Who is Stormfront? 'The Boys' Season 2’s new addition could be masking dark roots

The Boys Season 2 is showing up just in time to fill the gaps left by summer superhero blockbusters, and along with that comes some character additions like Sean Ashmore as Lamplighter and Aya Cash as Stormfront, the newest member of The Seven. New to Amazon Prime Video’s adaptation, these characters have existed previously in comics so it’s possible that Cash’s new character will look like her comic counterpart and show herself to be a thinly disguised Nazi.

The Boys has been pretty true to its comic characters thus far, but like her comic book moniker, Stormfront’s origins have been kept under wraps. Aya Cash’s take on the character is gender swapped and comes baring a cool side shave and an Instagram account, just a few of what could be some stark changes.

The comic iteration of Stormfront was a member of Payback, a second tier supe group to The Seven. Stormfront’s claim to fame was being one of the first humans turned supe by Compound V when it was given to his mother by the Third Reich. Though he dressed himself up as a resurrected Viking to parade freely in the American public. Stormfront was a willing and eager member of the Hitler Youth who zealously assisted with genocide and continued to favor the Aryan race.

Likely named for the neo-Nazi website, Stormfront was a product of Nazi experiments. Hitler ultimately ordered him to be killed when outliving his use, so he was brought to America by the creator of Compound V to be spared by a new identity and to later join the team at Vought. In the comics, it’s suggested that Compound V slows Stormfront’s aging process, explaining why a Hitler Youth is able to blend in with 21st century adults.  

This wouldn’t be the first time Amazon has explored Nazis coming to America with new identities to create military advantages, as the real-life Operation Paperclip (which did just that) is subject of their Nazi tracking series, Hunters.

Though they’ve mostly portrayed Stormfront as a feminist icon who hates patronizing “girl power,” it seems like “Feminist” might be the Amazon series’ take on “Resurrected Viking,” to mask her true origins. Earlier this year, Entertainment Weekly released the first look at Stormfront’s costume which boasted a belt buckle with a familiar eagle logo. The logo is reminiscent of the one comic book Stormfront bared on his chest plate as direct reference to a Nazi emblem.

Speaking to EW, Cash said:

 “You start off this season thinking she’s one thing and then discover she’s another […] There are quite a few times where you’ll identify with her as an audience member or agree with what she says. I think [those] are the most dangerous people.” Though remaining pretty tight lipped, Cash makes her character sound eerily like she has the traits of a charismatic leader who might be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

Keeping most of the character intros a secret, The Boys’s marketing campaign has spilled a bunch of easter eggs into the social media-verse, including this video meant to look like a guerrilla Instagram live from Stormfront as she steps on set with The Seven.

Though there's not much more to go on than her social media savvy and how threatened Homelander is by her confidence, she lets on just a hint of what might be a preference for the Aryan appearance when she is elated to compliment Homelander’s blue eyes.

Speaking at the Comic-Con: At Home panel, executive producer and show runner, Erik Kripe suggested the show would be tackling issues of white supremacy.

"We're going after white supremacy in season two, we're going after white nationalism in season two, we're going after systemic racism in season two, and all of those things really effing suck.”

Homelander’s use of nationalistic language throughout the fist season suggest these ideas could be tackled in any event, but Kripke’s comments suggest they’re going to up the ante and adding a Nazi to The Seven would do just that. Aya Cash has a robust career in taking on unlikable characters and her energy could be exactly what sells the Nazi hiding in plain sight.

While The Boys has flooded the summer with marketing for their upcoming season, they’ve kept details on new characters under a pretty tight lid. We can’t know for sure how they’ll adapt Stormfront for the 2020 audience, but a few nods, jabs, and Instagram posts suggest we might get that Nazi parading as a superhero all up on our small screens.

The Boys Season 2 drops the first three episodes on Amazon Prime Video on September 4th, 2020 and the remaining episodes will be available weekly until October 9th.