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7 The Boys Characters Improved by the Prime Video Series
The incredible success of The Boys on Prime Video is a testament to the power of a smart adaptation. Spawning a larger franchise that includes animated anthologies and university-set spinoffs, the series understood that a direct page-for-screen translation of the original comics would miss the point. Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comics were a brutal satire of the superhero comic book industry as it existed in the early 2000s, full of graphic excess and cynicism. The television series wisely kept the core concept but updated its satirical targets, shifting its focus from the comic shop to the broader landscape of modern celebrity culture, corporate media, and the volatile world of mediatized politics. This transformation makes The Boys one of the most relevant shows on television.
The Boys‘ thematic shift also required a significant reinvention of many of its characters. While nearly every character was altered in some way, many of these changes were dramatic improvements. By giving underdeveloped characters compelling backstories, providing one-note jokes with tragic depth, and completely reimagining major antagonists, The Boys has created versions of these characters that are far more complex and memorable than their comic book counterparts.
7) The Deep
In the comics, The Deep is a mostly forgettable background character, a stoic figure in a diving helmet who rarely contributes to the plot. His most significant moment is being responsible for a major disaster, but he otherwise lacks any real personality. The show takes this blank slate and transforms Kevin Moskowitz (Chace Crawford) into a tragicomic exploration of celebrity fragility. By making him the perpetrator of Starlight’s (Erin Moriarty) sexual assault, the series immediately establishes The Deep as a villain but then charts his pathetic journey through public cancellation, a Scientology-esque cult, and a desperate, never-ending quest for relevance. The Deep of the show is a hilarious and cutting satire of disgraced celebrities and toxic masculinity, making him a far more interesting and purposeful character.
6) A-Train
The comic book version of A-Train is a fairly generic “bad boy” speedster who is quickly and unceremoniously dealt with by Hughie. He exists primarily as the catalyst for the story and little else. The Prime Video series elevates A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) into a main character with a complex, ongoing arc. His story becomes a sharp critique of the professional sports world, exploring his addiction to Compound V as a performance-enhancing drug, the physical toll of his powers, and the constant pressure to maintain his brand. Furthermore, the show uses him to explore themes of identity, as A-Train struggles with Vought’s clumsy and exploitative attempts to market his Black heritage, leading to a surprisingly nuanced journey of self-discovery and atonement.
5) Frenchie
Frenchie in the comics is an over-the-top caricature defined by his extreme violence and a barely coherent French accent. While loyal to Butcher, he is more of a wild animal than a fully-formed character. The show reimagines Serge (Tomer Capone) as the emotional core of the team. While still a skilled and dangerous operator, this version of Frenchie is a man haunted by past mistakes and possessing a deep well of empathy. His backstory as a gun-for-hire consumed by guilt gives him a clear motivation for his actions, and his gentle efforts to connect with Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) provide the series with its most important relationship. This transformation turns him from a cartoonish stereotype into a relatable character.
4) Queen Maeve
Queen Maeve in the comics is a tragic but largely passive figure. Traumatized by her time in The Seven, she becomes a cynical alcoholic who has completely given up. While she has a heroic final moment, she spends most of the story as a defeated bystander. The television series gives Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) a far more compelling and active role in the narrative. The show still portrays her as jaded and weary from years of Homelander’s (Antony Starr) abuse, but it gives her a powerful internal conflict between her desire for self-preservation and her buried heroic instincts. Her journey from complicity to open rebellion, fueled by her love for Elena (Nicola Correia-Damude), is one of the show’s most satisfying character arcs, culminating in a heroic sacrifice that allows her a chance at a normal life.
3) Kimiko
In the source material, Kimiko is known only as “The Female of the Species” and is essentially a mute weapon for The Boys to unleash. She has little personality or backstory beyond being incredibly violent after a childhood accident involving Compound V. The show rightfully scraps this and builds a completely new character in Kimiko Miyashiro. Given a name, a voice through sign language, and a heartbreaking backstory as a child soldier, Kimiko’s story becomes an exploration of trauma and the struggle to reclaim one’s humanity. Her bond with Frenchie is the heart of The Boys, and her journey to control her rage and decide her own path gives her agency that her comic book counterpart was never afforded.
2) Stormfront
The Stormfront of the comics is a male, one-dimensional Nazi supervillain and a fairly straightforward brute. The show’s decision to gender-swap the character and cast Aya Cash was a stroke of genius, transforming Stormfront into a terrifyingly modern antagonist. This new version is not just a goose-stepping relic, but a savvy media manipulator who weaponizes social media, meme culture, and populist anger to spread her hateful ideology. By presenting fascism with a charming, relatable, and digitally fluent face, The Boys created a villain far more insidious and relevant to the current political climate, making her a much more intelligent threat.
1) Black Noir
The single greatest improvement from The Boys, compared to the comics, is Black Noir. In the original story, Noir’s identity is a final-act plot twist, as he is a secret, more powerful clone of Homelander created as a failsafe, and he is responsible for many of the atrocities pinned on the hero. The show completely abandons this, instead turning Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell) into a tragic figure named Earving. A member of the original superhero team Payback, he was a Black hero whose career was destroyed and whose body was horrifically injured by Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), leaving him brain-damaged and mute. Still, his silent persona hides a deep well of trauma, which the audience sees through his heartbreaking hallucinations of cartoon animals. This change transforms Black Noir from a shocking plot device into a character with a sorrowful history, giving him one of the most compelling arcs in the entire series.
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