Captain America Just Reclaimed The Boys’ Mockery of Him

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Captain America/Iron Man #2

With the long-established popularity of Captain America there were bound to be imitations and parodies of the character outside of Marvel Comics, and The Boys’ Soldier Boy is no exception. Soldier Boy is a twisted, cowardly version of Captain America who spews American nationalistic rhetoric to stay in character but doesn’t actually believe a word of what he is saying. The character Soldier Boy is parodying is obviously Captain America, though Captain America just reclaimed The Boys’ mockery of him. 

In Captain America/Iron Man #2 by Derek Landy and Angel Unzueta, Steve and Tony are on a mission while simultaneously discussing what it means to be a hero. During their conversation, the two heroes discuss the Fifty-State Initiative which was a government program to sign one hero to every state. While Iron Man speaks to how that was a terrible idea despite the fact that he championed it for a time. Captain America disagrees, saying it was a good idea but he just didn’t like the governmental oversight involved. In his reasoning for why he liked the idea of the Fifty-State Initiative, Captain America puts his love for his country on full display. 

While discussing the Fifty-State Initiative, Iron Man makes a remark about how no one would want to live in Ohio, let alone be a superhero guarding over the whole state. To Iron Man’s comment, Captain America replies, “I’ve been to Ohio. I really liked it.” Captain America’s thoughts on Ohio just reinforces the fact that he truly does love the country he represents and fights for. In fact, Captain America’s sentiment implies that there isn’t a state within the U.S. that he doesn’t like, and Ohio is absolutely no exception. While Steve Rogers proves his love for America, as shown in this issue, the same cannot be said for The Boys’ parody of Captain America–Soldier Boy. Soldier Boy often calls out the names of random states during a battle in an attempt to show that he is fighting for them. The Boys‘ parody of Captain America puts on the facade that he is an all-American fighter who loves every state across the nation, but his efforts to convey his patriotism are completely disingenuous.

While Soldier Boy is meant to be The Boys’ version of Captain America, he couldn’t be more different from the First Avenger. Soldier Boy is cowardly and does whatever he needs to curry favor of those higher in command than him. For instance, Soldier Boy has committed horrendous murders just to appease Homelander in the hopes that he would earn himself a spot on the Seven. Likewise, he is known to shout the names of states while in combat, their names becoming empty patriotic slogans as opposed to meaningful expressions of national pride. 

While Soldier Boy’s true nature is apparent to comic fans, his cowardly personality is kept well hidden by the higher-ups of Vought. On the surface, and in front of the masses, Soldier Boy is just like Captain America complete with the same over-the-top love for his country and super soldier heroics. The only difference is, Captain America means it when he says he loves America while Soldier Boy just does it because he is told to. After saying that he genuinely liked the state of Ohio, implying that there isn’t a state in the United States he dislikes, Captain America reclaimed The Boys’ mockery of him by actually meaning the pro-American things he says.

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