Homelander just levelled up in The Boys, and the show at least wants you to think he’s now more powerful than Superman. Homelander vs. Superman has long been debated by fans of both, not least given the former is a parody of the latter. That means they have very similar powers and abilities, but use them in vastly different ways. The Vought villain takes the idea of an evil Man of Steel to the Nth degree, which means he’ll push his powers further and do things Supes never would, but also obviously lacks the humanity, compassion, and goodness that makes Superman a true hero.
Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Boys Season 5, Episode 4, “King of Hell.” The latest installment of Prime Video’s Supe series continues Homelander’s God complex, and takes it to a whole new level in a way that both plays off the worst fears of Superman (the kind of thing Lex Luthor would spout about him), and turns him into something the Big Blue Boy Scout isn’t. While Vought won’t claim he is God due to the potential backlash, they form the Democratic Church of America and name Homelander as “The prophet of the Lord, the prophet of America.” Notably, and knowingly, they also say he’s “not just a man, not just a super man.”
In their one recent face off in DC’s K.O. event comic, Homelander and Superman were equally matched in power, neither able to defeat the other. Of course, it would be nice if decency, hope, and love could win over the evil hatred of The Boys‘ villain, but that wasn’t what happened there, and while he probably will be beat in the TV show’s endgame by someone, he’s going to be even more dangerous and cause even more harm before it gets to that point (and that’s before he even gets his hands on V-1, which would make him functionally immortal).
Vought might be calling Homelander a prophet, but it’s just a matter of semantics: he is, in effect, now God in this universe. Millions, perhaps tens of millions, of people are set to accept that he is God’s messenger on Earth, speaking with the voice of the Lord. But crucially, Homelander is not only the person delivering the message, he’s the one creating and controlling it. He will be able to act even more unchecked than before, which might also be how he gets his way into the White House, with the setup there for him to become President.
He’s on his way to an unprescedent amount of religious and political power, which he will wield with force and with zero mercy. It’s the most horrifying possible position for an evil version of Superman to be in, and makes him that much harder to stop. Be stopped he surely will, whether it’s by Butcher, Ryan, Black Noir, or some collective effort of the Boys, Gen V heroes, and other Supes. But the cost of doing it is also going to be monumental, and he might’ve already torn the United States apart in the war between Supes and supports of Vought and rebel factions like the Starlighters by the time it happens. So, to paraphrase the pastor, he’s not just an evil Superman… he’s something even worse now.
New episodes of The Boys release on Wednesdays on Prime Video.
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