The Boys and Homelander’s Obsession With Milk, Explained

It’s not uncommon to see a powerful character in a movie or TV show pouring themselves a stiff drink while discussing important matters. Maybe they’re hydrating with a water bottle or diving into a mug of coffee or tea. When it comes to Homelander (Antony Starr) in The Boys, however, his drink of choice is a refreshing glass of milk.

There’s nothing wrong with a healthy dose of calcium. It’s good for the bones, of course. But Homelander’s penchant for the white liquid from the mammary glands of mammals is somewhat odd. What’s the root of his strange obsession? It actually has more to do with a psychological need than it does with the drink itself.

Homelander’s History With Milk in The Boys

Fans first learned of Homelander’s obsession with milk during his private meetings with Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue). He looks longingly at her bottles of breast milk, pumped and stored to feed her newborn baby. He downs a glass as though he’s needily guzzling water after suffering from severe dehydration.

Later, fans see Homelander take things even further by suckling on Madelyn’s breast for comfort. Madelyn, a top-ranking executive at Vought, had a special talent for controlling and manipulating Homelander, and this was all part of it. She knew of his desperate need for love and managed to position herself as both a motherly figure and a subject of romantic affection.

Related

Why Homelander Always Ends Up on Top in The Boys

Each season of The Boys brings Homelander closer to his potential end, yet he continually survives. Will Season 4 finally be his downfall?

Similar to an Oedipus Complex relationship, Madelyn wasn’t actually Homelander’s mother, but he, in some ways, viewed her as such. The desire for the milk her body produced was a large part of that. After she was gone, he even had Doppelgänger (Dan Darin-Zanco) impersonate Madelyn to help him live out his sexual fantasies and his desire to be close to her (and her milk-producing breasts).

His love of milk continues in Season 4, as fans are introduced to a secret drawer in Homelander’s apartment where he stores the nourishing stuff in rows and rows of baby bottles. It’s unclear if these are homogenized or breast milk. But we know Homelander has a particular affinity for breast milk over any other type.

In Episode 6 of Season 4, entitled “Dirty Business,” fans learn just how odd Homelander’s need for milk is. New supe Firecracker (Valorie Curry) takes medication to induce breast milk production, her gift to ingratiate herself to Homelander. She squirts some on his face to prove she is producing. He’s touched, flattered, and turned on, all at the same time. As Homelander tears up with happiness, Firecracker cradles his head in her lap and feeds him like a baby. It’s one of the most subtly disturbing scenes of the show.

The Psychological Reason Behind Homelander’s Love of Milk

For Homelander, his desire for milk isn’t just about quenching thirst. He’s quenching a deep-seated desire. It all stems back to the beginning. In the fourth episode of Season 4, entitled “Wisdom of the Ages,” which has fans calling for an Emmy for Starr, Homelander returns to the lab where his life began. He spent much of his childhood there, effectively used as a lab rat for Vought, who wanted to test the limits of his power and train him to lead The Seven.

When Barbara (Nancy Lenehan) returns to the lab and has a private chat with Homelander, she explains what Vought did to him beyond the poking and prodding that he remembers. They also psychologically manipulated him. Barbara reveals that Vought hired all the best psychologists from around the world to train Homelander to have a deep-seated need for love and affection. Since they knew they would never be able to physically control him, they felt this would at least make him forever obedient.

They didn’t anticipate, however, how this would impact Homelander as an adult. It made him so obsessed with the desire to be loved that he is willing to do just about anything to feel such acceptance. If someone takes that love away from them, or he feels they threaten his ability to be loved, he will eliminate them. Ironically, he has become a tyrant because he was never loved and is not obedient because he needs to be.

Related

The Boys Season 4 Finally Solved the Biggest Problem With the Series

Season after season, The Boys has been about the battle between Billy Butcher and Homelander. But the focus is finally shifting in Season 4.

The obsession with milk plays heavily into this. The first affection a child ever feels is that of the mother, who cradles and feeds them, either through nursing or formula (or both). This nourishing milk and a mother’s loving touch soothe a child and show them what it feels like to be loved. Homelander never got that, but he was ironically programmed to believe it was important to feel that love and comfort.

This also explains why Homelander stores milk in baby bottles rather than drinking it through glasses or cups (though he does that as well). He doesn’t just want the milk; he wants to get as close as possible to the feeling that someone who loves him has made it for him. It’s about the feeling he gets from chugging the drink and what it represents.

That’s all but confirmed since both Madelyn and Firecracker have nursed the adult Homelander, transforming him into a vulnerable, child-like state when they do. Thus, Homelander’s obsession isn’t with milk; it’s with a deep-seated need for love for which the milk stands. Milk certainly does a body good, as the slogan goes. For Homelander, it’s not his body that needs the milk. It’s his psyche that requires the comfort that comes with drinking it. Stream episodes of The Boys on Prime Video.