With its explicit plot and characters, the recent Amazon TV series The Boys—which is, of course, an adaptation of the Boys comics—has so far enjoyed popularity. Both the tale of Soldier Boy, who in the comics is more like a mantle that is handed on to many, and the story of Black Noir, who in the comics was just a clone of Homelander, have been depicted masterfully.
We all know that Queen Maeve is being held captive by Homelander as a result of his discovery of her connections to William Butcher, as per the prior episodes. Even though the series deviated from the comics in terms of its iterations and story twists, a confrontation between the two superhumans is eagerly anticipated.
In the most recent video, we get a peek of Starlight combating Soldier Boy, and if you look closely, you can also see Queen Maeve combating Homelander. The great conclusion might feature a brawl between the two characters, as also occurred in comic books, followed by Queen Maeve’s tragic demise.
Homelander revealed in episode 7 that he intended to use Queen Maeve’s egg to make the ideal superhero, but with a show like The Boys, everything is possible. The rivalry between the Homelander and Queen Maeve, who were formerly a relationship in the comics, as well as Queen Maeve’s demise, will be explained in today’s film. So let us start.
SHOWN AS A VERY RUDE AND NUMB CHARACTER IN THE BEGINNING
Queen Maeve, as shown in the TV series, is a character that has mostly been in depression and alcoholism. She has been a member of the Seven and the love interest of Homelander in the past. The comics also had the same story, but there, Queen Maeve was a numb and rude character. She was aware of the abuse Homelander inflicted and did not care until it concerned her interest.
In ‘The Boys’ comics issue 3, published on the 4th of October, 2006, we get a glimpse of how nonchalant she is towards Homelander’s victims. The story begins with Starlight’s recruitment to the Seven. She is happy and excited to see Homelander as he welcomes her to the Seven’s flying base. Homelander has always been her favorite superhero since childhood and working alongside him is like a dream come true.
As Starlight fangirls about Homelander and his proposed ideology about peace, Homelander takes her to the Seven’s meeting room and says that she needs to pass one more test. Much to Starlight’s horror, Homelander pulls down his pants and asks for a blowjob. He is soon joined by Black Noir and A-train who also seem to be present for the same purpose. Homelander tells her that they are not going to force her, but if she keeps any hopes of being a permanent member of the Seven, she needs to gratify them sexually. The persuasion made her complete the act, following which she runs into the washroom and pukes.
As she leaves, she finds Queen Maeve fixing her make-up. Starlight, happy to see a female member, seeks support as she keeps on repeating how much she admires Queen Maeve. However, Queen Maeve responds coldly and asks her to ‘Fuck off’ which reveals that she is aware of what had happened and has no compassion for her. In the recent animated anthology ‘The Boys: Diabolical’ episode 3, ‘I’m Your Pusher’ we also get an idea of her nature when she quickly tricks everyone into an alien attack as a distraction from the death of two popular superheroes – Great Wide Wonder and Ironcast.
TOXICITY IN HOMELANDER’S PAST RELATIONSHIP WITH
Homelander and Queen Maeve were once together, after which they split up, as we all know what Homelander is. Although in the TV series, we saw Homelander’s control over Queen Maeve and how she was tortured when he found out that she was bisexual, it’s nothing compared to what she faced in the comics. Apart from the split up, there were many occasions where Queen Maeve was abused, exploited, and tortured.
The Boys comic issues 56 to 58, which belonged to ‘The Big Ride’ story arc, gave us an insight into the abuse Queen Maeve went through for Vought and Homelander. The story begins with the death of a transgender prostitute working under Dr. Peculiar. Dr. Peculiar was the parody of Marvel’s Dr. Strange and a supplier of drugs and prostitutes for superheroes. William Butcher and Hugie arrive at Dr.Peculiar’s residence to question the other prostitutes present. All hints were directed toward Jack from Jupiter being the culprit, but Dr. Peculiar had no option but to let the two search documents for clues as without the case being solved, her business would see ruins.
William and Hugie come across the file of Queen Maeve, which reveals that she had visited Dr.Peculiar a dozen times for abortion. Hugie kept the file with him, and later that night, he planned on going through them. There were transcripts showing the conversation of Queen Maeve and obnoxious pictures of hers. The transcripts revealed how Homelander abused her and even tricked her into having sex with Black Noir as they shared similar physical attributes.
Upon realizing what Homelander made her do, Queen Maeve lost her mind and thoroughly abused Homelander for his doing. With no sense of remorse or guilt, Homelander humiliates her and probably chokes her to make her apologies. The conversation ends with Homelander threatening to kill Queen Maeve if she ever lays a hand on him. The transcripts even made Hugie disturbed.
MAEVE BECOMES A SPY/INFORMANT
Following the Black Noir incident, Queen Maeve finally decided to take a stand against Homelander. However, taking a stand against an egomaniac, twisted, and ultra-powerful superhero-like Homelander is not easy and so she becomes an informant for the Boys. The TV series showcased how Queen Maeve supplied William Butcher V-24, the drug which granted superhuman abilities for a day.
She also helped the boys track down the Soldier Boy case, believing that the Russians had a weapon that took down Soldier Boy and could also do the same for Homelander. However, in the comics, Queen Maeve’s role as a spy was different. She helped the boys led by William Butcher to install several bugs at the Seven headquarters.
There isn’t any direct conversation between the two but in issue 60 Queen Maeve is shown to have William’s devices or bugs which he had planned to fix in the Seven’s headquarters, clearly indicating that the last time she met Butcher, he had handed it over to him.
HOMELANDER FINDING OUT ABOUT THIS
In issue 63 of the Boys Comics, Starlight had decided to quit the Seven and so is seen packing her belongings. She never supported the evil motives of Homelander and has finally decided to leave the vicious and reckless team. Queen Maeve meets her and escorts her out of the Seven headquarters when Homelander and Black Noir stop them. Homelander knows about Queen Maeve’s betrayal and is not going to let the two of them leave.
Queen Maeve gets a grip of Starlight and throws her out of the building. She attacks Homelander with her Sword, which breaks off easily. Homelander calls her stupid and tells her the Sword has always been a prop, followed by beheading her. Although she died easily, her sacrifice gave Starlight the time necessary to escape. This is how Queen Maeve died in the comics.
CONCLUSION
Queen Maeve is a parody of DC’s Wonder Woman but definitely not as mighty as her. Wonder Woman could inflict crucial blows and punches at Superman, but Queen Maeve failed to even land a scratch on Homelander. However, she has gone through a lot of abuse and exploitation one could ever think of. She was turned into a laughing stock at Vought and was throughout into severe depression and alcoholism.
She was tortured both physically and emotionally by Homelander and even humiliated for being bisexual. Queen Maeve’s character changes gradually through the comics. We see her transit from a casual, carefree superhero to a bit more sensitive one who finally sacrifices her life to save Starlight. Her death in the final episode is highly anticipated, and we are all waiting to see her fight with Homelander.