Spoiler Alert !!!This article contains spoilers for The Boys.
The Boys might have fallen into the very trap that it was mocking with its upcoming projects, but that does not mean that a lot of the satire that it put out was any less hilarious. Constantly poking fun at not just the political space, but also superhero culture as it exists in the mainstream, the show has its fair share of parodic moments in the background, and sometimes in the foreground as well.
Be it Marvel or DC, The Boys has talked about the various trends that tend to pop up again and again in the products and projects that these companies put out. Be it individual heroes or wider events and relationships that are pillars of the storylines that the Big 2 explore,The Boys, through the depiction of Vought, has been able to deliver some hilarious moments in the show, which lampshade the state of the industry in the real world.
1. The Vought Cinematic Universe Is The MCU On Compound V
V52, a direct copy of D23 || Credit: Prime Video
Vought International, in many ways, was a cross between Warner Bros. and Disney. Its superhero characters have percolated into expys of all the other properties that Disney owns, such as the Muppets. The most telling of these parodies came during the in-universe V52 Expo that simultaneously poked fun at two things- first was, of course, the D23 Expo that Disney hosts to reveal its plans for the future. The other bit was the 52-bit, which refers to the DC reboot, the New 52 continuity.
While the MCU often announced a few phases at a time, sticking to a believable timeline of three to four years, the VCU announced Phases 7 to 19- 12 full slates of what the in-universe company has planned for fans. It had such anticipated films in mind like “A-Train: Into The Multiverse” (parodying Spider-Man and The Flash), and “Training A-Train”, a film that pokes fun at 80’s sports drama films.
2. Mr. Marathon’s Films Had as Much Success As Morbius
Jared Padalecki as Mr. Marathon in The Boys || Credit: Prime Video
When Homelander and Soldier Boy visit Mr. Marathon, the A-Train replacement is able to point out the various films that he has starred in. Homelander is quick to point out that they are not in the VCU, and are in fact produced by Sony Pictures. Sony currently holds the rights to certain Spider-Man characters, which it tried to develop into its own cinematic universe. Other than Venom, characters like Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, and Madame Web were simply not able to bring in the kind of money that Sony expected.
Mr. Marathon’s films poked fun at these films, with posters in his home that had titles like “Madame Marathon”, “Mr. Marathon: Around the Speedy-verse”, and “Marathon Malchemical: Let There Be Rampage”. These were references to titles that Sony produced, such as Madame Web, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, respectively.
3. Tek Knight Took Batman To His Aesthetic Extreme
Tek Knight was a direct homage to Batman and Iron Man || Credit: Prime Video
Tek Knight was part Batman and part Iron Man. Though the character never appeared in his signature suit from the comics, his connection to Batman focused on the aesthetics of the Batcave over everything else. The Tek Cave, as it is called, was modeled to be a sex dungeon, which showrunner Eric Kripke believed Batman’s lair was already a close facsimile of. Speaking with Variety, he said:
“Then the notion came up of, he should have a Batcave — but let’s be honest, the Batcave would be a sex dungeon. Like, even the real Batcave is just this side of being a sex dungeon. It’s really dark, and there’s rubber suits everywhere. It’s not that much of a push to add a couple dildos and then a weird urinal that turns into a face mask.”
This line of thinking is what resulted in the scene where Tek Knight has a secret rendezvous with Ashley Barret, and what he believes to Webweaver, but is actually Hughie Campbell in disguise. Kripke also highlighted the fascist underpinnings of Batman, which informed a lot of dialogue that Tek Knight engaged in throughout his appearance.
4. Rock Hard Clobbered The Thing’s Image
Rock Hard, formerly of Teenage Kix || Credit: Prime Video
Rock Hard was part of Teenage Kix, a team that was largely a parody of the Teen Titans from DC. However. The character was more of an homage to The Thing from Marvel Comics, the celebrated member of the Fantastic Four. Now, while The Thing is often unlucky when it comes to romantic interests thanks to his appearance, Rock Hard flipped the script on its head with the character being attracted to volcanoes, and not human beings.
Though The Thing eventually does find love and is also currently raising a family in the comics, the same courtesy is not something that Rock Hard would receive, given the horrendous end that he met at the hands of Frenchie. While the Virus worked on him, it did not manage to keep Soldier Boy down, which kicked off the race to find Vought’s first version of the compound, V-One.
