The Boys is nearing its end, and if it is faithful to the source material, the finale could be one of the most depressing episodes of television anywhere. The Boys is definitely cynical, dark, and shocking, with each episode introducing new horrifying repercussions of superpowered individuals living in the real world. However, The Boys isn’t known for being depressing. Instead, the show is a dark comedy, meaning that fans are still typically laughing even through the darkest moments.
Unfortunately, this could change as The Boys comes to a close. The comics take a darker turn around this point, ending things in an incredibly depressing way. While the TV show hasn’t been super faithful to the source material, it’s hard to imagine it ending in a different way. So, fans of The Boys need to prepare to have a bad time during the show’s finale. SPOILER warning for The Boys comics.
Basically Every Member Of The Boys Dies In The Comics
Image via Jasper Savage/Prime Video
The titular team in The Boys have been the protagonists since the very beginning of the show, and while some of their friends and allies have died throughout its run, none of the main heroes have. However, this could all change. In the comics, things take a wild turn when Butcher begins advocating for genociding supes. This creates a divide in the Boys, one that quickly turns deadly.
The rest of the Boys decide that Butcher has to be stopped, and in an attempt to keep his plan alive, Butcher decides that he needs to stop the rest of the Boys. First, Butcher begins killing allies of the Boys, like the Legend, Love Sausage, and MM’s ex-wife. When confronted, Butcher kills MM. Then, he uses an explosion to kill Frenchie and Kimiko, thus preventing them from sabotaging his plan.
With three of the main characters dead, that just leaves Hughie. Hughie and Butcher fight on top of the Empire State Building, with Butcher eventually falling and breaking his neck. Butcher still continues to pester Hughie, causing Hughie to ram a metal spike through Butcher’s chest, killing him. Hughie and Starlight are still alive at the end of The Boys, but MM, Frenchie, Kimiko, and Butcher all die not due to the actions of a supe, but due to each other.
These aren’t the only deaths that occur at the end of The Boys comics. A less depressing one is the death of Homelander. In the comics, it is revealed that Black Noir is a clone of Homelander, and the pair fight, but due to Noir’s superior fighting skills, he is able to kill Homelander. While it is good that Homelander is finally gone, it is sad that it wasn’t the Boys who killed them, meaning that they all failed at the goal they had since the very beginning.
Will The Boys TV Show Be Less Depressing Than The Comics (Or Will It Be More)?
Image via Jasper Savage/Prime Video
There is a strong chance that The Boys TV show will be less depressing than the comics when the series finale is released. While Butcher still isn’t a great person, he is a lot more redeemable than his comic book counterpart. It doesn’t really seem like he would be willing to kill Frenchie, Kimiko, and MM in the show, and it would be difficult to get him to that point with just the remaining episodes.
On top of that, it seems likely that Homelander will die due to the actions of the Boys. Black Noir probably isn’t a clone of Homelander in the TV show, as he was originally older than Homelander before being replaced by an actor. Noir has definitely been acting weird in season 5, meaning that he could have been replaced with a Homelander clone by Sister Sage. However, this would feel a little cheap, and since the clone story has already been loosely adapted by Soldier Boy being Homelander’s father, it isn’t needed anymore.
So, it seems like the TV show could have a more satisfying ending than the source material. However, there is always the chance that The Boys could go darker than what originally occurred. After all, we know basically nothing about what The Boys is setting up for its endgame. Things like the death of Ryan, the release of the supe virus, and Stan Edgar regaining control of Vought could make things even worse than they were in the comics. However, we’ll have to wait and see what happens in The Boys finale.
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