The following contains spoilers for The Boys season 4, episode 6, “Dirty Business,” now streaming on Prime Video
Summary
The Boyshas formally introduced their version of Spider-Man in the form of the comically inept informant, Webweaver. Played by Dan Mousseau in the sixth episode ofThe Boysfourth season, Webweaver is a minor player in the overall episode who offers up a suprirising explanation of how Butcher has been able to procure so much intel about Vought and the Seven. A clear parody of Marvel’s most famous hero, Webweaver fits perfectly intoThe Boys castof twisted superheroes.
Notably,Webweaver also serves as the latest example ofThe Boysreimagining charactersand concepts from the original comic of the same name. By tweaking the idea and making it more over-the-top, “Dirty Business” is able to factor Web-Weaver into the overarching narrative of the show while still poking fun at him. Here’s whatThe Boys' Spider-Man parody Webweavercan do, his role in the story, and how he compares to his comics counterpart.
The Boys Season 4’s Massive Joe Kessler Twist Explained
The Boys season 4 introduces Butcher’s old friend, Joe Kessler, but it also throws a curveball when it comes to Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character.
Webweaver’s Powers In The Boys Explained
Webweaver’s Web-Slinging Is A Lot Grosser Than Spider-Man
Webweaver isThe Boys' version of Spider-Man, and he plays a minor but important role in season 4’s sixth episode, “Dirty Business.” Webweaver is encountered early in the episode, with MM forced to deliver and even administer drugs to the Supe as a means of ensuring his assistance. Audiences don’t get a very clear look at Webweaver’s potential in “Dirty Business,” as Hugie ends up impersonating him for most of the episode. The clearest example of his powers are shown to be the spinneret right above his backside that allows him to shoot naturally occurring webs.
This seems to be something he can sometimes lose control of, given the state of his web covered apartment.It’s a grosser version of the natural webbing produced by Tobey Macguire’s version of Spider-Manfrom the Sam Raimi films, further cementing the connection between the parody and the original. His powers also apparently make him tough enough that he needs to take the drugs MM brought for him through his rectal cavity, recalling that inherent opening being a weakspot for Supes as seen in Hughie’s first kill all the way back in season 1.
How Webweaver Parodies Marvel’s Spider-Man
Webweaver Has His Own Version Of Parker Luck
Webweaver works very well asThe Boys' parody of Marvel’s Spider-Man. On a surface level,the character is a dead-ringer for an alternate version of Spider-Man. Both characters wear full body suits and masks that completely cover their face. While the color scheme is different and Webweaver added some spider-looking elements to the mask and body, it’s a clear riff on the Spider-Man costume. However, there are some distinct touches with Webweaver the character that feel attuned to a particularly brutal parody of Peter Parker.
Webweaver is shown to be a young street-level hero, similar to most versions of Peter Parker. He’s a talkative person despite his state, quickly frustrating MM and eventually spraying web onto him.Webweaver’s even got his own version of Parker Luck, the in-universe name for Spider-Man’s frequent bad luck. Webweaver is knocked out by his experience with MM and gets his costume stolen. This allows the Boys to infiltrate an important meeting between the Seven and government leaders, and potentially place the blame if they’re found out on the Vought “hero.”
The Boys Just Admitted 1 Common Story Criticism Is Fair After 4 Seasons
An off-hand joke from a character in The Boys highlights one of the inherent challenges to the show and the story being so rooted in grim danger.
Webweaver Is A Low-Level Vought Hero (& Butcher’s Informant)
Webweaver Is More Important To The Lore OfThe BoysThen We Realized
Other episodes ofThe Boysseason 4 have mentioned Webweaver, setting up his appearance in “Dirty Business.” He was one of the Supes mentioned in “Department of Dirty Tricks,” and he was a playable character in the videogame that Ryan was seen playing in “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here.” This all suggests he was a loyal if low-level superhero who never reached the popularity of the Seven. However, his full appearance in “Dirty Business” reveals his true role in the show.
It turns out thatWebweaver has been one of Butcher’s informants from within Vought, pumping him for information on the Supes. This revelation makes Webweaver a potentially far more important character within the world ofThe Boys. At various points in the series, Butcher and the group have used information they’ve gotten leaked by Vought to spy on the company and set up their missions. It appears that Webweaver was a crucial piece of that puzzle that Butcher kept largely a secret from the others, similar to the way he was quietly important but unseen in the source material.
Webweaver’s Role In The Boys' Comic Books Explained
The Webweaver of Prime Video’sThe Boyshas a completely different role in the story than the original version did in Garth Ennis and Darick Robinson’The Boyscomic series. Webweaver doesn’t even appear in the primary series. Instead, he played a minor but important role inThe Boys: Dear Becky. Released years after the original comics concluded,Dear Beckyserved as an epilogue to the core series that also expanded on Butcher’s relationship with Becky and the origins of the Boys as a unit. It was revealed there thatWebweaver had been an early target of Butcher and Mallory.
His successful death at their hands convinced the government to give the go-ahead to move forward with the Boys. Even then, the character was kept off-panel.His appearances were instead limited to a variant cover, and he didn’t fully appear in the comic itself. It’s a testament to howThe Boyshas taken the original concepts and characters and in many cases remixed them into completely new forms. Webweaver is also notably not the only Webweaver that exists in the world of comics, with a variant of the character Webweaver is parodying actually sharing the same name.
There’s A Real Marvel Character Called Web-Weaver
Marvel’s Web-Weaver Is A Genuine Hero
Introduced in the story “Counterfeit Catwalk” fromEdge of Spider-Verse#5 (by Steve Foxe and Kris Anka),Web-Weaver is one of the variants of Spider-Man across the Marvel multiverse. Cooper Coen is a young hero from Earth-71490 who was bitten by the radioactive spider instead of his best friend/long-time crush, Peter Parker. A relatively recent creation, Web-Weaver played a major role in theEdge of Spider-Verseand subsequent “End of the Spider-Verse” event, before becoming a frequent character in theMarvel Voicesanthology issues.
Beyond the shared inspiration of Spider-Man, the two characters named Web-Weaver couldn’t be more different. The Marvel Web-Weaver has been a fun addition to the Marvel multiverse, whileThe Boys' Webweaver is a much darker, more adult spin on the Spidey mold.The Boystakes the down-on-his-luck vibes of Peter Parker and twists it to fit their comically perverse tone, reimagining the young hero as a dim and self-centered tool for the Boys to use to their advantage. It may not be the most brutal superhero deconstructionThe Boyshas ever done, but it’s certainly going to be one of the more memorable.
The Boys
Cast
The Boys is a gritty and subversive take on the superhero genre, focusing on a group of vigilantes who confront powerful superheroes abusing their abilities, exploring themes of corruption and moral ambiguity in a world where heroes are not always what they seem.