5. Webweaver Parodied Spider-Man and Iron Man’s Relationship
Webweaver was a very cynical interpretation of a teen with powers || Credit: Prime Video
Webweaver was a clear parody of Spider-Man, and while Tek Knight is more akin to Batman, his suit makes him a clear expy of Iron Man as well. However, the entire scene where he takes Webweaver (actually Hughie in disguise) under his wing is a clear parody of the relationship that Spider-Man and Iron Man develop in the MCU.
Webweaver is a very gross depiction of Spider-Man, taking the joke about him shooting webs out of his behind to the very extreme. The character is perhaps further parodied in his interactions with Homelander, which is in stark contrast to how Superman and Spider-Man interact with each other. While Superman and Spider-Man almost always deal with each other with deep mutual respect, Homelander and Webweaver’s encounter was nasty, to say the least, and ended with Webweaver being murdered.
6. Ezekiel Made Mr. Fantastic Religious Instead of Scientist Supreme
Ezekiel not only made a mockery of faith, but also the character he was based on || Credit; Prime Video
Ezekiel has the same powerset as Mr. Fantastic. However, he is a religious preacher, and not a scientist. Further, he is not straight and does not have a family. However, Ezekiel is a hypocrite who preaches anti-LGBTQ propaganda and believes that faith in God is the only solution to humanity’s problems. In stark contrast, despite having met multiple deities through his lifetime, Mr. Fantastic is a firm believer in the power of science and critical thinking.
As seen in the MCU version of the character, Mr. Fantastic puts in the work to solve the various issues that plague humanity. No matter how big the issue, Richards is going to put in the work to find a way out, but never is he going to make a public show of his efforts. He is not a man of faith, real or false, but a man of logic and results.
7. Blindspot Fired Shots At Daredevil
While Daredevil has been faced with deafness before, Blindspot clearly hadn’t || Credit: Prime Video
Blindspot had a very short run in The Boys. He was a potential new member of the Seven, brought in to possibly replace Translucent, who had just been slain. However, his super senses were used against him again when Homelander burst the eardrums of the blind superhero, not only leaving him in tremendous pain, but also leaving him completely without any sort of support. Now blind and deaf, it showed how easily Matt Murdock can be taken out by superheroes more powerful than him.
However, Murdock himself has been made deaf before, but the hero has managed to come out on top anyway. Of course, The Boys takes a more cynical view of the situation, given that it does not have the level of versatility when it comes to its genre as Marvel does.
8. Nubian Prince Corporatized Black Panther’s Gimmick
Nubian Prince was a Black Panther expy || Credit: Prime Video
Nubian Prince is a relatively minor character in the show, never making an appearance beyond a cameo in the first season of The Boys. Nubian is very much dressed up like Black Panther, in that he is billed like a superhero of color who has native African origins. However, he is a native of Detroit and was a safe enough pick for Caucasians to be comfortable with him.
He has also been married to Nubia, an electricity-themed hero in the comics, which is used to poke fun at the fact that Black Panther used to be married to Storm from the X-Men. The character was being ‘sold’ to the Mayor of Detroit as a protector for 200 million, but the deal did not go through as Homelander would end up killing him and his family while they were on the flight back to the city.
9. Queen Maeve’s Introduction poked Fun At DCEU’s Wonder Woman
Queen Maeve deconstructed and then reconstructed Wonder Woman || Credit: Prime Video
DCEU’s Wonder Woman did a lot of things right in adapting the character. One glaring feature of the Patty Jenkins adaptation of the character was the ubiquitous use of slow motion to emphasize key action moments, such as when she is walking onto no man’s land, or when she is deflecting bullets.
Similarly, Queen Maeve’s introduction, where she stops the truck with her body, has a similar slow-motion shot that pays homage (and pokes fun at) the sequences where Diana enters action set pieces. Maeve herself was a very clear expy of Wonder Woman, taking most of her attributes and turning the notch up to an eleven. Whether it be her sexuality or her relationship with Homelander, everything seemed to be some sort of dig at the history that Wonder Woman has had, be it dating Superman, or her having relationships with men and women in the comics.
10. The Deep Has Deeper Connections To Marine Life Than Aquaman
The Deep is a derpier Aquaman || Credit: Prime Video
Before Jason Momoa essayed the role of the ruler of the Seven Seas in the Snyderverse, Aquaman was largely considered to be a joke. While the Justice League Unlimited animated series also tried to redeem the character, his ability to talk to fish and command them was widely mocked.
