When the TV adaptation of The Boys begins, it’s clear that the group are a mostly amateur, ragtag bunch of anti-supe oddballs. Butcher, Frenchie and Mother’s Milk were brought together by Mallory to police superheroes, but it seems their impact diminished once those official ties to the U.S. government dissolved, effectively leaving the trio out in the cold. Additionally, the Boys have yet to meet the Female, who they find imprisoned and being pumped with Compound V in the TV series. This is vastly different to the start of the comic books. After splitting from Mallory, the Boys (including the Female, who is present from the start) go their separate ways, but when they do reunite, Butcher has far better connections and resources than Karl Urban’s character. Even while operating unofficially, the Boys remain a tight, well-oiled unit with access to weapons, gadgets and information via less-than-legal means - a far cry from the makeshift approach forced upon Butcher’s crew on the TV show.
Judging from the trailer for The Boys season 2, however, the traditional dynamic will be restored. All 5 members are seen working together, training and fighting back against the super-powered elite. Moreover, the Boys have armed up with a range of guns between seasons and are seen going up directly against several supes, unlike in season 1 where their assaults on Translucent and Popclaw were either unplanned or indirect. Season 2’s approach is more consistent with the comics, where the very first volume sees the Boys go up against Teenage Kix in a head-on scrap.
Several other small touches in The Boys season 2 make the story more authentic to the comic books. Butcher’s dog Terror makes his debut appearance. The bulldog is essentially the group’s sixth member in the comics, but was absent in season 1. Furthermore, the comic book store fight scene glimpsed in the trailer footage hints towards the introduction of the Legend. In volume #2 of The Boys, the Legend owns a comic shop, but operates secretly as an informant to Butcher, retaining records on virtually every superhero in existence, including their origins, weaknesses and sins.
The strategy of making season 2 more comic-accurate than season 1 perhaps derives from another Garth Ennis TV adaptation - Preacher. Deviating even more drastically than The Boys, the first season of Preacher has very little in common with the comics, and season 2 begins in the same place as issue #1 of the comic books. Although the differences in The Boys are less prominent, fans of the original version will certainly find themselves on more familiar ground in season 2.
