This is an important tweak from the original comic series. Created by Garth Ennis and co-created by Darick Robertson, Dynamite’s The Boys is a brutal takedown of the genre that focuses more on the gruesome impact of superheroes. In retrospect though, Ennis has expressed some very specific regrets about the structure of the original comic and its portrayal of certain characters. Luckily, The Boys‘ characters adaptations have been doing a terrific job working to remedy these problems.

Amazon’s The Boys Totally Changed Becca’s Death

The Boys rectified one of Garth Ennis’ biggest regrets in the original series by giving specific female roles like Becca a greater sense of character depth. Becca is long dead by the opening of The Boys comic, killed when the super child she was impregnated with tore through her body. Becca’s role in the story is rooted in motivating Butcher. This makes Becca an example of the “Women in Refrigerators” trope, wherein female characters are assaulted or killed primarily to motivate a male character. By contrast, her on-screen equivalent gets more agency and personality by surviving into the modern day.

The decision to spare Becca her comic fate in the show makes particular sense given the regrets that Garth Ennis has for the comics’ treatment of some of its female characters.

In Prime’s The Boys, Becca has a chance to be a real character instead of a plot device. She gets to showcase her inner strength by defending her son from Stormfront. This protective act leads to her death, which serves a much more important storytelling purpose than just giving Butcher motivation. Although her story remains tragic and still ends in her death, Becca comes across as a fully rounded character. This change in the story gives her agency in her own story — with her demise coming as a result of her heroic actions rather than just being a victim.

The Boys Creator’s Comic Regret Explains Becca’s Survival In The TV Show

The decision to spare Becca her comic fate in the show makes particular sense given the regrets that Garth Ennis has for the comics’ treatment of some of its female characters. Becca’s death in the comics is specifically compared to the loss of Hughie’s girlfriend Robin, giving Hughie and Butcher the same kind of motivating fury to go after the Seven. However, the abrupt nature of Robin’s demise at the beginning of the series prevented the character from getting any genuine depth, similar to how Becca’s demise stopped her from getting much of a personality.

While Ennis would later give Becca a greater focus in the epilogue story The Boys: Dear Becky, the legendary comics creator acknowledges the mistakes in The Boys. In commentary included for The Boys Omnibus Vol. 6, Ennis reflects on the original outline for the series and notes that while he worked hard to give Becca a greater sense of character following her demise, he failed to do so with Robin. Ennis dislikes the Women in Refridgerator trope and has worked to make up for this by developing Starlight as a fully fleshed-out character while giving Becca more focus in Dear Becky.

How The Boys TV Show Is Fixing The Comic Book’s Mistakes

The Boys series on Prime has followed through on Ennis’ intentions, making many female characters more well-rounded and complex than they were in the comics. Starlight was one of the comic’s most compelling characters, and she has received a larger focus in the TV series. Maeve was reimagined with a more complicated romantic life and a greater sense of heroism. Known only as the Female in the comics, Kimiko has been given a great deal more personality and agency in the TV show. The one-note villain Stormfront from the comics was reimagined as a uniquely horrifying female villain.

This even extends to the greater universe of The Boys. The spin-off series Gen V places female characters like Cate front and center, while overarching threats like Victoria Neuman serve far more important roles in the overall story than her male counterpart in the comic. This trend is set to continue in the upcoming The Boys season 4. Ennis’ regret over the treatment of female characters in The Boys is being addressed by the TV series of the same name, providing them with a greater sense of personality and purpose in the story.