Despite himself being an adept superhero comics writer in the earlier days of his career, the ever-increasing popularity of the said genre has always irritated Garth Ennis, who holds the opinion that both comics and media have been getting saturated by the influx of stories regarding caped avengers. So in a way, The Boys, initially published by one of the imprints (Wildstorm) of DC Comics itself (the irony), was a hit piece against the dominance of the genre, a series that was chock fu tropes, perverted subversions, and Parody of iconic characters. The small-screen adaptation of the comic series of the same name on Amazon Prime goes a step further when it comes to poking fun at existing superhero media and indirectly alludes to other franchises in a pejorative way. Therefore, it is little to no wonder that the spin-off series Gen V will attempt something similar as well.
In the last three seasons, The Boys has already introduced us to deplorable versions of Superman and Captain America in the form of Homelander and Soldier Boy, characters who have quickly become fan favorites. In the fourth episode of Gen V, titled The Whole Truth, viewers meet Tek Knight, aka Robert Vernon, a superhero with ultra-sensory perception powers who is going to play a significant role in The Boys universe in the future. Let us take a look at the character’s comic origin, presentation in the series, and future possibilities regarding his appearance in the fourth season of The Boys.
Spoilers Ahead
Comic Origin Of Tek Knight
In the comics, Tek Knight is a mantle of sorts, and the previous versions of the character were known as Steel Knights. Tek Knight was known as the leader of the superhero team Payback, the same team that debuted in the third season of The Boys. The current individual to take up the mantle, Robert Vernon, is one of the very few superheroes in The Boys universe who lacks powers due to not taking compound V. Instead, Vernon has used his genius intellect to create gadgets, advanced tech suits, and vehicles in pursuit of crimefighting along with his sidekick Laddio. One of Vernon’s former sidekicks became an independent vigilante hero known as Swingwing, and Vernon himself was romantically involved with a supervillain named Talon. In a way, the Tek Knight is an amalgamation of Batman and Iron Man.
Tek Knight is also one of the very few heroes in The Boys universe who didn’t actively misuse their superpowers for personal gain or depravity, and according to Billy Butcher, was a decent individual. Unfortunately, being a satirical series, finding an all-around normal superhero in The Boys universe is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack, and Tek Knight has a shortcoming so severe it easily makes him one of the most disgusting comics characters ever. Due to a growing tumor in his head messing up with his brain, Tek Knight later starts suffering from uncontrollable sexual urges and starts engaging in depraved acts with basically anything and everything, especially inanimate objects. In his defense, Tek Knight is compelled to engage in these deplorable acts due to his psychosis and not of his own will, but that hardly matters, to be honest. The character met an untimely end while hallucinating about saving the Earth from an oncoming asteroid by destroying it by getting it on with it, but in reality his death was caused by falling from a great height.
How Did Gen V Represent The Character?
The presence of Tek Knight was previously mentioned in all three seasons of The Boys on different occasions. In the first season, it was revealed that Vernon rescued a woman from a hostage situation but accidentally cracked her spine in the process, thereby paralyzing her for life. Deep had mentioned Tek Knight’s vehicle Knightracer in the same season as well, noting the high carbon footprint of the advanced automobile. In the second season, former Vought CEO Stan Edgar mentioned the hero as well, revealing that unlike its comics counterpart, this version of Tek Knight is closely associated with Vought International.
The first three episodes of the series quickly established the murder mystery of Brink at the hands of Golden Boy, a top-ranking student of SUPE training at Godolkin University, along with his own death after he took his own life in guilt. Although Vought and the university trustee/administration board are desperate to cover up the situation, there is another angle to the case that is being publicized by Vought itself. The series version of Tek Knight has his own TV show titled ‘The Whole Truth’, a real-life investigation reality show where Vernon acts as the lead investigator in high-profile crime cases, especially suicide-related ones. The series version of Tek Knight has compound V-induced enhanced powers of perception, unlike his powerless counterpart from the comics, which he uses to full effect to interrogate suspects and observe his surroundings for clues—almost like Sherlock Holmes and Marple. In fact, Vernon’s method of interrogation and deduction is so fool proof and severe that he has mentally broken a few of the culprits in the past, and his reputation is feared by even tough cookies like God U dean Indira Shetty. From the conversation between her and Vernon, it is revealed that he is not too dissimilar from the psychotic supes at the Seven, as he has beaten a few of his adversaries to death as well.
Himself an alumni of the institute, Tek Knight arrives at God U, and his reputation is duly justified by the way he systematically deduces Marie’s lies about taking credit for Jordan’s heroics and Andre and Cate’s secret affair that continued even before Luke’s demise. Vernon even learns about the reason for Luke’s psychotic outburst and the fact that his mentally unstable, super powerful brother, Sam Riordan, has escaped from the Woods—and tries to pin the blame on God U dean, Indira. However, Indira counter-blackmails him with evidence of Vernon’s unusual proclivity—his urge to have sex with anything that resembles a hole. (In hindsight, his show name ‘The Whole Truth’ seems justified.) She knows about Vernon’s brain tumor causing the bizarre sexual depravity, and as she threatens to leak video footage of his activities with inanimate objects all around, Tek Knight has no option but to simply cover up the case through his own show as well.
Will Tek Knight Eventually Join The Seven?
Gen V reveals that unlike the comics version of the character, the live-action version of Tek Knight desires to be one of the prestigious members of the Seven and has been rejected multiple times as well. The character hasn’t been introduced merely for a single episode appearance in Gen V, as in season four, the casting of The Boys, Tek Knight, is supposedly a series regular as well. With the Seven already short staffed due to the deaths of Black Noir, Queen Maeve, and Starlight, Vought is desperate to fill the seats, which is why Golden Boy was given a seat previously without having to go through any form of selection test. Along with a God U young super joining the ranks of the Seven, Tek Knight can very well be considered an option given that he is already an established superhero in his own right. Plus, given his distasteful tendencies, he will fit right into the deplorable superhero team as well. If that eventually happens, we can only chuckle at the thought of two of the biggest perverts, Homelander and Tek Knight, having a conversation or even locking horns with each other.
