The following contains spoilers for The Boys Season 3, Episode 4, "Glorious Five Year" Plan, streaming now on Prime Video.
The Prime Video original series The Boys features a variety of corrupted superheroes who have grown power-hungry over their social climb into the legendary organization The Seven, which is owned and managed by Vought International. Homelander is a byproduct of Vought, created and raised in a lab without any parental guidance or emotional support. Being treated more like an experiment than a human being, Homelander slowly developed into a sociopathic villain whose manipulation knows no bounds.
The World's Greatest Superhero is the main antagonist on The Boys and represents a genuine hazard to the world based on his threat to Starlight in Season 3, Episode 4, "Glorious Five Year Plan," where he claims he will hold the whole world hostage, starting with New York, if she doesn't abide by his plans. In Season 3, he has become more unhinged as he's realized he can literally do whatever he wants, even world domination. He prefers admiration and will "play nice" to a certain degree to get it, but at the end of the day, his selfishness is excessive and abusive, turning him into a controlling monster.
Homelander's genuine evilness has increased since Season 1 as he started out as a personal enemy to multiple characters in The Boys, including Queen Maeve and Billy Butcher. Homelander had sexually assaulted Billy's wife before the start of the show, which resulted in her disappearance and the creation of his child, and he showed zero remorse for this heinous act. Homelander has always held a strong belief that the world owes him for his twisted childhood, and he gives in to his impulses to the detriment of those around him, even the people he claims to love.
Homelander has proven to viewers that he doesn't actually have the capability of genuine love based on his treatment of his past romantic partners. Queen Maeve survived and decidedly did not tell the tale of their romantic relationship, but Homelander continued to harass and threaten her throughout Season 1 and Season 2. Madelyn Stillwell was a former lover of his who seemed to have him under control through sex and manipulation, but he murdered her when he discovered her betrayal at the end of Season 1. The biggest slap in the face was the relationship he had with Stormfront, who seemed to be the only woman to match his delusions, but he cared very little for her when she couldn't meet his desperate need for validation in a specific manner.
Homelander's callousness toward his romantic relationships simply showcases his maliciousness and selfish tendencies. He seems to view himself as someone who tolerated others until deciding he was tired of playing the game. He is the most powerful being on Earth (until the recent resurgence of Soldier Boy), and he slowly accepts and steps into this role, no longer fearing the repercussions of not maintaining a perfect image. Without the "secret weapon" Billy talks about in Season 3, Homelander cannot be destroyed. He also lacks empathy, so what would motivate him to be a good person?
In the past, Homelander expressed fearing Vought because he feared isolation and hatred from the public, but in "Glorious Five Year Plan," he admits to no longer having those fears. Stormfront's devotion to him in Season 2 raised his confidence in his narcissistic tendencies, and he decided they brought strength to him rather than weakness. Homelander does seem to show some care toward his son, but he's threatening and intimidating to everyone else. As he solidified his control over Vought International in "Glorious Five Year Plan," he has also resolved himself to embrace the desperate need for total control he feels inside.
To see what evil step Homelander will take next, catch new episodes of The Boys, premiering Fridays on Prime Video.