Warning: spoilers for The Boys Season 5 ahead.

Who are the Teenage Kix?

If you have followed The Boys for any length of time, the name Teenage Kix probably sounded familiar long before Season 5 gave them a proper introduction. In Episode 2, the series finally puts Vought’s teenage supe team on screen in full, which is fitting, since Vought clearly believes no form of exploitation should be left unbranded.

Teenage Kix are essentially Vought International’s junior superhero squad. They are the company’s answer to a younger, shinier version of the Seven, and the show’s way of riffing on teams like DC’s Young Justice and Teen Titans, plus Marvel’s Young Avengers and Runaways.

As with the Seven, the lineup shifts depending on who Vought wants to push at the moment. Earlier seasons already established that A-Train used to be part of the team, and so did his late ex-girlfriend Popclaw. Season 4 also showed Ryan being offered a spot, because apparently no one in this universe is ever allowed a normal childhood.

By Season 5, the team on display includes Countess Crow, Sheline, Jetstreak, and Rock Hard. Their day-to-day work mostly involves selling Vought merchandise on TikTok and helping round up Starlighters headed for the company’s so-called Freedom Camps. Charming stuff.

The current Teenage Kix lineup

Countess Crow

Countess Crow is played by Never Have I Ever actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. Vought introduces her through branded social media content that leans hard into gothic aesthetics, because nothing says authenticity like a focus-grouped dark vibe.

She is used to promote products such as Black Noir’s eyeliner while maintaining a tightly controlled online image. Her powers revolve around crows, which she can communicate with and command. She used to control a larger flock, but now only two birds remain, Russell and Cameron. She sends them to scout targets and attack when needed.

Sheline

Sheline, played by Bet star Emma Elle Paterson, is another Vought-friendly content machine. She appears in promotional clips for low-calorie drinks and wellness products, which is exactly the sort of cheerful nonsense you would expect from a company with a superpowered labor force.

Her abilities are tied to cats. She has enhanced strength and agility, along with retractable claws that help her leap into combat. The show also gives her a few more, shall we say, distinctive feline traits, including coughing up furballs and using a giant litter tray.

Jetstreak

Jetstreak is played by Dare Me actor Dylan Colton. Like the others, he shows up regularly in Vought-sponsored material, including promotions for Firecracker’s Flaming Freedom Sticks, which are basically the show’s version of Hot Cheetos with a side order of propaganda.

Jetstreak helps with the Starlighter roundup effort and can fly, which makes him useful to Homelander’s regime. The series has not fully revealed whether he has additional powers, but given this universe’s habit of overdoing everything, that probably should not be ruled out just yet.

Rock Hard

Rock Hard is the team’s most physically striking member, mostly because his body is made entirely of rock-like material. He has enhanced durability, and his other defining feature is that he ejaculates lava, which is as unpleasant as it sounds and apparently also the source of his bulk.

Each time he releases lava, it creates new rock material, like a very unhelpful volcano. The character looks like a clear satire of Marvel’s Ben Grimm, also known as The Thing, because subtlety has never been Vought’s strong point either.

How Teenage Kix fit into The Boys comics

In Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comics, Teenage Kix are a relatively minor Vought-American team built to feel youthful, rebellious, and marketable to teenagers. In other words, they are the kind of group that exists because a brand team once said “What if the kids were into superheroes, but worse?”

The comic version is immature and reckless, with a reputation for ugly behavior behind the scenes. That eventually draws the attention of the Boys, who investigate the team as part of their wider effort to expose Vought’s corruption.

That investigation leads to one of the group’s more significant storylines. The Boys collect evidence of the team’s misconduct and confront them directly, and the situation escalates into a violent fight. During the clash, member Blarney Cock is accidentally killed.

The comic lineup includes:

  • Big Game - the team’s leader, with enhanced strength and the ability to fly
  • Dogknott - a dog-like supe who has already appeared in the TV series, though the live-action version looks different
  • Gunpowder - a gun-obsessed supe whose powers are not fully detailed in the comics, and who has also appeared on the show in a different form
  • Jetstreak - a supe with superhuman strength, while the TV version also gives him flight
  • Popclaw - a supe with retractable claws and enhanced strength, the only woman in the comic lineup, and A-Train’s girlfriend in Season 1 of the show
  • Whack Job - a violent, unstable member with enhanced strength and electrokinesis

Where things stand now

The Boys has never been especially interested in following the comics beat for beat, and this is one more reminder of that. The Prime Video series borrows ideas, names, and occasional shock value, then wanders off in its own direction. Homelander and Soldier Boy are not even related in the source material, which tells you everything you need to know about the level of adaptation fidelity here.

Still, the show enjoys dropping in comic-book supes as Easter eggs for readers, such as Tek Knight’s "sidekick" in Season 4. Teenage Kix now join that list, except this time they are not just a quick joke in the background.

The first two episodes of The Boys Season 5 are streaming on Prime Video now, with Episode 3 due on April 15. If you are still keeping score, the apocalypse is apparently only getting started.