Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Boys season 4, episode 7!
Summary
The Boysseason 4, episode 7 introduces a brand new villain, one that is a blatant copycat from the showSupernatural.The Boysis known for taking superhero tropes and putting an interesting spin on them.The Boysseason 4 attempted to do this again with a common power from superhero comics, but it turned out not to be all that original, as this take onThe Boysseason 4’s new villain has already been pulled off in a similar fashion inSupernatural.
Almost every major superpower that can be thought of has some kind of presence in Amazon Prime Video’s acclaimed superhero series, with each new season ofThe Boysintroducing new supes with new powers. However, these powers almost always have a terrifying, gory, or sexual twist, and the same can be said for a new supe that has been introduced inThe Boysseason 4, episode 7.
The Boys' Shapeshifter Sheds Their Skin, Just Like Supernatural’s Shapeshifters
The Boys Didn’t Beat Supernatural To The Punch
The Boysseason 4, episode 7 introduces a new shapeshifter villain, one that acts very similarly to the shapeshifters fromSupernatural. InThe Boys, the shapeshifter first has to make physical contact with its target, gaining the ability to transform into the character. Then, the shapeshifter has to choose to take this new form and subsequently rip the old skin off, with the new form being revealed as the old skin is shredded.This gory method of shapeshifting fits in with the tone ofThe Boys, but it actually may have been lifted fromSupernatural.
Supernaturalalso features a race of shapeshifters who, rather than simply morphing into their new forms, also have to shed their old skins in order to show off their new ones. While this could just be a coincidence, it is important to note that Eric Kripke created bothSupernaturalandThe Boys, meaning that these similarities were probably known when creating the new season 4 villain.The BoysandSupernaturalhave had a lot of overlapping elements, and the rules of each show’s shapeshifting characters is just another example of this.
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The Eyes Give Away The Shapeshifters In Both The Boys & Supernatural
They Share The Same Visual Weakness
The method of shapeshifting isn’t the only thing thatThe Boys' andSupernatural’s shapeshifters have in common, as their tells are also very similar. InThe Boys, shapeshifters look almost identical to the original people they are copying. However, there is a way to tell that they are shapeshifters, with that being the weird eyelids.The shapeshifter has grey eyelids that blink in a strange way, with this being what gives away the fact that Starlight is a shapeshifter inThe Boysseason 4, episode 7.
Meanwhile, thepowerful shapeshifter creatures fromSupernaturalwork in a similar fashion. When appearing on camera or in videos,Supernatural’s shapeshifters feature eyes that have a golden appearance, making them stand apart from normal humans. This is how the characters and audience are able to tell who a shapeshifter is inSupernatural, with these uncanny eyes being another similar element across both Eric Kripke TV show shapeshifters.
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The Boys Also Copies Supernatural’s Shapeshifter Memory Rules
They Have An Even More Important Similarity
The eyes still aren’t the end of the similarities between the shapeshifters inThe BoysandSupernatural, as one important rule is also carried over. Looking like the person that the shapeshifters are copying isn’t the extent of the shapeshifters' transformations, asboth shows also allow their shapeshifters to take on the memories of the person that they are transforming into.Supernatural’s shapeshifters obtain the thoughts and memories of the people that they are kidnapping, allowing them to blend in with their original lives even more seamlessly.
WhileThe Boyshasn’t explicitly confirmed that its shapeshifting villain has the memories of Starlight, it is heavily implied.The Boysseason 4’s new shapeshifting supe uses the term dumpster fire when it is disguised as Starlight, a term that she used earlier in the episode. This implies that the shapeshifter is calling back to something that it knows Starlight previously said, or at the very least it has the verbal tics of the supe that it transformed into. It is possible that future episodes ofThe Boyswill reveal more about how the shapeshifter works, possibly creating moreSupernaturalparallels.
The Boys
Cast
The Boys is a gritty and subversive take on the superhero genre, focusing on a group of vigilantes who confront powerful superheroes abusing their abilities, exploring themes of corruption and moral ambiguity in a world where heroes are not always what they seem.
