Season 3 of The Boys has revolved around the vigilantes searching for a way to end Homelander, leading them to look into the death of Soldier Boy. The episodes are streaming on Prime Video.
Soldier Boy was an older Supe who was known to be just as strong as Homelander but he was killed under mysterious circumstances by an unknown weapon. Much of what is known of Soldier Boy comes from Vought authorized media but what lies underneath is an entirely different story.
The comics also have their interpretation of the World War era superhero, so let’s take a look at how the two portrayals differ.
In the series
Soldier Boy was one of the earliest Supes to have been created and fought in World War II. He eventually became the leader of the superhero team ‘Payback’, the top team before The Seven.
He was considered the ‘Homelander before Homelander’, a publicly popular superhero who in truth had a very nasty disposition. He was arrogant, sexist, misogynistic, reckless and a womanizer.
While on a mission in Nicaragua, Grace Mallory noted that he didn’t have any respect for protocol or chain of command and did what he wanted along with his team. When their location was revealed to the enemy, they got into a skirmish where Soldier Boy was killed and his body was taken away by the Russians.
Years later, when the Boys were looking into his death they are led to a lab in Russia that was supposed to be housing the weapon that killed Soldier Boy. However, upon further investigation, they discover that the facility was holding Soldier Boy himself.
Soon after getting out of the chamber holding him, he lets out an energy blast that mortally wounds Kimiko before running away. Apart from this new ability, he was also known to have super strength, super speed, a slow ageing process giving him longevity, and proficiency in combat and multiple weapons.
In the comics
The Soldier Boy mantle is a legacy mantle held by three individuals in the comics. The series iteration closely resembles the original Soldier Boy the most.
During WWII, the original Soldier Boy decided to send the flyers of the Avenging Squad to scout for Germans – without authorization or awareness of military tactics (similar to what happened in Nicaragua in the series). This led to a massacre on both sides and Soldier Boy was mortally wounded and later killed by Greg Mallory.
The modern-day Soldier Boy is a naive and cowardly individual who commits atrocities just to please other superheroes and to get a spot within The Seven. He maintains an innocent approach, never using foul language or participating in the orgies that his fellow heroes conduct.
Despite being a coward, his patriotism and dedication to being a hero are genuine which makes him different from most of the other supes in the comics.
He is captured and beaten for information by Butcher and despite his death being confirmed by a newspaper report, the cause of death was never revealed.
Soldier Boy has a similar powerset to his series counterpart, though not of the same level. He is not as strong as Homelander, Stormfront, or any other supes. However, he is still relatively strong, similar to a super-soldier.
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