Homelander In Amazon’s The Boys Isn’t Nearly As Powerful As You Think
Amazon’s The Boys works hard to portray Anthony Starr’s Homelander as an obscenely powerful and unkillable maniac. Even the show’s other supes walk on eggshells around him. But in “The Instant White-Hot Wild,” the Season 3 finale, Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligot) proves that if the rest of The Seven had any guts, they could’ve ended Homelander years before.
The Instant White-Hot Wild
The climax of The Boys Season 3 unfolds in Seven Tower, where Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) makes the mistake of hurting the young Ryan. Once he does that, the planned team-up against Homelander gets a lot more complex with Butcher and others turning against Soldier Boy.
Homelander wants a piece of Soldier Boy too, but Maeve forces him to focus on her. Homelander treats his former lover as a distraction, but she quickly proves she’s anything but.
She isn’t as strong as the leader of the Seven but she’s a more skilled fighter, and for much of the fight she dominates him, literally drawing first blood.
We’ll Never Know Who Would’ve Won
Even after Homelander takes her eye, Maeve continues giving the supe an incredible fight. Eventually she breaks off her clash with him in order to grab Soldier Boy and take him out of the tower.
Even there, she proves herself at the very least close to Homelander’s equal—he lunges at her before she tackles Soldier Boy, prompting Maeve to knock him on his backside before she goes after the Jensen Ackles‘ supe.
Even If Maeve Lost…
If their fight had gone the distance, would Maeve have emerged victorious? There’s really no way to know, but I think there is a good chance that—while Maeve would’ve made him pay for it—Homelander would’ve eventually defeated her.
She’s a better fighter but not only is Homelander stronger, but he has his laser vision and his flight to give him an edge (and while he does use his vision against her, in “The Instant White-Hot Wild,” he never does use his flight which could prove a game-changer.
Still, if nothing else, their battle in the Season 3 finale proves that if some time before the events of that episode, Maeve succeeded in recruiting 2 or 3 more members of The Seven in an uprising against Homelander, the fascist jerk would be toast.
Herogasm
Don’t believe me? Okay, try this—go back and rewatch the Homelander/Maeve fight in the Season 3 finale. When you’re done with that, go back a couple more episodes to “Herogasm,” and watch as Soldier Boy, Butcher, and Hughie (the latter two beefed up with Temp V), come closer to killing Homelander than anyone in the series before or since.
And as you’re rewatching that battle in “Herogasm,” consider the fact that members of The Seven that Maeve might recruit in a hypothetical coup of Homelander—like A-Train, The Deep, and/or Starlight—aren’t temporarily super-powered people like Butcher and Hughie.
Unlike those two, everyone in The Seven has been using their powers for the better part of their lives.
Maeve and one other member of The Seven could potentially end Homelander. Maeve and two other members would end him, without question.
When It Comes To Other Supes, Homelander’s Only Tool Is Fear
In spite of how often Homelander abuses other supes, the battles he fights in “Herogasm” and “The Instant White-Hot Wild” are the only times in the series we see anyone try to challenge him physically. In both cases, he doesn’t quite come off looking like the wrathful god he wants the world to see.
Sure, your average person has plenty to fear from Homelander. When it comes to other supes, though, the battles he fights in Season 3 prove that The Seven aren’t kept in line because of Homelander’s power, but because of their perception of his power.
If just three members of the team came up with half a plan to send Homelander to the same place where the MCU’s Quicksilver went, and everyone in The Boys would be a lot safer.
