Is there such a thing as a piece of superhero media being too cynical and too depraved? Yeah, probably, but so long as Eric Kripke and company keep cooking the way they have with The Boys, we can let that slide (at least until James Gunn’s Superman gives the genre a long-overdue breath mint next year).
Anyway, we’ve got two episodes left of season four, and Hughie was just subjected to some stomach-churning BDSM courtesy of Tek Knight and Ashley, after which many of us watching probably made a beeline for the shower and scheduled an appointment with the nearest therapist. The degenerate duo, however, didn’t realize they were doing what they did with Hughie; they thought they were doing it with Webweaver.
So, who is Webweaver in The Boys?
As you’ve probably clocked by the name alone, Webweaver is The Boys‘ answer to Spider-Man, possessing a rough collection of Peter Parker’s famous, web-centric powerset, and a heroin enema addiction in place of a dead uncle. He’s been alluded to throughout the season as a secret informant for the eponymous mercenaries, but episode six, “We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying Here,” is the first time we’ve met him.
As part of their plan to infiltrate Tek Knight’s party (in which Victoria Neuman and most of the Seven are present), Mother’s Milk pays Webweaver a visit, injecting him with a serum that knocks him out under the guise of it being a heroin enema. Webweaver, inexplicably, is on Tek Knight’s guest list.
Hughie then dresses up as Webweaver (full face mask and all), and attempts to blend in with the crowd, only for Tek Knight to eventually take him aside and reveal the reason that Webweaver was invited in the first place. Tek Knight is need of a new sidekick, and the application process involves some pretty nasty BDSM. The ruse is eventually discovered when Hughie is unable to give Webweaver’s safe word, but Annie and Kimiko manage to rescue him before those consequences take shape.
Webweaver also appears in the comics, serving as the Supe that Billy Butcher and Greg Mallory (the equivalent of the show’s Grace Mallory) killed in order to prove to the CIA that their task force was legit. In other words, Webweaver is pretty much the whole reason that The Boys exists in the comics universe.
Season four of The Boys is currently available to stream on Prime Video, with new episodes releasing every Thursday until the season finale on July 18. A fifth season, which will also be its last, has been confirmed.