adult content that drew comic book readers in.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season 1 of The Boys.
The series follows a world where superheroes work for a corporation--Vought Industries. And because of this relationship, sometimes the things the superheroes have to do aren't for the betterment of mankind as it could interfere with the corporation's interests. And that brings us to The Boys, a group of normal, everyday people, trying to keep these superheroes in check when they screw up or use their abilities for evil.
When a TV show is created that takes a look at the superhero genre as a whole, the characters that appear will undoubtedly be inspired by or total parodies of well-known Marvel and DC characters. This can be said for The Boys, so we're taking a look at every super-powered character in Season 1 and checking out their comic book counterpart.


A-Train



Marvel Counterpart: Quicksilver, Speed, Speed Demon
DC Counterpart: Barry Allen, Bart Allen, Wally West, Jay Garrick
Both Marvel and DC have plenty of characters that run at super-speeds. This is an extremely common superpower in both universes. Pick one of these characters. They're just like A-Train.


Black Noir


Marvel Counterpart: Nighthawk
DC Counterpart: Batman
He doesn't talk, he wears all black, and he is an amazing hand-to-hand fighter, beating people up in the dark. Black Noir is obviously a darker and more violent take on DC's Batman. However, Marvel has its own character that is extremely similar, the Squadron Supreme version of Nighthawk. 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.


Homelander


Marvel Counterpart: Captain America
DC Counterpart: Superman
The leader of The Seven has the powers of Superman and the over-patriotic mindset of a deranged Captain America. Out of everyone on the team, he's the easiest to pinpoint.


Translucent


Marvel Counterpart: Invisible Woman, Vision
DC Counterpart: Martian Manhunter, Miss Martian
Invisible superheroes of note at Marvel and DC are few and far-between, even though it's a popular power. Over at Marvel, Translucent would be most like Invisible Woman, even if she doesn't have diamond skin. Vision, however, can turn invisible and change his density, making his "skin" so dense that it's as hard as diamond. Over at DC, both Martian Manhunter and Miss Martian have those same two powers as Vision.


The Deep


Marvel Counterpart: Namor
DC Counterpart: Aquaman
Sure, Namor is Marvel's "Underwater superhero," but The Deep is exactly like DC's Aquaman. They both can breathe underwater and communicate with ocean life.


Queen Maeve


Marvel Counterpart: Thor, Sif, Valkyrie
DC Counterpart: Wonder Woman
Listen, it's obvious Queen Maeve is a Wonder Woman clone. They look so similar to each other. The closest thing Marvel has to this character are the mythological characters Thor, Sif, and Valkyrie.


Starlight


Marvel Counterpart: Dazzler
DC Counterpart: Dr. Light (Kimiyo Hoshi)
Starlight has super-strength and can control light, turning it into a weapon. While Marvel's Dazzler can also manipulate light, she needs sound to do it. And that's why Starlight is much more like Dr. Light, as both their powers revolve more around light manipulation.



Lamplighter


DC Counterpart: Green Lantern (Alan Scott)
Not a lot is known about Lamplighter from The Boys TV series. However, digging into The Boys comic, where Lamplighter is briefly around, before dying then turning into a zombie who plays with his own feces, Lamplighter is most like DC's original Green Lantern, Alan Scott. Since Lamplighter's powers emanate from his torch, much like how Scott's powers come from his lantern.


Kimiko


Marvel Counterpart: Wolverine
DC Counterpart: Lobo
Kimiko has super strength, some above-human agility, and healing powers. She most matches the super-powers of DC's galactic bounty hunter Lobo, but Kimiko feels a bit more like Marvel's Wolverine, sans claws, more than anything else.


The Mesmerizer


Marvel Counterpart: Professor X, Emma Frost
DC Counterpart: Martian Manhunter
Child star The Mesmerizer needs to come in contact with you in order to read your thoughts or see your past. He's most like Marvel's Professor X or Emma Frost--even though they don't need physical contact to read your mind. As for DC, there are plenty of mind-reading characters, the most notable being Martian Manhunter.


Popclaw


Marvel Counterpart: Wolverine, X-23, Daken
Popclaw has super-strength and some claws that pop out of her wrists. She's most like anyone from the Howlett family, as they're Marvel's token "superheroes with claws" clan.


Shockwave


Marvel Counterpart: Quicksilver, Speed, Speed Demon
DC Counterpart: Barry Allen, Bart Allen, Wally West, Jay Garrick
Shockwave is another speedster like A-Train, so there are plenty of characters at Marvel and DC who run fast, which we've already discussed.



Doppelganger


Marvel Counterpart: Morph, Mystique
DC Counterpart: Martian Manhunter
Doppelganger feels a lot more like Marvel's Morph or Mystique than Martian Manhunter, as The Boys character is used in a couple nefarious moments in the series. This guy isn't being used for good at all.


Ezekiel


Marvel Counterpart: Reed Richards
DC Counterpart: Plastic Man, Elongated Man
The religious leader, Ezekiel, who's predominantly featured in one episode of The Boys, is a whole lot like reverse Reed Richards, with both having stretchy powers. They're exactly the same in that aspect. While Richards has his noise buried in science books, trying to better mankind, Ezekiel has his buried in religious ones and is a self-hating homophobe.


This Baby


Marvel Counterpart: Franklin Richards
DC Counterpart: Aquababy
Although this eye-laser firing baby is seen very briefly during one episode, it does remind us of a few characters from Marvel and DC comics. Over at Marvel, Franklin Richards (the son of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman) developed superhuman powers very early in his life, and at DC, there's the campy '60s character, Aquababy, the son of Aquaman and Mera who is a toddler with both his parent's powers. None of these characters have laser-eye powers, but there aren't too many Marvel and DC babies with superpowers. You could say this baby is a lot like Baby Darkseid though, but that may be too deep of a cut.


Homelander's Son


Marvel Counterpart: Daken
DC Counterpart: Jon Kent
It's revealed at the end that Homelander has a son, and his kid has super-powers too. It seems like Homelander Jr. gained some of the powers of his dad, which is a lot like Daken--whose father is Wolverine. However, since Homelander is a whole lot like Superman, we're going to say he's a lot more like Jon Kent, Superman's son.




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