Marvin (Laz Alonso) is a significant figure within all three seasons of The Boys. However, the show often glosses over his unusual nickname. When we first meet the character, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is attempting to recruit him back onto his famed team of vigilantes. During this exchange, Butcher refers to Marvin as M.M. in reference to his bizarre nickname, Mother’s Milk. When Hughie (Jack Quaid) first meets M.M., he mimics the audiences’ confusion surrounding the character’s namesake, asking: “That’s a…nickname?”. M.M. takes this opportunity to mock Hughie's confusion, sarcastically remarking: “No, my mother actually named me Mother’s Milk”. The character’s strange nickname adds to his memorability – but where did this name come from?
In The Boys, Marvin’s full name is Marvin T. Milk – explaining how the character’s nickname derives from his surname. However, in the original comics, M.M.'s full name is actually Baron Wallis, so Marvin’s namesake is an interesting departure from the comics. While the TV series does not offer a backstory for the nickname, Mother’s Milk has a much deeper history in the comics.
Where did Marvin Milk get his nickname from?
Throughout The Boys, M.M. is portrayed as the backbone of Butcher’s team of vigilantes. While Butcher is often blindsided by the thought of revenge, M.M. is more logical and careful in his decisions – hence why he was initially reluctant to work with Butcher again. Consequently, M.M. is portrayed as the team’s parental figure, always looking out for others and adopting an air of responsibility. Because of M.M.'s parental role in the team, he earned the nickname Mother’s Milk. The TV series also equates the nickname with a sense of purity, demonstrating that Marvin is the ‘purest’, or most level-headed, member of the team. While these are both logical explanations behind the nickname, the comics offer a darker interpretation of M.M.'s namesake.
In the original comics, there was a colossal mishandling of Compound V, causing many of Vought’s workers to become infected with the substance. As The Boys' fans will know, Compound V enhances the human body, and has a possibility to generate extraordinary abilities, or 'superpowers'. During this time, M.M.’s mother worked for Vought International, and consequently became contaminated with Compound V. Because of his mother’s contamination, M.M. was born with traces of the chemical in his system, however this resulted in incredibly dangerous side effects.
M.M. became dependent on his mother’s breast milk as a source of Compound V. He required regular doses of breast milk in order to maintain his powers, and ultimately survive. Eventually, M.M. developed an obsession with his mother’s breast milk – something which transformed into a fetish. This story explains the history behind M. M’s nickname, but also offers an explanation for the character’s hatred towards Vought International. In the comics, M.M. resents the corporation for infecting his mother with Compound V, ultimately causing his embarrassing dependency on breast milk. However, the TV series provides M.M. with an entirely different backstory.
In the show, M.M.’s hatred of Vought stems from his grandfather’s tragic death. In season three, the character revealed that Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) had been responsible for his grandfather’s death, after the supe threw a car into M.M.’s family home.
Unlike the comics, M.M. was not born with Compound V in his system, meaning that he isn’t a supe. In the show, M.M.’s nickname is purely metaphorical, containing no links to the comic's dark backstory. As fans of the TV series will know, M.M.’s breast milk fetish was actually handed over to Homelander (Antony Starr), giving the powerful supe an embarrassing obsession.
Will season 4 provide an explanation behind Marvin Milk’s nickname?
The series has made many alterations from the original comics, so it’s unlikely that M.M.’s nickname will have the same dark backstory attached to it.
However, some fans are speculating that season four will be the perfect opportunity to explain M.M.’s bizarre namesake, believing that the storyline was set up during season three. While M.M.’s resentment of Soldier Boy placed him in the spotlight during season three, fans will just have to wait and see whether season four explores this disturbing meaning behind the character’s infamous nickname.