See Chris Evans As Homelander In The Boys
Chris Evans almost looks too good as The Boys villain, Homelander.
This article is more than 2 years old
Chris Evans has a face that’s almost synonymous with his Captain America persona. It’s hard to see the actor and not think of him as Steve Rogers-turned-The Cap with the red, white, and blue suit, vibranium shield, and even at the end, Mjolnir hammer. It’s a testament to the lasting power of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and how perfectly cast Evans was in the role. As much as anyone, he’s the face of the franchise. This is why it’s almost an uncanny valley situation to see Evans mashed up in a deepfake as Homelander from Amazon’s The Boys.
While the hero suits are remarkably similar, Homelander operates in stark contrast to everything Chris Evans as Captain America stands for in the comics and movies. This was done on purpose with The Boys, acting as something of a referendum on comic books in general and how people view their heroes. In The Boys, heroes are treated as egomaniacal celebrities instead of virtuous do-gooders, using their superpowers as launching pads to stardom rather than just making the world a better place.
Homelander is the “best” (worst) of them all. He’s essentially a Superman with all the powers that came with the iconic character. Except in The Boys, Homelander is nothing more than a psychopathic manipulator, tricking the people into thinking he’s the savior while actually being the most evil of the bunch. Though viewed in the world as the pinnacle of the superhero elite, he’s actually the show’s main antagonist. It’s a devilishly great role.
This is why seeing Chris Evans as Homelander in this clip is all that much more startling. What we know about Captain America and how Evans played the character stands at the polar opposite end of the spectrum to what Homelander brings to the table. Antony Starr is masterful in the Homelander role, oozing a vile and diabolical front that appears to many as just part of his righteous persona. It’s clear from the deepfake that Evans couldn’t have pulled this off quite the same way. Or at least that’s what I want to believe from Captain America.
Fans saw it the same way with many admitting that just Chris Evans’s face alone added a certain softness to the character that we aren’t used to seeing. It’s remarkable really how this association can turn a character completely around in just a few seconds of tape.
The Boys is already through two seasons and slated to come back for a third. The show nails it from a few different directions in the style, writing, humor, action sets, intrigue, pacing, and more. In a world filled with comic book movies and hero franchises, The Boys acts as a foil for what we’ve seen from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the latter, characters wrestled with their own moral code and use of power. Chris Evans/ Captain America was often at the forefront of that conversation. And it’s also why he never would have worked as Homelander. It’s clear from this deepfake that the face wouldn’t have played. The “All-American” look is just too kind and thoughtful.
