Warning! Spoilers ahead for The Boys' comic series!While the Seven largely serves as the central antagonists of Avengers. In the same way that the Seven serves as the 'Justice League' of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's grim world, the second-rate team Payback are the stand-in for the Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
The team doesn't feature as much as the Seven, but they're just as much a parody of familiar characters as their rival Supe organization. They all have unique spins on the power set of the most famous Avengers and, as is The Boys' way, they all meet spectacularly gruesome ends. Read on to learn more of each member of Payback, the hero they lampoon and the bloody fate they all meet.
Tek Knight Makes Iron Man Look Like a Saint
A founding member of Payback, Tek Knight, aka Robert Vernon, serves as the Iron Man of The Boys’ universe. Like Tony Stark, Vernon has no powers of his own to speak of, but he does possess a hi-tech suit of armor that allows him flight and enhanced strength as well as the ability to emit electromagnetic pulses. While the Supe isn’t as evil or morally deficient as other Supes in the world, Tek Knight suffers from a proclivity to engage in spontaneous sex with any object or person in his nearby vicinity. After having his compulsions revealed to the press, Tek Knight is killed after having his head crushed by a wheelbarrow full of bricks.
Soldier Boy Is No Captain America
Like the Captain America of the Marvel Universe, The Boys’ version of the star-spangled hero fought in both World War II and the modern-day hero community. However, unlike Steve Rogers, who was frozen and later thawed out in the future, Soldier Boy is actually a legacy title that Vought-American sold to the public as being one person. The original Soldier Boy of The Boys was a member of a group known as the Avenging Squad, the first hero team pioneered by Vought. With enhanced strength and durability, Soldier Boy was the leading force in destroying enemy tanks. That is, until he caused a massacre of American soldiers and was killed by Greg Mallory as a result.
The more modern Soldier Boy is far weaker than his predecessor, not to mention much more cowardly, soiling himself whenever confronted by powerful Supes such as his teammate Stormfront. Soldier Boy faces off against Billy Butcher, only to be kidnapped, tortured for information and subsequently killed.
Crimson Countess: The Boys' Dark Scarlet Witch
CIA group the Boys. After nearly killing Hughie and later, Billy Butcher’s dog Terror, Butcher strangled the Supe with his own belt until her neck broke.
Mind-Droid: The Sham Vision of The Boys
Speaking of Crimson Countess, one can't discuss The Boys' version of Scarlet Witch without discussing the story's oddball take on the Vision. While Marvel's hero has a wide range of powers, Mind-Droid is relatively tame by comparison. He can only fly with a jetpack, has a limited range of telepathy and possesses a meager power suit. It should also be noted that While the Vision is a true android, Mind-Droid's reputation as a robot is nothing but Vought-American stories sold to the public like the rest of the Supes' fanciful backstories. While the Vision is arguably one of the Avengers' most powerful heroes, Mind-Droid is almost certainly one of its weakest, submitting to Billy Butcher’s brutality and begging for forgiveness. After Butcher and his team turn the tables on Payback, Mind-Droid begs for his life before Butcher decapitates him with a shovel.
Stormfront is The Boys' Absolutely Twisted Take on Thor
If there’s any hero more reprehensible than The Boys' central antagonist Homelander, it’s Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s take on Thor. While Marvel’s God of Thunder is a noble warrior for justice and founding Avenger, Stormfront is The Boys’ first Supe created using Compound V and a virulent white supremacist. He’s also one of the series’ most powerful Supes, not only able to fly, possess enhanced strength and durability, but manipulate the weather, particularly electricity. However, despite his immense powers, the hero was shown not to be able to withstand brute force. After a dramatic confrontation with the Boys, as well as the communist Supe Love Sausage, Stormfront was killed after he was collectively stomped to death, with Butcher getting in the killing blow by crushing his skull.
Eagle the Archer: A More Ridiculous Version of Hawkeye
Arguably the most glossed-over hero in the history of after the Hawkeye parody flew into a plane with his remains being crushed by a Nazi tank.
Swatto Has a Smaller Presence Than Ant-Man Ever Did
The last member to evolve out of Vought-American's WWII-era Avenging Squad is Swatto, the successor to the Buzzer. In a similar vein to Marvel's Ant-Man, Swatto is insect-themed, taking his cue from flies rather than ants and can manipulate his size as well. He also possesses the ability to fly, though he has difficulty communicating with his teammates due to the fact that he only speaks in buzzing noises. Swatto’s meager place in The Boys comes to an end when he dies off- after Billy Butcher kills him with a pickaxe through the mouth.
Payback doesn't get the lion's share of attention in The Boys, but of all the deaths in the series, the Avengers pastiches meet some of the most disturbing ends.
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