The Boys is another superhero series, but not the kind one would normally expect. It shows the darker sides of heroes, and the series itself has tons of violence, gore, and profanity. But while this is so, the heroes in it share similar appearances and powers to the ones in DC. So, is The Boys DC? Here’s what we know.
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Is The Boys DC?
The Boys is not DC. While the show does have some parodies of DC characters and even Marvel, it is not connected to either of the franchises.
What some do not know is that The Boys is actually based on a comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.
And while The Boys isn’t DC, it is worth mentioning that the comic was originally published by DC. DC published the first six issues of The Boys in 2006 under WildStorm, an imprint of DC Comics.
However, the series was canceled by DC, and the next year, The Boys moved over to Dynamite Entertainment. This was due to concerns about the tone of the work and its dark take on superheroes.
The Boys then ended up having 72 issues and various miniseries and was adapted into a TV series by Amazon Studios years later.
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DC References & DC Characters Parodied in The Boys
Most of the heroes in The Boys are parodies of DC characters. The Seven is clearly The Boys’ version of the Justice League. Homelander is clearly a parody of Superman. Homelander has the Kryptonian’s powers, including flight, X-ray vision, and heat vision.
Queen Maeve is The Boys’ version of Wonder Woman. A-Train is The Seven’s speedster who’s a parody of The Flash, and The Deep is an obvious reference to Aquaman. Starlight is similar to Stargirl and Doctor Light.
There are also some DC references in The Boys. The film “Dawn of the Seven” is clearly in reference to Zack Snyder’s Justice League/Snyder Cut.
Dawn of the Seven had to go through some reshoots after Stormfront was later revealed to be a villain, which then led to the release of the Bourke Cut.
Notably, there are also Marvel characters parodied in The Boys. For instance, Blindspot is clearly a parody of Daredevil, while Soldier Boy is The Boys’ version of Captain America.
And some references include “Vought Cinematic Universe” or the “VCU”, which is in reference to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
But again, The Boys is a satirical superhero series that’s not connected to DC or Marvel. There are references, but they don’t mean a connection to either. Its differences from both franchises, anyway, are very clear.
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