With every passing season of The Boys, extra viewer and significant accolades pile onto Antony Starr‘s show-stopping efficiency as Homelander. And yearly, the artsy-fartsy Television Academy and HFPA move him by. Granted, that is really not too stunning as a result of everyone knows that the Emmys and the Golden Globes simply do this kind of factor. How a few years did Rhea Seehorn get snubbed earlier than lastly being nominated for the Kim Wexler function on Better Call Saul? Too many. These awards reveals favor sure sorts of programming, and fairly frankly, each The Boys and spinoff Gen V have the audaciousness to litter sharp writing with lewd content material and humor that’s too biting for “prestigious” award consideration.
As nicely, The Boys gleefully skewers itself whereas additionally being a part of a style that’s largely shunned by fancy award reveals, however my god. Between these reveals and Robert Kirkman’s Invincible, we now dwell in a world whereby Amazon is producing superhero content material that soars additional into the stratosphere with every outing, in contrast to the now-floundering MCU and DCU. And even with Gen V, a present that has been swinging additional and additional with every episode, Starr managed to swoop in from the sky on the final potential second and steal the entire finale in lower than one minute of display time.
(You can rewatch that scene right here, however GIFs are coming, so grasp tight.)
Back once I reviewed Gen V, solely six episodes had been launched to critics, so I clearly didn’t learn about this cameo but. And I’m glad that was the case, as a result of I had the possibility to remark upon how an on-the-scene Homelander’s “revolting charisma would distract the viewers from attending to know a complete new roster of screwed-up Supes.” So, did I drop an “oh sh*t” once I noticed him materialize in entrance of a statue of himself? Absolutely.
Let’s first test in with what Starr did. He landed amid maddeningly distorted patriotic music, shortly surveyed the mayhem, and determined how he was going to border the narrative. Marie addressed him as “Sir,” however he wasn’t having it.
Anytime you see Homelander smile — whether or not it’s just a little half-smirk like this ^^^ one or a full-on, toothpaste grin — you usually know that sh*t goes to go down. That’s all the way down to Starr’s sheer presence, sure, and the way in which that the writers have developed his character in a frighteningly painstaking means. More than that, it’s the actor-ing. I’m kind of stealing the way in which that my colleague, Brian Grubb, typically makes use of verbs throughout enjoyable office exchanges, however I imply it right here. Starr is just not performing. He is actor-ing. (Maybe you and I’ll discuss concerning the distinction sooner or later.) It’s a temper, goddammit.
Also necessary concerning the Homelander smile(s): Starr has this unparalleled means of constructing certain that he solely smiles along with his mouth. You can see it above, and it’s occurring under, too. The smile by no means reaches his eyes as a result of it’s pretend as hell. That’s additionally a key delineator of psychopathy, and it’s fairly astounding that Starr pulls it off in so many variations. Even greater than that, he manages to nonetheless make his eyes seem lifeless above whereas additionally doing this little eyebrow pop earlier than he lasers the hell out of Marie.
What’s additionally interested by this scene is that Marie survived, which suggests a future showdown. And I look ahead to that with relish.
There’s extra occurring, although. Homelander referred to Marie as an “animal” for committing violence in opposition to “your type.” That’s a intelligent little bit of writing that leaves open whether or not he’s being racist as hell, or just that he sees himself as a superior breed of Supe (or each). He has sided with the now-forearm-less Cate after she was the one who was uncontrolled and possibly about to kill Jordan when Marie intervened. Did Homelander do that as a result of he sees Marie as a future menace? That’s potential, however all of this probably units Cate up as a Starlight or Queen Maeve alternative on The Boys Season 4.
Man, the producers weren’t messing round once they mentioned that the timelines of those reveals bump proper up in opposition to one another. And it utterly is smart that Homelander would wish to pull Cate (and probably Sam) underneath his wing as a result of he’s no fool. He has doubtless seen sufficient to know that Marie isn’t shopping for into what Vought International is promoting, and once more, her blood-bending skills (girlfriend turned blood into daggers just a few moments previous to his touchdown) could be greater than a match for his powers.
Homelander does what is sweet for Homelander, and he’s solely rising extra unhinged with every passing The Boys season.
To briefly recap: in Season 1, he downed a complete aircraft stuffed with civilians and maintained that stage of menace all through Season 2, which he capped off by jerking off from atop a skyscraper, probably killing innocents when his jizz hit the bottom (clearly, I’ve considered this scene an excessive amount of). In Season 3, he satisfied a girl to commit suicide as a birthday current to himself. That was maybe the nudge that left numerous far-right viewers having a raging meltdown as soon as they realized that they’d been rooting for a foul man. And within the Season 3 finale, he killed a civilian in broad daylight.
That act was a Trump reference (bragging about with the ability to shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue, and so forth), however Starr has been fast to level out that Homelander is not Trump as a result of that may be “very two-dimensional,” and if this was a political factor, then “with the speechy stuff, if you would like somebody who can string a sentence collectively, who does that higher than … Obama?”
Fair sufficient. I desire to assume that Homelander is one-of-a-kind by way of villainy that we’ve seen onscreen. He is rather more advanced than Trump, and the Obama comparability equally solely matches one potential of the character. He’s an amalgamation of a number of influences and a personification of energy in and of itself. He can be one dangerous dude, to say the very least. Remember when he made The Deep eat his still-alive finest buddy (RIP Timothy the Octopus)? And but goddammit, Antony Starr. He’s so good at this. Too good at this.
Much of that is all the way down to the eye to element from the writers of The Boys, however that is very a lot a case of Starr infusing what may be a cartoonish character with layers. Even when he’s doing horrible issues, Homelander stays a pleasure to observe and the one character in current reminiscence that makes me shout on the display like that Rick Dalton pointing meme, even when I won’t be utilizing the meme appropriately as a result of I’m not spectacular with them.
There’s additionally just a little facet inquiry from my head: Starr, a pure brunette, as soon as advised us about how he shaves off his Homelander hair after filming every season. He described doing so “to repair the broken hair” with a facet impact being that “the world backs off” as a result of individuals aren’t noticing a “potential psychopath of their midst.” I believe that additionally helps take away the Homelander ickiness from his psyche, however maybe I’m overreaching there.
Yet I do know just a few issues for certain: (1) Starr is being far too humble when he claims that he has no thought what he’s doing whereas performing (go watch Banshee should you don’t consider me); and (2) Whatever the man is receiving for a paycheck, it isn’t sufficient.
‘The Boys’ and ‘Gen V’ could be streamed on Amazon Prime.
