The Boys season 4, episode 7 introduces a completely new enemy who is a clear knockoff of the show Supernatural.

The Boys is recognized for taking superhero tropes and putting a unique spin on them. The Boys season 4 attempted to do this again with a common power from superhero comics, but it was not really creative, as this take on The Boys season 4’s new adversary has already been done in a similar method in Supernatural.

Almost every major superpower imaginable is represented in Amazon Prime Video’s acclaimed superhero series, The Boys, with each new season introducing new superheroes with new abilities. However, these powers nearly always have a scary, violent, or 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual twist, and the same is true for a new superhero presented in The Boys season 4, episode 7.

The boys’ shapeshifter sheds their skin, just like the shapeshifters on Supernatural.

The boys did not beat Supernatural to the punch.

The Boys season 4, episode 7 features a new shapeshifter enemy that behaves similarly to the shapeshifters in Supernatural. In The Boys, the shapeshifter must establish physical contact with its victim before transforming into the character. The shapeshifter must then decide whether to take this new form and pull off the old skin, revealing the new form as the old skin is torn. This horrific way of shapeshifting suits the tone of The Boys, although it could have been borrowed from Supernatural.

Supernatural also has a race of shapeshifters that, rather than just changing into their new forms, must also shed their old skins in order to display their new ones. While this could simply be a coincidence, it is worth noting that Eric Kripke created both Supernatural and The Boys, implying that these connections were likely considered while developing the new season 4 villain. There have been many similarities between The Boys and Supernatural, and the laws of each show’s shapeshifting characters are just one example.

The eyes give way. The Shapeshifters in Both The Boys and Supernatural

They Have The Same Visual Weakness.

The method of shapeshifting isn’t the only thing that The Boys‘ and Supernatural‘s shapeshifters have in common, as their tells are also very similar. In The Boys, shapeshifters look almost identical to the original people they are copying. However, there is a way to tell that they are shapeshifters, with that being the weird eyelids. The shapeshifter has grey eyelids that blink in a strange way, with this being what gives away the fact that Starlight is a shapeshifter in The Boys season 4, episode 7.

Meanwhile, the powerful shapeshifter creatures from Supernatural work in a similar fashion. When appearing on camera or in videos, Supernatural‘s shapeshifters feature eyes that have a golden appearance, making them stand apart from normal humans. This is how the characters and audience are able to tell who a shapeshifter is in Supernatural, with these uncanny eyes being another similar element across both Eric Kripke TV show shapeshifters.

The Boys Also Copies Supernatural’s Shapeshifter Memory Rules

They Have An Even More Important Similarity

The eyes still aren’t the end of the similarities between the shapeshifters in The Boys and Supernatural, as one important rule is also carried over. Looking like the person that the shapeshifters are copying isn’t the extent of the shapeshifters’ transformations, as both shows also allow their shapeshifters to take on the memories of the person that they are transforming into. Supernatural‘s shapeshifters obtain the thoughts and memories of the people that they are kidnapping, allowing them to blend in with their original lives even more seamlessly.

While The Boys has not directly stated that its shapeshifting villain has memories of Starlight, it is strongly implied. The Boys season 4’s new shapeshifting superhero, disguised as Starlight, uses the word trash fire, which she used earlier in the episode. This means that the shapeshifter is recalling what Starlight previously said, or that it has the vocal tics of the superhero it transformed into. It’s possible that future episodes of The Boys will explain more about how the shapeshifter works, leading to further supernatural connections.