Why Homelander Always Ends Up on Top in The Boys

Over the course of a little more than four seasons of Prime Video’s The Boys, Homelander (Anthony Starr) has managed to escape every obstacle thrown in his way, from Butcher’s (Karl Urban) countless attempts to bring him down to his intense battles with his own ego and mortality. Homelander is constantly in conflict, a driving force of the show, while viewers continue to hope the smug Supe will get his comeuppance. But how does Homelander keep managing to worm his way out of increasingly dangerous situations?

Each season viewers get so close to seeing Homelander’s end, but there is always someone worse, a bigger threat — an antagonist that overshadows the unquestionable terrible behavior of the leader of The Seven. Despite all of his superhuman skills and strengths, however, Homelander’s true power is in the qualities that make audiences want to see him get what’s coming to him. Will Season 4 be when Homelander finally meets his maker or will the psychopathic superhero find a way to fly out of harm’s way yet again?

Homelander Managed to Escape Every Situation In Earlier Seasons

In Season 1, it takes some time to understand just how evil and manipulative Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue) truly is, making the despicable things Homelander does seem tame by comparison. By the end of the season, just as the audience thinks Butcher has Homelander right where he wants him, the tables turn. When Homelander burned through Stillwell’s eyeballs, viewers actually applauded the moment, showing that even the worst Supe of them all deserved a little justice when it came to one of the senior leaders of Vought. It was a brilliant piece of storytelling that gave some hope that Homelander might be redeemable.

That redemption story was short-lived, because Season 2 of The Boys sees hatred for Homelander growing as fast as the anticipation to have him killed. Enter Stormfront (Aya Cash). At first glance, her character seems poised to take over; her popularity is skyrocketing, she’s got social media in the palm of her hands, and she comes across as likable to audiencesu — until the ugly truth is revealed. For all the chaos he causes in Season 2, Homelander gets (rightfully) overshadowed by his girlfriend’s Nazi origins. And similar to Season 1, just when it looks like Butcher and The Boys have him right where they want him, Homelander walks away again, still the leader of The Seven, still a sociopath.

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Who better to wash away the stink of Stormfront and renew viewers’ hopes for Homelander’s demise than the original Supe, Solider Boy (Jensen Ackles)? Soldier Boy shows up in Season 3 to “depower” other Supes and help Butcher finally bring down Homelander. Throughout Season 3, Homelander maneuvers all he can to reclaim his own power at Vought Tower, secretly dealing with Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), but it’s Solider Boy’s biological secret that helps Homelander rock the Supe-Verse. In the Season 3 finale, when Ryan tries to intervene to save Homelander, Soldier Boy pivots his attention to the pre-teen offspring, once more preserving Homelander’s safety and giving Butcher and company another enemy that has to be stopped before Homelander is brought down.

How Will Homelander Survive Season 4?

Through the first three episodes of Season 4 of The Boys, viewers see a Homelander who is being pulled in many directions: his son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), is becoming increasingly curious about his place in the Ivory Tower of The Seven and Homelander’s world. Growing frustrated with all the questions, Homelander appears ready to give up on his son. At the same time, the most dangerous Supe in the world is going gray — an absolutely terrible thing to happen to an ego-driven maniac.

With his plate overflowing, Homelander enlists the help of the “smartest woman person in the world,” a decision that viewers are led to believe is helpful; it doesn’t take long to see that he’s already annoyed with Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), killing another innocent in front of her to show his disregard for humans. What does all this mean? Will Sage end up this season’s “big bad?” Another way for Homelander to remain unscathed by Butcher and the crew? Audiences will have to wait to find out, but the people that have had any power over Homelander usually don’t end up doing so well.

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Will Homelander and Butcher finally have the showdown viewers have clamored for in Season 4? Or will this be the final great escape for Homelander heading toward the series finale next year? Could another volatile threat rise to grab the attention of The Boys? The aforementioned Sister Sage could be a candidate, as could the head-popping Supe and newly-elected Vice President, Victoria Neuman. A long-shot in this could be The Deep (Chace Crawford), the dimwitted Lord of the Seven Seas. But don’t sleep on Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan); just the appearance of Morgan in the show has fans on the edge of their seats. One thing is for sure, Homelander will eventually meet his end — and that is…Diabolical.

The Boys Season 4 is now streaming on Prime Video, with a new episode released weekly.