After 7 Years, The Boys Finally Adapted The Comic Books' First Major Fight
By Published Apr 8, 2026, 4:30 PM EDT Kyle is a senior writer at ScreenRant and has been part of the team for over two years. Having led coverage on The Walking Dead projects alongside Rick & Morty, Kyle is well versed in numerous genres.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Kyle is a passionate journalist who has a keen interest in TV and film. He has six years of experience studying journalism including a HND in Practical Journalism and a BA Honours in Journalism, Media and Communication and History. Alongside his love for TV and film, Kyle enjoys video games, football and Formula 1. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
Warning: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for The Boys season 5, episodes 1 & 2.Despite being based on Garth Ennis' divisive comic series, Prime Video's has made some major deviations from the source material, earning it critical acclaim. Between its more versatile characters, fresh storylines, and plethora of spinoffs, it's safe to say The Boys' TV series is vastly different from the original story.
Often, such big changes can hurt televised projects, but The Boys has found a strong balance between taking inspiration from the comics while also improving on them. As a result, it has made season 5 completely unpredictable, as it's anyone's guess whether the final season will copy the comic ending or forge a different path.
Regardless, are already off to a great start, as the war between Homelander and his supe army vs. The Boys has been captivating throughout the first two episodes. However, while testing their deadly supe virus, the heroes ran into a forgotten team from the comics — Teenage Kix.
Although they didn't play a prominent role in the source material, Teenage Kix were the very first team The Boys ever fought, a stark contrast to their role in the TV show. While the protagonists targeted them as a message to other supes that they were back in business in the comics' early issues, things play out rather differently in season 5.
Here, they act as more of an inconvenience, as the group simply wanted to isolate one Teenage Kix member to test out their virus on, and while it was nice to see even more members added to , watching this squad appear so late into the series was certainly a major surprise.
How The Boys Season 5's Teenage Kix Fight Compares To The Comic Version
Teenage Kix's debut in The Boys season 5 provided an unexpected nod to the comics, but the actual confrontations themselves couldn't have been more different. Firstly, the comic team consists of Big Game, Shout Out, Popclaw, Whack Job, Gunpowder, Dogknott, Jetstreak, and Blarney Cock, with only a handful of these supes featuring in Prime Video's adaptation.
Having successfully blackmailed and exposed Teenage Kix's private activities, The Boys were then approached by the group at the end of issue #5, but the protagonists had already taken Compound V. This led to a straight-up brawl in the following comic, where Hughie accidentally killed Blarney Cock, leading to the rest of the team fleeing in fear.
They showed up again as part of Blarney Cock's funeral, then were never seen again. In the show, pretty much everything about the group is different. Firstly, the team is made up of entirely different supes other than Jetstreak, who lives with Countess Crow, Sheline, and Rock Hard in a Vought-owned house, and they are much more corporate in the adaptation.
The Boys waited until the rest of the group had left before confronting Rock Hard, but since they couldn't move him, they had to go retrieve the virus and bring it to Teenage Kix's house. On the way back, Kimiko fought Sheline while Jetstreak teamed with Soldier Boy to try and stop Hughie.
However, Soldier Boy and Jetstreak walked straight into a trap, leading to them being infected with the supe virus alongside Rock Hard. While Soldier Boy survived, the other two did not, and Countess Crow was able to escape thanks to MM letting her go since he saw the good in her. Sheline's fate was left unknown.
All in all, this team of side villains play small yet vastly different roles in both iterations of the superhero project, and while they were crucial to seeing if using the supe virus, they were arguably more important in the comics, since they gave the heroes their first real victory.
How The Boys' Teenage Kix Fight Sets Up The Rest Of Season 5
Although Teenage Kix acted essentially as fodder for the central heroes, their fight was an integral part of setting up season 5's future. First and foremost, this confrontation provided proof that the supe virus works, meaning The Boys will be looking for a way to lure Homelander into a trap, despite not knowing that Soldier Boy actually survived the infection.
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At the same time, it also confirmed that the team is still very weak against most supes, as Hughie, MM, and Frenchie have no way of defending themselves against even low-tier supes like Teenage Kix. Without Starlight, Kimiko, and Butcher, Hughie would've certainly died during this fight, highlighting just how vulnerable he and the others are.
Still, the fact that they were able to kill off two supes is a sign of where season 5 is going, as The Boys are hellbent on fighting back against Homelander's corruption. Their morality has been much more flexible over the years, and the group is well aware that they are in a kill-or-be-killed situation.
was a reminder that the gloves are off and that Homelander won't be taking prisoners anymore. Therefore, taking down Teenage Kix's more powerful members is the perfect setup for the protagonists to take on bigger and badder threats as The Boys' final season progresses.
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