Is any superhero in The Boys parodying a Marvel superhero?

Question

Is there an official statement from Eric Kripke (showrunner) or The Boys comics creators (Garth Ennis or Darick Robertson) of at least one superhero parodying a Marvel superhero or made in the image of a Marvel superhero? My question is not limited to a superhero. It can also be any other noticeable parallel like if Vought Studios is a parody of Marvel Studios. I already know about Supes parodying DC.

In my opinion, the Supes who draw parallels with Marvel heroes:

Kimiko/Popclaw -> is parodying Sabertooth/Wolverine

Dopelganger -> Mystique

Stormfront -> Storm

Gecko -> Deadpool

and so on, so are these parallels/parodies confirmed officially?

Answer 1

• Billy Butcher — The Punisher / Frank Castle

• Both were family men who become violent, unhinged vigilantes who allow their constant thirst for revenge to take them over completely.
• Both Billy Butcher and Frank Castle come from a past in the Marines and the CIA (Though Butcher was in the Royal Marines, not the US Marines)
• Both take a sadistic pleasure in dispatching their enemies in painful ways and both frequently use curse language.
• The plot of the non-canonical Punisher comic "The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe", served as a prototype for what would eventually become The Boys decades later.
• Butcher can be considered an antihero.

^{- https://the-boys.fandom.com/wiki/Billy_Butcher}

• Kimiko / The Female — X-23 and Lady Deathstrike

The Female resembles Lady Deathstrike, a nemesis of Wolverine. Both are Japanese women who were given powers in adulthood by a paramilitary organization, and both work as assassins. Lady Deathstrike possesses the same animalistic behavior and healing abilities as Wolverine and his daughter. In addition, the version of Lady Deathstrike in 20th Century Fox' X-Men films was also mute and did not speak. Her animalistic behavior and healing factor are also reminiscent of Wolverine and X-23 from the X-Men.

^{- https://the-boys.fandom.com/wiki/The_Female}

• Doppelganger — Mystique
  Parodies Mystique's shapeshifting powers; appears as an obese middle-aged man rather than a shapely woman

• Mesmer — Professor X / Charles Xavier
  Like Professor X, his real name is Charles and he also has telepathic powers.

• Naqib — Nitro
  They have similar self-detonation powers and are responsible for mass casualties because of their powers.

• Blindspot — Daredevil

• Stormfront — Thor

• Frederick Vought — Abraham Erskine
  Like Erskine, Frederick Vought worked for Nazi Germany before defecting to the USA. Both created a serum that gives people superhuman powers.

• Eagle the Archer — Hawkeye
  A parody of archery-themed superheroes in general

• Groundhawk — Wolverine
  Parodies Wolverine's powers (hammers for hands as opposed to Wolverine's claws), costume, animal-themed superhero name, and gruff personality

• Nubian Prince — Black Panther
  His superhero name parodies Black Panther being royalty of an African country, and his fake accent parodies Black Panther's African accent.

• Nubia — Storm
  The wife of Nubian Prince. Parodies Storm being Black Panther's wife, and has electric and flight powers, similar to Storm

• Termite — Ant-Man
  His superhero name and powers are a parody of Ant-Man. His appearance in S03E01 references the Ant-Man butt theory.

• Payback — a superhero team that is a parody of the Avengers
  

• Soldier Boy — Captain America
  Parodies almost everything Captain America-related: the costume, the shield, the military-themed superhero name, the history of fighting Nazis, and being the leader of the Avengers.

• Soldier Boy's shield — Thor's hammer (Mjolnir)
  In S03E06 "Herogasm", Hughie attempts to lift Soldier Boy's shield but is unable to do so, parodying Thor's hammer's "worthiness" enchantment.

• Crimson Countess — Scarlet Witch

• Gunpowder — Winter Soldier / Bucky Barnes
  Parodies being Captain America's sidekick and also uses guns like the Winter Soldier

• Swatto — Ant-Man / The Wasp
  Parodies the bug-themed superhero names and costumes, and has wings and flight ability like The Wasp

• TNT Twins — Alpha Flight's Aurora and Northstar, and Fenris (Andrea von Strucker and Andreas von Strucker)
  Them being twins and having to hold hands to activate their powers are parodies of those characters.

