There is a rather blatant influence from Wonder Woman when it comes to the design of Queen Maeve from the controversial comic book series, The Boys. Since the series is designed to offer a satirical take on the superhero genre, it’s no surprise that the leading woman of DC Comics’ stellar lineup of superheroes would make a twisted appearance courtesy of the minds of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.
There are quite a few similarities between the comic book version of Queen Maeve and her live-action counterpart, who is portrayed by Dominique McElligott in the Amazon Prime adaption of The Boys. As comic book readers and viewers of the show will already know, she is quite a complex and quiet character, though the comics make more of an effort to explain why she is the way she is as well as all that she has been through.
Spoiler warning for Amazon Prime Video's The Boys and the comics.
8 Alcoholism Caused By 9/11
In the comics, The Seven were dispatched to stop a plane on September 11th, only for things to go completely wrong. The plan was in disarray, and Queen Maeve was there to witness it all. As they landed on the plane, she watched a child get sucked out into the sky and then saw Homelander burst the passengers’ eardrums and eviscerate the terrorists with his bare hands.
Sadly, Queen Maeve then had to watch the plane hurtle toward New York City with no ability to stop it. With the screams of the confused and scared passengers haunting her as she was left with no choice but to flee the plane. This moment changed Maeve forever. She took up smoking and heavy drinking and enjoying her time at Herogasm. Maeve's sympathy as a hero died with the people in that tragedy.
7 Briefly Dated Stormfront
In the comics, Stormfront is almost an entirely different character, albeit with some very problematic similarities, such as their bigoted beliefs. The most notable difference is that Stormfront from the comics is a male and someone who, for a brief while, dated Queen Maeve.
In the Amazon Prime show, it is Homelander who has a rather intimate relationship with a female version of Stormfront. Homelander and Stormfront made a villainous pairing. Yet, the comics portrayed a sexual relationship between Queen Maeve and Stormfront. The storyline doesn’t go far and is mainly just a subtle line that she cheated on him.
6 Hughie Killed Her Son
Queen Maeve had a son with The Legend during their time together. When he was born, her son, Blarney Cock, was sent to Ireland before later returning as a Supe. This son was someone who Maeve wanted to distance herself from. It is unknown whether Maeve kept tabs on her son, but knowing Maeve, it's doubtful.
Blarney was revealed to be their lovechild, yet no one cared, mainly because Blarney was a bad person who committed many foul acts on people, himself, and hamsters. Hughie killed Blarney accidentally after his first dose of Compound V and punched him through the body since he did not know the extent of his new strength. Hughie then killed a zombified, resurrected Blarney by snapping his neck.
5 Lack Of Care Or Sympathy
Queen Maeve carries the weight of the guilt for her involvement in the September 11 attacks with her almost every day. The very events that transpired with The Seven changed her, and she has not been the same since. Most of her days are spent uncaring of what The Seven are doing or prioritizing any of her superhero duties.
One of the first moments that shows readers of the comic just how emotionally distant Maeve comes after she finds Starlight in the ladies’ bathroom at The Seven's headquarters. Starlight is crying and vomiting after being assaulted by A-Train, Black Noir, and Homelander. When she approaches Maeve, expecting support, she is simply told to “F off.”
4 Tricked Into Sleeping With Black Noir
One of the many reasons that Maeve betrays The Seven is due to Homelander’s disrespect for her privacy and intimacy. These violations not only include the naked photographs of Maeve that Homelander sent around the executives at Vought-American, but also what he had Black Noir do to her.
The biggest reason that Maeve became an informant can be traced back to a night that was supposed to be spent with Homelander but was actually spent with Black Noir. Maeve was blindfolded and assumed that she was with her boyfriend, Homelander, only to find photographs of herself with Black Noir later on. This disgusting violation of her trust and body was what made her despise Homelander to the fullest extent.
3 Relationship With The Legend
Hughie and Butcher venture to a brothel that is specifically tailored to the needs of Supes. It is filled with all kinds of interesting kinks, all of which are far too taboo to even mention. After some employees encounter a rather foul encounter with Jack from Jupiter, the brothel’s owner allows Butcher into the secret room which contains video footage, pictures, and transcripts of the superhero antics. It wouldn't be surprising if these scenes are different in the live-action show.
Hughie takes it upon himself to sneak home with Maeve’s file without Butcher’s knowledge. In this file, Hughie learns a lot more about Maeve than he first thought. One of the things he learned was that she had been involved with Old Legend, a comic book store owner who knows almost everything about every Supe and is an ally of Butcher.
2 Informant For The Boys
With complete disgust over Homelander’s actions, both as her ex-boyfriend and for the many tragedies he had been involved with, Queen Maeve defects from The Seven to secretly assist The Boys. She acts as an informant, agreeing to plant bugs and cameras around The Seven’s headquarters to provide them with blackmail material for leverage.
Without the initial starting help from Maeve, Billy Butcher and The Boys wouldn’t have nearly as much information as they did on The Seven. They jumped at the opportunity to use Maeve as an informant, and, for many years, she has carried out that role ever since.
1 Her Sacrifice For Starlight
As Homelander further descends into madness, his plans of taking over The White House come ever closer. Homelander used his x-ray vision issues prior, and already discovered that Queen Maeve was the informant they had been looking for, thus, making her the crux of all his problems.
Homelander’s new world order has no use for the Sci-Fi fantasy warrior Queen Maeve or Starlight, and so he attempts to kill them both. Queen Maeve grips Starlight, as if ready to throw her at Homelander as a weapon, but instead tosses her far away into safety, before fighting Homelander with her sword. Sadly, Homelander punches her head clean off, and Starlight flies away. It is her last act and an incredibly noble one to go out on.
Season 3 of The Boys is available now on Amazon Prime Video.