‘The Boys’: Homelander Actor Explains Why He Doesn’t Want a Redemption Arc for His Character
Homelander in The Boys, played by Anthony Starr, is one of the most despicable villains on TV. Every time you think he couldn’t get any worse, he does. The Boys is a very dark and cynical series that has superheroes exposing their worst traits. Some of them have had moments of redemption, but Homelander doesn’t seem capable of it. Starr says he doesn’t know if Homelander has a redemption arc in The Boys but he hopes it doesn’t happen.
Anthony Starr portrays Homelander in ‘The Boys’
Homelander has been the main antagonist of The Boys for three seasons. As the leader of the seven, Homelander portrays an image to the rest of the world of patriotism and heroic behavior that people should strive for. Behind the scenes, he is a total narcissist who only acts in his own self-interest, killing anyone who doesn’t benefit his image or upsets him in any way.
What makes Homelander such a fantastic villain is that he is menacing and frightening, but there is a level of sympathy for him. He was created in a lab and has always been searching for love and a family that he never had. Whenever he loses this, it causes him to snap and an unhinged Homelander can be catastrophic.
Starr doesn’t want a redemption arc for his character
Homelander is too far gone as a villain. He has caused too much damage and left too many bodies in his destructive path. Still, every villain in The Boys has some moments of redemption, even if they are mostly bad than good. In an interview with Collider, Anthony Starr talks about what the fate of Homelander could be. While he doesn’t know, he doesn’t think Homelander will ever be redeemed and he doesn’t want that to happen either.
“I think Homelander’s happy ending would be him annihilating everyone in the world and sitting there in a bloody wasteland on his own, with no one to mess with him,” Starr said. “I don’t think there’s a redemption story for Homelander. I wouldn’t really wanna see that, to be honest. I don’t think there’s any intention of doing that either. As for his demise, I don’t know. Every time I try to pick out what might happen in the future, I’m wrong, so I’ve given up speculating. I’m just like, “You know what? I’ll leave that for the writers and spare myself the embarrassment of being wrong, again and again and again.”
What will happen to Homelander in ‘The Boys’ season 4?
The season 3 finale of The Boys delivered an amazing final showdown between Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), Homelander, and the rest of the crew. However, it also set up Homelander in an upwards direction, where he now has his son and the love of his fans, despite his murderous tendencies. It’s a complete turnaround of where he was at the end of season 2 and possibly makes him more dangerous than ever.
Season 4 of The Boys doesn’t have a current release date but we can’t wait to see what Homelander does next. Season 3 is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
