While The Boys’ Soldier Boy is nothing more than a crude parody of Marvel’s Captain America, Soldier Boy is actually better than the original.
Whereas The boys‘ boy soldier was apparently created to be a crude parody of Marvel Comics Captain Americathe imitation supe actually proved to be superior to the original in one key way, at least in terms of a live-action adaptation.
In the Amazon Prime Video Original Series The boys, Soldier Boy (played by Jensen Ackles) is a super soldier who was created through the use of Compound V, a serum that can turn people into supes. Originally, Soldier Boy was just super strong and basically invulnerable. But, after prolonged experimentation in a Russian lab, Soldier Boy has also gained the ability to suppress the powers of other supes by way of a devastating blast he can manifest from within his own body. While that depower ability is awesome (and certainly one Captain America doesn’t have), that’s not why The boys‘Soldier Boy is more impressive than Captain America. The real reason is something much more subtle but infinitely more useful in combat scenarios.
In avengers #18 by Stan Lee and Don Heck, the Avengers receive a distress signal from a part of the world that had been overtaken by the communist regime – which was a big deal as this issue was released shortly after the “Red Scare” in the United States. After following the distress signal from a country in East Asia, the Avengers are received by the communist leaders of this region who pose as people in danger to entice the Avengers into their trap, which which was part of their ploy to prove that communism was superior to capitalism. Upon realizing their mistake in answering this call, the Avengers are immediately hit with a knockout gas that incapacitates each of the members, including Captain America.
In The boys season 3 episode 6 titled ‘Herogasm’, MM throws a smoke grenade at Soldier Boy in an attempt to knock him out, but Soldier Boy picks up the grenade and inhales the poisonous smoke just for the head rush, proving that she doesn’t has almost no impact on him whatsoever. Number 18 of avengers proves that Captain America’s body isn’t as strong as Soldier Boy’s because Cap is rendered unconscious by the same gas that knocked out Hawkeye, who is basically just a regular human. During a battle, being impervious to dormant gas is incredibly useful as it’s usually one of the first things an enemy will try to use to attack a group of heroes they hope to capture. Soldier Boy can only be stunned by a deadly nerve agent, so if he was Captain America in this avengers problem, those bad guys wouldn’t have known what was hitting them.
Of course, this comparison only rings true between the comic book version of Captain America and the live-action version of Soldier Boy, because Soldier Boy in the comics can’t compete with any version of Captain America. The Boy Soldier The boys‘ comics is quickly killed by Butcher after being regularly humiliated and raped by Homelander. Everything about Soldier Boy from the comics is the antithesis of Captain America in both power level and badass heroism. Whereas The boys‘ live action boy soldier is also a dark version of a Captain Americalooking like a character, at least he’s more powerful than the original because his body can take a lot more abuse than Marvel’s first super soldier.
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