We Finally Get To See Homelander Truly Powerless on The Boys Season 4

The Big Picture

• Homelander's power and confidence falter when faced with criticism and political challenges on The Boys .
• Homelander's inability to handle criticism and lack of political savvy leaves him embarrassed and powerless.
• Homelander's reliance on others to handle his problems and maintain his image highlights his emotional immaturity and insecurity.

Editor's Note:

No character on The Boys harnesses as much power and elicits more fear than Homelander (Antony Starr). After realizing he can get away with whatever he wants thanks to his fame, Homelander has had no qualms about using his powers to do as he sees fit and killing anyone in his way. But after an embarrassing moment in the latest episode, it should be more clear than ever to Homelander that powers aren’t everything — there are some situations he can’t laser his way out of.

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Homelander May Be Confident, but He’s Politically Inept

The Boys' latest episode, “Dirty Business,” sees Homelander hosting a party for his supporters at Tek Knight’s (Derek Wilson) estate. He makes his way around, parading Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) and accepting heaps of overzealous praise. Later, Homelander and Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) meet with Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), where he explains that he’s gathering the one percent of the one percent to reveal his plan to enact the 25th Amendment. Homelander has the confidence of 10 men as he explains how he’ll get the billionaires' support to commit high treason, but Neuman doesn’t seem convinced.

Once gathered in the room, Homelander begins his spiel about how horrible it will be for the country if Robert Singer (Jim Beaver) is elected before jumping full force into his plan to have the President assassinated to invoke the 25th Amendment and allow Neuman to take office. He’s expecting a smattering of applause — the kind he’s accustomed to from his fanbase — but what he receives is quite the opposite.

He’s asked if what he’s planning is considered a coup, followed up by another socialite telling him to “Save the boogeyman shit for the idiots watching VNN.” The legal questions continue, from the Justice Department to the military to the stock market, Homelander is blasted with legitimate concerns that confuse him to the point of only being able to mumble “great question.” The wealthy elites that Homelander claims will be swayed by cognac and Montecristos continue to poke legitimate holes in his dicey plan. Homelander looks to Sage for help, but the recent bullet she took to the head — courtesy of M.M. (Laz Alonso) — has rendered her more useless than a 3-year-old, forcing Neuman to swoop in despite how disgusted she is by the conservative crowd.

When people aren’t afraid of talking back to Homelander, he immediately becomes powerless. Sure, he could punch them into next week, but even he realizes how ill-advised such an act would be. He made the grave mistake of assuming that, since his coveted one-percenters share the same viewpoints as his “Hometeamers,” they would be just as brain-dead and pliable when he uses keywords and talks loud about his big plan. But these people know the politics involved in such a feat. While they may support the concept, they push back because they realize how fundamentally flawed it is, leaving Homelander to rot in his embarrassment as the ringing in his ears kicks in.

This Has Happened to Homelander on 'The Boys' Before

Tek Knight’s party isn’t the first time Homelander has bitten off more than he can chew. Remember last season when Homelander made a deal with Neuman that put Vought head Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) in prison and landed Homelander the CEO spot? Homelander figured it would be no challenge, as he declares to Edgar in Season 2, “I am Vought.” But once he gets the top spot and calls a board meeting, it’s clear he’s out of his depths. While the majority of board members kiss up to him and feed his ego, one woman respectfully asks a business question concerning tax margins and how to address it during the upcoming earnings call. Instead of answering her questions, Homelander’s face twitches, and he immediately becomes hostile, assuming she is challenging his intelligence and authority.

Both incidents are born out of embarrassment, but Homelander would do anything to prevent himself from appearing weak, meaning he’ll never concede or ask for more information from someone he considers below him. As Edgar points out to Homelander in their last conversation before the latter takes over, Homelander’s soul is “a bottomless gaping pit of insecurity.” As we found out when he ventured back to lab sweet lab, he was engineered with a need for approval and love, if people don’t show unease or question him — like the socialites or the board member — he flips out and goes full scorched earth. But in these scenarios, he can’t use his powers to mutilate, so he has to internalize it, which drives him mad.

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Homelander Needs To Learn To Control His Emotions on 'The Boys'

Homelander talks loud and stands tall, but he’d get nowhere if not for the people picking up his messes and sorting his problems out. In The Boys' early days, it was Vought’s people, a pen, and the occasional NDA waiver. Now, things have gotten a lot more complicated. From Neuman to Ashley (Colby Minifie) to Sage, and Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue) before them, Homelander's damage control team does all his work for him while he smiles big and takes the credit.

Homelander’s position proves the spotlight isn’t all it's cracked up to be — it may be the only thing that gets Homelander out of bed in the morning, but Neuman has yet to reveal she’s a Supe to the public and has accomplished more in her career. Even Sage wanted to remain behind the scenes before Homelander roped her into The Seven. Unless he learns how to reign in his emotions, losing his backing from either Supe will mean the end for him or the entire world, because when it boils down, he’s still that powerless little boy from the lab who just wants to be loved.

The Boys is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S.

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