It’s astonishing to learn that Garth Ennis planned The Boys’ twist conclusion from the beginning, especially because Preacher’s storyline is the exact opposite.

The Boys comic book series included several extremely disturbing elements, such as graphic violence, an excessive amount of sex, drugs, and overall depravity, but the unexpected ending may have been the most shocking of them. The fact that The Boys’ writer and co-creator, Garth Ennis, really had it planned from the start—something he didn’t do with another one of his critically renowned comic series, Preacher—only serves to enhance that mind-blowing twist.

During an interview with Uncanny Omar, presenter of Near Mint Condition, Garth Ennis was questioned regarding the cohesiveness of Preacher’s plot. Uncanny Omar questioned Ennis on whether he knew how Preacher would finish from the start and whether he had the entire series planned out before he began writing it. In response, Garth Ennis said that he didn’t have a predetermined plan for Preacher when the comic first came out and that it came in “fits and starts,” which was significantly different from The Boys, he added.

According to Ennis, The Boys’ concept was essentially that “superheroes are bastards and they need a slap and these are the guys who are going to do it.” He acknowledged that The Boys was “simpler” than Preacher. And that concluded things. Ennis goes one step further, though, and discloses that even the smallest elements in The Boys were planned out well in advance. “The book’s overall plot and resolution were predetermined from the beginning.”

The Boys’ Most Shocking Twists, Explained

The Boys #65-#72 by Garth Ennis and Russ Braun

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“While The Boys does have a definitive ending, there are multiple storyline conclusions that could have acted as series finales, each one containing a pretty significant twist – and it started with The Boys #65.”

In The Boys #65, fans are struck with the shocking realization that Black Noir was a clone of Homelander the entire time. This was especially startling given that every truly heinous thing Homelander didn’t remember doing, but was shown doing through photo evidence, was actually done by Black Noir in an effort to frame Homelander and manufacture an excuse to kill him (as killing Homelander was the entire reason for Black Noir’s existence).

Those atrocities caught on film were the reason Homelander was so villainous throughout the series, since he didn’t bother being good when he had hard proof that he was seemingly insidiously evil. However, once Homelander discovered that it was really Black Noir, he regretted every evil thing he ever did, and lashed out at Black Noir in a fit of unparalleled rage, all the way up until Black Noir finally did what he was created to do.

Then, only a few issues later, Butcher’s character arc took a major turn as well. Like Black Noir, Butcher was obsessed with killing Homelander, and he did his job as a CIA affiliated member of the Boys well, up until he got that chance. However, after Homelander was killed, Butcher decided that every other supe had to go too. This led to Butcher creating a weapon that would kill every supe in the world once activated. Hughie stopped Butcher before he could activate it, but that doesn’t change the fact that Butcher actively tried to commit genocide.

Garth Ennis Knowing The Boys’ Twists From the Start Reframes the Whole Series

The fact that Garth Ennis knew his characters would complete their arcs in these shocking ways totally reframes the entire series. It’d be one thing if Ennis decided near the end to make Homelander a secret victim of Black Noir, but his Near Mint Condition interview confirms that he knew he wasn’t totally responsible for his own actions all along, making every villainous thing Homelander does throughout the series more than just retroactively tragic, but actively heartbreaking.

Similarly, Butcher’s storyline becomes much less sympathetic when considering that he was always destined to commit attempted genocide against supes. That wasn’t a creative decision made during the series finale, that was the plan from the start. Every supe Butcher allowed to live – or simply neglected to kill – wasn’t spared because he had a sense of dutiful morality or professional ethics, but because he figured they’d all be dead by his hand soon anyway, so why waste the effort at the moment.

Preacher’s Apparent Lack of Pre-Planned Cohesion Isn’t Felt in the Series

It’s interesting that the creative process for Preacher was the exact opposite experience for Garth Ennis than that of The Boys, especially when considering how interconnected Preacher’s storyline was. From the very first issue all the way until the finale, Preacher tells a single story from start to finish without any obvious strays from continuity or in-series retcons to make a certain storyline fit into the wider narrative. Yet, according to Ennis, Preacher went through “fits and starts” behind the scenes, which would imply obvious breaks in continuity, but that was not the case.

Preacher’s storyline is absolutely massive in scale, as it deals with religious cults, undead murderers with the power to kill God, and an angel/demon hybrid capable of altering reality as humans knew it. Not to mention other supernatural entities wandering around, like vampires. Preacher played out as if it was a carefully crafted, interwoven series of complex storylines that had a predetermined end, though Ennis reveals the opposite was true.

Apparently, the interconnectedness of Preacher’s many story arcs into the unified narrative fans know and love today was crafted as it went along. Garth Ennis himself admitted that the ending of Preacher wasn’t even thought up until roughly two years into writing the book. While that’s pretty standard for comic creators, it’s interesting that a story like Preacher wasn’t fully conceptualized before the storytelling actually began, especially given that The Boys was fully developed right from the start.

The Differences Between Preacher & The Boys Proves How Talented Garth Ennis Truly Is

Garth Ennis confirms that he does not have one set way of telling a story. He can either have everything planned out ahead of time before executing it to perfection, or he can run with a cool idea knowing that he’ll be able to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. The creative processes behind Preacher and The Boys being so different just proves how talented Garth Ennis truly is, as both were given endings fans won’t soon forget, despite getting there in completely opposite ways.

However, it cannot be denied that the pre-planned ending of The Boys did offer fans a truly shocking twist (a few twists, actually) that Preacher did not, despite Preacher’s storyline being more complex than The Boys overall. This behind-the-scenes tid-bit brought to light by Garth Ennis’ Near Mint Condition interview totally redefines The Boys series, as each of those twists were evidently “there from the get-go”.