As one of the most twisted, powerful, and violent characters created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, Homelander gives The Boys quite the adversary. This series presents the Supe as a satirical, grotesquely violent version of Superman, both in comics and live-action.
When The Boys’ comic was adapted to live-action for Amazon Prime Video’s series with the same name, fans new and old were eager and dreading to see the twisted Homelander come to life. With every adaption, some things change, be it due to the sensitive subject matter, changing times, or for a better narrative. Homelander has a life so disturbing that it’s no surprise that it’s kept to the pages of a comic book.
Spoiler warning for Amazon Prime Video's The Boys and the comics.
9 Fan Of The Bee Gees
Fans of both the Amazon Prime Video show and the comic know that Homelander doesn’t like to joke around much. His presence on both page and screen is filled with tension. Each moment spent with Homelander is to realize just how far gone he is from humanity.
One quirk that adds a sense of levity to the chaotic and murderous life of Homelander is his delightful strut. The villain walks through The Seven’s headquarters, singing “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, and humming the parts he doesn’t know. It’s an oddly human moment from a man viewers have seen squash heads like balloons.
8 The Brooklyn Bridge Incident
Perhaps one of the evilest moments from Homelander, and something that was more than reasonably not included in the show, was The Seven’s attempt to stop the attacks on September 11th. Homelander and company stopped the planes from hitting the Twin Towers, but it was entirely botched.
Homelander kills the terrorists, screaming profanity and racial abuse. He abandons his team and the innocent people on board the plane and allows it to crash into the Brooklyn Bridge. Preventing the Twin Towers from being hit, but at the cost of the lives in the planes and on the Brooklyn Bridge.
7 Butcher, The Formidable Foe
Homelander in the Amazon Prime Video keeps some distance from Billy Butcher, although he still torments him. Not only does he keep him alive because he is forced to do so, but the idea that Butcher lives on knowing that his wife Becca and her son Ryan are alive is reason enough to stay out of his way.
In the comic, Homelander is more direct with his relationship with Butcher. He has a begrudging respect for the leader of The Boys due to Butcher's honesty and grit when it comes to his hatred of Supes. Homelander could also respect Butcher because he knows he is not an ordinary human, as Compound V runs through both their veins.
6 Terror, The Catalyst Dog
Terror was Butcher’s beloved bulldog who had the strange talent to attack anyone and anything upon command. Butcher shows immense love for his canine companion and would kill anyone who threatens the good doggy.
When The Boys find Terror dead, everything changes. Butcher becomes a different man and brutally exacts revenge on the presumed killer Jack From Jupiter. This event led Butcher to release horrifying photos of Homelander, which spurred on the final act of the comic, a war of Supes. All because of Terror.
5 Terrified Of Stillwell
The Boys has a character in it that even Homelander is terrified of. James Stillwell is a high-ranking executive in Vought-American, and the assistant to the CEO, Mr. Edgar. His calmness and intellect never break and become the antagonist to Homelander’s thoughts.
Homelander is desperate to please Stillwell and prove that he has immense power and something worth seeing. This bores Stillwell so much that he attempts suicide and begs Homelander to kill him so he doesn’t have to be so unimpressed with the Supes' plan. This enrages Homelander, and he departs to resume his plan, whilst leaving Stillwell alone.
4 A Superhero Coup
Homelander’s secret plan had been in the works for many weeks, or even months. He takes any Supe he can, and they all fly together to The White House. This begins the war between regular folk, like the military and police, against the Superheroes they thought were there to protect them.
Homelander’s ability to start a coup against the entire United States of America shows the great deal of respect or fear that other Supes have for him, and just how far gone he has become with his insanity. The former superhero truly becomes the villain, as he attempts to take over the world.
3 The Blackmail Photographs
In the comics, The Boys have access to utterly diabolical and graphic photos of Homelander. These photos are the key to The Boys’ success, and the reason Vought-American have been unable to just eradicate them. These very photos are also the driving force for Homelander becoming a psychopath.
The photos are disgusting, and it is doubtful that viewers of the show will see them in live-action. Homelander has no memory of these events, but the photos are as real as they come.
2 Homelander’s Contingency
The ultimate reveal of The Boys, and perhaps the biggest spoiler of them all comes from issue 65. The identity of The Boys’ parody of The Batman, Black Noir, was finally revealed in a disturbing light in the oval office. Black Noire is none other than Homelander’s clone.
Black Noir was Vought-American’s contingency plan for if Homelander ever went rogue. This silent Supe had been Homelander’s ally and friend, just waiting for his sole purpose to come to fruition. Black Noir helped turn Homelander into a psychopath by posing as him so that the day would finally come when he could kill him.
1 Killed The President
During Homelander’s coup against the entirety of America, his first act of war is to invade The White House. Butcher finds Homelander, sitting in the oval office, which has been redecorated with bodies, organs, and an abundance of blood. Homelander is seen sitting at the president’s desk, holding the man’s head.
Homelander effortlessly throws the decapitated head of the former U.S president at Butcher, to which Butcher catches it and notes the hole in the back of the head. Implying that Homelander had sexually assaulted the cut-off head. It’s one of the many twisted and dark themes in The Boys.