The Deep, who has a similar powerset, took his ability to talk to fish a level further, where the character feels more at home with marine life than with human beings. Be it the friends that he makes, or the romantic interests that he has in his life, The Deep takes Aquaman’s funniest quality to its logical extreme, as The Boys has done with multiple attributes of various characters. Even his suit has inverted colors of Aquaman’s costume, being green with orange gloves instead of being orange with green gloves.
11. Homelander Did A Green Lantern Story As A Two-Part Film
The Vought movie machine works overtime in the universe of The Boys, making film after film for each superhero that it has under its belt. Two of Homelander’s films pay direct homage to DC’s Green Lantern. While talking to Ryan, Homelander reveals that two of his films are called Darkest Day and Brightest Night, which are direct homages to crossover stories that centered around Green Lantern.
The names of the stories are a play on the first words of the Green Lantern Corps oath, which starts with ‘In Brightest Day, In Darkest Night’.
12. The Bourke Cut Poked Fun At Zack Snyder- and Joss Whedon
The DCEU was marred with a lot of criticisms and a clamoring for the restoration of the Snyder-verse, despite Warner Brothers having different plans. In the end, the studio saw some profit in releasing the Snyder-cut of The Justice League, which had initially received a lot of backlash thanks to Joss Whedon’s rewrites.
Dawn of the Seven apparently had similar issues thanks to Joss Whedon, with the in-universe fans being up in arms about such a development. Their response was to advocate for the release of the Bourke Cut, which was apparently a similar director’s cut of the Dawn of the Seven. In true The Boys fashion, the cut was also used to recast Stormfront as a villain, given that the previous cut depicted her as a hero.
13. Homelander Murdered An All-Star Superman Moment
Homelander in Godolkin University || Credit: Prime Video
All-Star Superman depicted the character as being a compassionate savior for the world, staying with a girl who was contemplating suicide as she tried to jump off a ledge. Superman did not try to push her away from the ledge. He just floated in front of her, letting her take all the time that she needed. Eventually, she would step off the ledge on her own, with Superman there the entire time.
It would be hilarious if Homelander ever talked someone off the ledge. Instead, the character came across a similar situation and made it all about himself. In fact, he even asked the victim to jump, whether she wanted to or not, in a stark contrast to what Superman would have done in the situation.
14. Crimson Countess Dealt With Grief Differently Than Wanda
Crimson Countess in The Boys || Credit: Prime Video
Wanda Maximoff had one of the most poignant storylines in the MCU. After losing her brother and then her husband, the character, being a Nexus being, capable of spontaneous creation, dealt with her grief in a manner that had cosmic repercussions. So, of course, The Boys took the most over-the-top take on the whole matter.
Crimson Countess found herself grieving as well, over the fact that chimpanzees don’t have tear ducts. And instead of having a cosmic breakdown, she was barely able to go viral online thanks to it. While Wanda’s grief took an entire season of television and a film to explore and get closure for, Crimson Countess was over her in less than a single episode.
TV ShowThe BoysTotal Seasons5ShowrunnerEric KripkeCastKarl UrbanJack QuaidAntony StarrErin MoriartyJessie T. UsherLaz AlonsoChace CrawfordRotten Tomatoes 93% || 75% (as of May 8, 2026)IMDb 8.6/10 (as of May 8, 2026)
While there are a lot of times the show pokes fun at superhero stories, it does play certain tropes, like its fights and drama, straight. There are times when the show even manages to do a certain trope better than the original, such as when they did the ‘Girls Get It Done’ bit, which was widely considered to be better executed than what Marvel did in Endgame.
Who are each of the Seven copied from?
Homelander is an expy of Superman, Queen Maeve was the expy of Wonder Woman, Lamplighter was an homage to Green Lantern, The Deep is an Aquaman stand-in, A-Train takes inspiration from The Flash and Quicksilver, while Translucent is supposed to be a stand-in for Martian Manhunter. Black Noir is supposed to be Batman.
Is there another superhero team that is copied from Marvel or DC?
Like The Seven is a parody of The Justice League, Payback, the team Soldier Boys was on, was a clear expy of The Avengers. Also, Teenage Kix is a direct homage to the Teen Titans, while the G-Men are a clear copy of the X-Men.
Is Soldier Boy the father of Homelander in the comics?
No, Soldier Boy is not Homelander’s father in the comics.
Do you think the final episode of The Boys is going to poke fun at Avengers: Endgame? Let us know in the comments!
The final season of The Boys is currently streaming on Prime Video
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