Gen V characters

• Luke Riordan / Golden Boy — The Human Torch
  They have similar fire and flight powers and a similar appearance when their powers are activated.
• Emma Meyer / Little Cricket — Ant-Man/Giant-Man
  She has powers similar to Ant-Man/Giant-Man’s ability to change his size. However, unlike him, she has to vomit out her stomach contents to shrink herself, and eat food to enlarge herself.
• Shehemoth — She-Hulk
  Shehemoth is a blatant spoof of She-Hulk, cousin of the Hulk. They share the same “She” prefix in their names, as well as having similar powers and appearances (except for Shehemoth's blue skin).

Answer 2

As mentioned by Paulie_D, yes The Boys parodies the entire idea of superheroes being shown as all ideal and good who will save us all in time of need as said Eric Kripke (show developer) in this interview.

Now, The Boys TV show is inspired from the comics of the same name where, as mentioned in Wikipedia, Darick Robertson (co-creator of the comics) acknowledges that The Seven is indeed a parody of DC's Justice League.

As for Marvel, there seems to be no official statement (your question should have been more like "Is there any official statement from showrunners or comic creators about superheroes parodying Marvel?"). There has been only fan speculation. For example, you will find a list of similar The Boys supes and Marvel supes here. However, it says "hardcore fans of The Boys, who have been following the narrative from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's comic book days, have drawn similarities". It is not official.

Similarly, Eric Kripke has announced that there will be a spin-off show based on G-Men who were a team in The Boys. Anyone who reads about G-men will notice the strong parallel between G-men and X-men but again, there is no official word about it.

Answer 3

They tend to copy powers but then diametrically change some aspect.

Lamplighter is Pyro played by the actor who was Iceman in the films, and instead of starting on the "good" side and joining the bad he starts working for Vought and then joins the Boys, however briefly.

Doppleganger was Mystique, except instead of a sultry woman he's a dumpy looking guy.

Ezekiel is Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic except instead of being a famous scientist he's a religious nut.

Gecko is Deadpool with a massive healing factor.

Blindspot is Daredevil... probably not anymore after his meeting with Homelander though.

There is also an unidentified shrinking hero who does that "dive" into a woman's nether region in the first episode who could be Ant Man.

Answer 4

Pop Claw was very similar to Wolverine, or X-23. There's also the upcoming portrayal of "Soldier Boy" by Jensen Ackles, who is pretty clearly a copy of Captain America. In the comicc. There may be some others, but these stand out the most to me.

Answer 5

The comic's co-creator stated in an interview that they weren't parodying a specific superhero, but rather the archetypes that they represent.

When I couldn’t quite get a face I was happy with, I discovered Simon Pegg in “Spaced” and worked his likeness into the book for Wee Hughie. The Seven were meant to be allegories for all the big mainstream superheroes, but we were making fun of the archetypes more than individual specific characters. We had a speedster, an underwater guy, a white patriotic-themed leader… and I hewed towards those propagandistic icons to bring out the sinister element at the root of the Seven in the Boys world, which in Ennis’ imagination, was meant to simply be our world as it is, no magical cities, no alien rockets from space with babies inside, but just the actual real world, if it had superpowered beings in it.

_{^{Interview with comic book illustrator Darick Robertson}}

There are plenty of 'speedster' superheroes so having a speedster on the team doesn't (necessarily) mean that they're parodying The Flash or Quicksilver or whoever.

Answer 6

Soldier Boy's entire team was originally a parody of the Avengers, with Soldier Boy himself being Captain America. There was also a parody of Iron Man, Thor, Wasp, and the Scarlet Witch.

Some of these were changed dramatically when the property was translated for television. For example, Stormfront was originally a parody of Thor, but has been changed significantly for TV.