‘The Boys’ offers a helpful reminder of why Homelander turned out the way he did

The world of television has offered viewers a plethora of good and bad TV dads and father figures, but Homelander from the Amazon Prime Video series The Boys got the short end of the stick. Not just once or twice, though, but three times. 

A hilarious tweet seems to be driving some sympathy in the direction of The Seven’s tyrannical overlord by way of spotlighting his three father figures: scientist Jonah Vogelbaum, ruthless businessman Stan Edgar, and biological pa Soldier Boy. 

While kind words are expected of fatherly figures, the trio’s harsh words were highlighted, with Vogelbaum calling him his “greatest failure”, Edgar referring to him as “simply bad product”, and Soldier Boy tagging him a “f*cking disappointment.” 

Homelander would have likely always ended up as the antagonist of the series, but many of his issues actually stem from the lack of love he received from the humans above him. In the third season, Soldier Boy being revealed as Homelander’s sperm donor raised some hopes of a father-son bond, but the former had no intentions of any relationship.

Replies to the tweet have been mixed, as some fans have claimed that daddy issues are not an excuse for his excessive aggression, narcissism, and murder. Others have resonated with the hero, jokingly citing their own issues for their bad behavior.

Homelander has now taken up the fatherly mantle now, taking custody of his biological son Ryan, who has powers of his own. While the superhero has had his share of paternal strife, he does have a close connection to the kid, but things may have taken a turn for the worse at the end of the third season of The Boys.