If you’re a fan of The Boys on Amazon Prime Video, then you know that each episode is more stunning, heart-pounding, and gory than the last. It’s honestly really refreshing to see a series that’s willing to up its game every week. Based on the comic book of the same name, the series takes place in a world where superheroes are egotistical celebrities with god complexes who work for a company called Vought International, which markets and monetizes them. The main characters are a group of vigilantes whose mission is to dismantle Vought and expose the heroes’ true nature.
The second season of The Boys premiered in September and a third is on the way. There’s even a spin-off series in production!
The series would be nothing without the primary antagonist, a Superman-like hero named Homelander. Portrayed wonderfully by actor Antony Starr, Homelander is a truly terrifying villain. A narcissist and sadist, Homelander pretends to be a humble, all-American hero while his immense power goes unchecked behind the scenes. He also has a bizarre mommy kink since he was raised without one in a lab, which has been the subject of many hilarious memes.
Antony Starr compares Homelander to King Joffrey from Game of Thrones
In terms of top-tier reprehensible villains, Homelander and King Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones are neck and neck. They’re both ruthless, misogynistic and cruel. Speaking to ComicBook.com, Antony Starr has even noted a similarity between the characters. However, he says that there are a few key distinctions. “e’ve been locked up so long in L.A. and things just keep going from bad to worse here, I rewatched all of Game of Thrones,” he said. “I had forgotten, I didn’t notice maybe, how good that kid is. How good Joffrey actually is. The one thing that I would say about the big difference, though, is that you’re trying to redeem Homelander, but there’s really, with Joffrey, nothing to like. There’s such an absence of any humanity, there’s no reason why or anything of that.”
"You never empathize with [Joffrey], whereas I think just by comparison, I think that Homelander is evil and despicable, but I think because of the smart writing in season one and some fun choices that we cooked up in season two. There are moments when you see a little bit more going on than just the psychopath, you know? It does make him the guy that you love to hate, but then every now and then there’s these moments…there’s moments when you kind of empathize with him and you realize, ‘Oh, he’s trying to help his son,’ and things like that."
You could argue that the show tried to elicit some sympathy for Joffrey at the very end, when he he was dying in his mother’s arms at his own wedding, a schoolyard bully who’s problem was that he was given way too much power way too young…but there were also a lot of fans who were thrilled with his death, so mileage varies.
In any case, it sounds like Starr’ still thinks that Homelander is capable of redemption. Viewers will have to wait and see how Homelander copes with the events of the jaw-dropping second season finale. With any luck, we’ll be watching The Boys season 3 by the end of the year.
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