The Boys has been a tremendous hit for Amazon Prime Video with both critics and viewers. One character that has caught the attention of many people is The Deep, played by Chance Crawford. This character continues the show's theme of satirical DC Comics heroes, with The Deep being The Seven’s Aquaman.
Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic, The Boys, to which the hit TV show is adapted, has a rather different version of The Deep from the show. What is consistent between the two iterations is that The Deep is often treated as a joke.
Spoiler warning for Amazon Prime Video's The Boys and the comics.
7 Completely Different Costume
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Out of all the superheroes in The Boys, no one has a costume quite as colorful nor ridiculous as The Deep. Whereas Chance Crawford’s live-action portrayal of The Deep pays more homage to Aquaman’s costume, with the scales and finned gauntlets, the comic’s version of the character does not.
In the comics, The Deep wears a green cape, along with bulky green gloves and, most jarringly, a large and outdated sea diving helmet. There’s a glass window for The Deep to see out of, and open to drink and eat from. His costume is more on the play of Aquaman’s ridiculousness rather than through his powers.
6 No Respect
The Deep is often treated with little respect by both members of his team, The Seven, and members of their rivals, The Boys. The Deep is the subject of other characters’ racism, disregard, and contempt. This is something Ennis and Robertson do well, in showing that behind closed doors from the public, The Seven are even worse than first realized.
The Deep receives the brunt of most verbal abuse and receives little respect from The Seven. One event had him arriving at the Flatiron building to confront The Boys directly at their HQ. Butcher responded by slamming the door in his face and telling him to leave, showing how no one takes him seriously, despite how powerful he is.
5 Aquaman Themed, Not Aquaman
Although The Deep was given a backstory in the comics by Vought-American to be involved with ancient Atlantean curses and the oceans, it could not be further from the truth. The Deep has no connections to the water, and he cannot talk to fish or control the tides.
The Deep is merely a member of The Seven to provide the group with more gimmicks. Much like The Justice League has a speedster, a brooder, and a Superman, The Seven parodies this with The Deep, who is more of an actor with superpowers than Aquaman himself.
4 Power Of Flight
Since this character is more of a parody of a random and generic superhero who has been forced to embrace the title of an Aquaman-esque character, it is no surprise that The Deep holds to one of the most basic powers of them all. The comic Deep, unlike the TV version, can fly.
The fact that this character can fly and can’t do any of the powers associated with Aquaman is just another one of the many jokes Ennis and Robertson portray in their superhero parody.
3 Most Mature Hero
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Out of the members of The Seven, The Deep and Queen Maeve are probably the most mature. Whereas Maeve spends her time in the headquarters, sleeping with bodybuilders and getting drunk, she isn’t directly involved in The Seven’s business. The Deep is more active out of the two, and it's safe to say he won't have an obsession with Fresca.
The Deep does not speak much in the comic, but that is only because the comic does not focus on the character enough. When The Deep does speak, he is very mature and embarrassed by his colleagues. His dialogue is sophisticated and selfish toward his wants, like how much money he gets compared to Maeve, Noir, and Homelander.
2 Refused To Help Homelander’s Coup
As the issues continued to mount in The Boys, Homelander began his secret scheme: a coup. The Supe would secretly meet with other heroes and tell them of his great and gory plan to take over the United States and then the world. One character who was not involved in the plan was The Deep.
Whether this was because The Deep could not be bothered, had morals against it, or was not asked is unclear. Based on the comic, Homelander cared not for The Deep and barely even spoke to him. At the same time, The Deep warned A-Train that they should perhaps leave The Seven as the war continued to mount against Butcher.
1 Part Of A New Superhero Team
At the end of The Boys comic, Butcher had won, in a sense. As Hughie remained, he had taken the lessons of his messed-up mentor and created a safer world for normal people.
American Consolidated attempted to create a new superhero team after the brand of The Seven was impossible to fix. Their new team, True, consisted of an all-white outfit for each member. The Deep was obviously a member, as he sported the same window hole for his diver costume, except this time he wore a cone-shaped hood that resembled that of a Klan member.