Possessing the physical appearance and powers of Superman and Captain America, Homelander (Anthony Starr) lacks the heroic traits and benevolent intentions of those two legendary superheroes. The Boys comics and the Amazon Prime series portray Homelander as a narcissistic man-child whose megalomaniac bent is manifested through his gruesome laser-wielding charms when he encounters resistance and invalidation from people he deems inferior.
Since season one, it is clear that the idea of Homelander is that of an evil Superman whose merciless atrocities appear downright irredeemable. Here are the five most gruesome acts by Homelander in The Boys.
1. Becca’s rape
Homelander’s forte is not limited to burning and posing threats. He successfully took his heinous atrocity to a whole new level when he was accused of raping Becca (Shantel VanSanten). The latter is the wife of anti-hero protagonist Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) whose aim at exposing superhero organisation Vought International and killing superheroes (Homelander, in particular) stems from Homelander’s above-mentioned action.
Vought was the common ground between Becca and Homelander where the former was working as a Digital Marketing Director. She met him at a year-end party and later was raped ultimately giving birth to her son Ryan, who plays a crucial role in season two, especially in Stormfront’s defeat. Homelander’s finds out about Ryan in the season one finale, and his relationship with him is marked less by affection and more by his desire to explore his son’s supernatural potential.
Homelander’s defining brutality here is determined by an absolute lack of remorse in being a perpetrator of sexual violence. Adding insult to the injury, Homelander would go on to kidnap Ryan from Becca.
2. The Airplane crash
Homelander’s instant transformation from an expected superhero into an evil supervillain might not come across as a shock to the audience used to his potential and penchant for wreaking havoc. Episode four of season one, however, depicted him stooping to a new low when he knowingly let a group of airplane passengers crash to their demise after a rescue operation for which he was dispatched went wrong.
In this episode, Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) and Homelander are assigned to save a group of passengers on a hijacked plane by Madelyn (Elizabeth Shue). When Homelander’s laser blast caused a severe malfunction, his nonchalance about the impending catastrophe and determination to flee the scene (even to the extent of threatening the passengers who refused to abide by the rules) continues to be blood-curdling and is definitely not for the faint-hearted.
3. Killing Supersonic and maiming Blindspot
The gruesome killing of Supersonic (Miles Gaston Villanueva) came as a shock to Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and the audience. In the fourth episode of season three, Starlight trusted her former boyfriend Supersonic with the plan to take down Homelander along with her boyfriend Hughie (Jack Quaid). However, Supersonic’s loose lips became his undoing when he shared the details of the plans with A-Train, a determined aspirant to join the Seven. The act of killing Supersonic was not explicitly depicted, but confirms the degree to which Homelander would proceed to stamp out a likely resistance.
Homelander also stretched his destructive capacities when he bashed the ears of a highly talented and dedicated supe Blindspot (Chris Mark). In season two, Vought decided to hire a new supe to become a member of the Seven, and Blindspot was singled out due to his super hearing. As usual, Vought’s broader goal was to incorporate a physically challenged supe into their inner circle to renew the Company’s image. Blindspot’s mutilation is representative of Homelander’s power-hungry narcissism and masculine ideologies that thrive on flawless physical perfection.
4. Creating Supe-Terrorists
Homelander’s master plan at creating Supe-Terrorists for earning a position in the U.S military was a step that even the most devious minds of Vought would not stoop to.
The finale of the first season revealed Homelander as the mastermind behind the growing proportion of Supe-Terrorists. He was secretly shipping Compound V, the same chemical used to transform humans into supes across the globe to test its skill on grown humans. The formidable supe terrorist Naqib (Samer Salem) was the successful outcome of this human experiment. The supervillain gave his own justification for this act which is to prove the necessity of recruiting supes into the army to fight against the terrorists.
It seems like Homelander’s fetish for breaking pandemonium is definitely not confined to killing or maiming anymore. It is the very act of human experimentation and the rationality shared in this regard that adds to the lingering absurdities.
5. Madelyn’s death
The calculating corporate agent Madelyn is not well-known for her efforts to earn sympathy. Whether it is her ceaseless attempts at elevating Vought’s reputation, supervising the actions of the supes, or her lack of compassion towards a sexually abused Starlight, Madelyn’s unrelenting ruthlessness and reticence in the face of emerging massacres coupled with her troubled relationship with Homelander is enough to categorize as the series’ arch antagonist.
Her death at the end of the first season demonstrates his unpredictability. On discovering her complicity in hiding his son, Homelander confronted her about her the truth that was followed by shooting lasers into her past her death. The stomach-churning scene underlined his position as an unapologetic power-hungry villain who should not be messed with or lied to.