The Boys Season 5: Supe-Killing Virus Comics vs Show Differences, Explained

The Boys has returned for its final season, and the stakes could not be higher. Based on the first two episodes and the final trailer for the season, Homelander is currently racing against The Boys to become immortal. The Boys, on the other hand, have a strain of the virus that can kill Homelander, or so they think. So far, it has failed to kill Soldier Boy (or so it seems), but it has been effective on weaker heroes, like the former members of Teenage Kix.

However, the case is very different (albeit similar) in the comics. There are several things that differ in the comics. To begin with, Soldier Boy is still a Captain America expy, but he is not Homelander’s father. Black Noir is not his clone in the show, and therefore, Homelander is going mad out of his own megalomania, and not because he doesn’t remember the various crimes that he allegedly committed, which were committed by his clone, Black Noir, in the comics.

Similarly, in the comic, Billy Butcher has a different compound to take down the Supes. There is no virus, simply a deranged version of Compound V that won’t spread through contact, but would have to be dispersed over a large area to kill the supes. Basically, there is no virus in the comics.

In the Show, Butcher Wants to Kill All Supes From The Get-Go

In the comics, while Billy Butcher hates supes across the board, his vengeance is focused on Homelander. Butcher begins blackmailing the character over various things he has done that could tarnish his image. However, Homlander remembers none of it and goes mad. It is only after he is dead, along with Black Noir, that Butcher realizes that his vengeance was for naught. He does not feel fulfilled; if anything, he feels worse.

This is when Butcher decides that a messed-up version of Compund V could target supes, like an airborne disease. However, since it wasn’t like the virus in the show, it would have to be spread manually to reach supers. Butcher devised multiple bombs that would detonate when exposed to certain frequencies. However, this plan never comes to fruition, and Supers still very much exist after The Boys, Homelander, and Black Noir are dead.

However, in the show, the virus seems to take hold whenever it’s exposed, with humans being completely immune and supes being immediately affected. However, the stronger the hero, depending on the version of V they received, the more resistant they seem to be to the virus. While the garden-variety supe virus would kill low-level heroes, it seems characters like Homelander and Soldier Boy need a stronger variant. There is no such variant of the degree of separation with the defective Compound V in the comics.

Homelander’s Fate in the Show Could Be Worse Than Death

Given what audiences have seen in the first two episodes, it could be possible that Homelander is in for a different ending than his comic counterpart. After Soldier Boy was exposed to the virus, he somehow still managed to survive. While this has been speculated to be thanks to the version of Compaund V that he took, there could be an unforeseen consequence that would narratively fit the story very well.

Homelander is likely going to be killed in The Boys. However, given the arc that the character has, it could make a lot of sense for him to achieve the immortality that he wants, but at the cost of his powers. The strain of virus Billy Butcher currently has could have depowered Soldier Boy, and that is how Homelander learns about V-One. His quest then changes to pleasing his father, so that he may not lose those close to him. Homelander has been torn up about losing ‘friends’ this season, as evidenced by the breakdown he had upon believing Soldier Boy was dead.

Homelander already has everything that he needs and is realizing that he wants people to genuinely love him. Achieving immortality, where he can see people he is close to die over and over again, would fly in the face of that. In the end, it might be possible to remake Soldier Boy as the premiere hero of Vought, which would be similar to the rebranded superhero team that existed at the end of the comics.

The Boys: The Final Season is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video