Soldier Boy’s Payback Origin Makes The Boys’ Comic Story Even Darker
Caution: spoilers ahead for The Boys season 3
The Boys season 3 borrows straight from the comics when adapting Soldier Boy's Payback past but, as you'd expect, takes an even darker turn. The arrival of Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy marks the latest marquee signing for Amazon's The Boys, but Vought's Craptain America is vastly changed from Garth Ennis' comic books. In the source material, the first Soldier Boy fought and perished in World War II, only for Vought to hide his death by handing the «Soldier Boy» mantle to other, lesser supes through the years. In The Boys' TV series, Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy survived World War II and enjoyed many decades as Vought's top hero before allegedly dying during the 1980s.
The Boys season 3, episode 3 shows was really happened to Soldier Boy and his Payback team. Stationed in Nicaragua as part of a Vought experiment into military use of superheroes, Grace Mallory's Operation Charly unit was lumbered with the burden of babysitting Payback. Because the insectoid Swatto couldn't understand the notion of keeping a low profile, enemy soldiers and rockets soon descended upon the camp, leaving little standing. This «Barbary Coast» scene is virtually identical to Payback's origin from The Boys' comic series, which comes in a chapter with that very same title.
Related: The Boys: What's With Homelander's Milk Obsession?
The setting is 1940s WWII rather than 1980s Nicaragua, and Greg Mallory (Grace's comic counterpart) is forced to accept Payback's «assistance» by orders from above his pay grade, echoing the scene between Stan Edgar and Mallory's younger selves in The Boys season 3. With both versions, it's inconsiderate flying that causes Payback's downfall. Whereas Swatto was the culprit in
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