Amazon's The Boys TV series has become wildly successful. Acclaimed for its subversive take on the superhero genre, critics and fans alike are eagerly anticipating the show's second season. Based on a comic book series by Garth Ennis, there is lots of lore in the comics that the TV show is pulling from.
Undoubtedly, the most compelling character in the show is Homelander. This Superman-esque hero does his best to hide his truly psychopathic tendencies from the public. Fans of the show would be interested to know there is much more to this character within the pages of the comic. Here are ten things fans of the show should know about Homelander.
10 10. Sex Addict
Although the series does showcase some of Homelander's strange kinks, it doesn't quite show how truly deviant he is. Within the pages of the comic, Homelander is constantly having sex, most of which is done with unwilling participants.
If you thought being a serial rapist was sick enough, it gets even worse. Homelander also has been known to dabble in dead bodies. Not only did he have sex with dead corpses. These bodies weren't picked at random, they were actually people that Homelander had killed. He might be bad on the show, but in the comic, he is utterly irredeemable.
9 9. Ages Slower
Injected with the strange Compound V that gives all supers their powers, Homelander has a few additional abilities not showcased in the Amazon series. One of the more notable of these abilities is his apparent immortality.
Even if he isn't exactly immortal, it has been made clear that Homelander's superhuman abilities make him age very slowly. This means he truly has no weaknesses. Not even time can defeat Homelander.
8 8. Homelander's Fake Origin
The show makes it clear that Vought seeks to trick America into thinking Homelander was raised in a classic American family setting. That couldn't be further from the truth, as he was actually raised in a lab.
In addition to the fake family stories, the comic book had one additional lie. In the comic series, Vought actually claims that Homelander fell from space much in the same way that Superman did. The general public was lead to believe that the leader of The Seven was actually an alien.
7 7. Megalomaniac
While in the show he appears somewhat sympathetic at times, the comic makes it crystal clear that Homelander is an insane megalomaniac. His narcissism knows no bounds, and the "hero" follows a personal philosophy that he should take whatever he wants whenever he wants it.
Responsible for massive amounts of murder and mayhem, the comic book Homelander is one of the most despicable human beings to ever be written about. A truly great villain for a truly dark story.
6 6. John
Although the show makes no mention of this, in the comic Homelander sometimes goes by the name John. It remains nebulous what the significance of this name is. All we know is that Homelander chose it for himself.
Even though he has a first name, John's last name is never given. This leads readers to believe that it is very unlikely Homelander operates with any sort of alias. Perhaps he just wants to feel more like a real person. Or maybe he's just a little crazy. The answer is probably somewhere in between.
5 5. Sonic Scream
One of Homelander's most useful powers is his sonic scream. Amazon's The Boys has yet to show him use this ability. There's a chance it may never show up in the show, as this strange addition to his powers doesn't quite fit the Superman archetype that he so compellingly fills.
Typically, a sonic scream is a powerful disorienting power that can fully disable opponents. If used with enough power, it can even destroy objects and enemies within its path. An obvious reason why Homelander doesn't use this ability as much is because of his heat vision. Why use the energy to scream when you can kill with a simple look?
4 4. Mother
Raised in a lab like a rat, Homelander wasn't exactly given a great childhood. His heartlessness as an adult can be directly correlated with his lack of family structure growing up. Simply put, Homelander just needed to be loved. This desire for a familial connection is shown in the show through his obsession with Stillwell.
In the comics, Homelander's mother was actually shown. A mentally disabled woman, Vought most likely chose her because, due to her mental capacity, she could be easily manipulated. Injected with Compound V when her son was still in the womb, this woman later went on to die during childbirth.
3 3. The Hydrogen Bomb
Growing up in the Vought facility, Homelander was feared by all of the doctors. They understood he could easily escape or, even worse, could kill them all in a temper tantrum.
In order to combat this, the scientists experimenting on the young superhuman decided to strap him up to a hydrogen bomb. If Homelander began to show any signs of being a threat, Vought could simply blow him up.
2 2. Stormfront
After learning that Homelander had a mother, another question begs being asked. Who was his father? Vought-American created the hero by harvesting genetic material from Stormfront, the first-ever superhuman, and implanting said material into Homelander's mother.
Growing up as an esteemed member of Hitler Youth, Stormfront was one of the first individuals to be given Compound V. He was almost as strong as Homelander in his day. After the fall of the Nazis and Stormfront's defeat, Vought was able to get its hands on the German developed Compound V. The large corporation then began using the chemical for their own nefarious purposes.
1 1. 9/11
Much like in the real world, the events of 9/11 still took place in the universe of The Boys. In this universe Vought-American was alerted of the hijacking, prompting them to send The Seven to try to stop the planes as a good PR move.
This rescue mission went horribly wrong. Homelander, carrying his teammate Marathon, accidentally flew through one of the planes, killing Marathon as well as all of the passengers. The other plane Homelander attacked with his sonic scream, killing everyone on board and sending it crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge where many other civilians were killed.