Why The Boys Will Never Kill Homelander (Even When It Should)

Why The Boys will never kill Homelander (even though it should). The Boys season 3 saw Homelander’s rise to power. With Stan Edgar out of the way at Vought and Victoria Neuman on his side, the leader of the Seven took his power trip to a whole new level. Soldier Boy got pretty close to killing him, but Homelander managed to survive the season despite Billy Butcher and Hughie taking Compound V24, which gave them temporary powers, to fight him.

To be sure, a series like The Boys has plenty of villains. Almost everyone lives in the morally gray area where their actions can be terrible and noble, fearsome and occasionally worthwhile. However, Homelander is one of the only characters who, despite understanding why he is the way he is, remains a staunch antagonist. His rise to (and abuse of) power has only solidified his status. Since season 1, Butcher and the Boys have grappled with how to kill him. Their goals may shift from season to season, but they can all agree Homelander remains a menace they need to get rid of. Soldier Boy is the closest they got to killing off Homelander, but the Prime Video series seems hesitant to finally pull the trigger.

The Boys will likely never kill Homelander — at least not until the final season. He’s too good a villain and there are always new layers to explore. In season 4, it’s possible the series will showcase Homelander as a father to Ryan and there are a lot of intriguing subplots The Boys can mine from that alone. Currently, he’s one of the few on the show who has managed to antagonize most every character. While every season has included another adversary for the Boys to fight (like Stormfront), none have lasted more than one season. To finally kill off Homelander would mean The Boys must go in search of a new central figure to pit against the titular characters and dispose of the one Supe who strikes terror in everyone. It could also mean The Boys would lose its momentum, especially since so much of the storylines revolve around Homelander and his actions.

Why The Boys Should Kill Off Homelander

Homelander seems unkillable at this point, but The Boys has to deliver on Butcher’s vendetta against the Supe at some point. Plus, watching Homelander become more powerful and menacing each season without any hope his reign will end is getting to be repetitive. It’s been three seasons of watching the Boys try to fight and lose against Homelander and that gets old after a while; something has to give. Yes, it’s difficult for the characters to get to Homelander without being threatened or dying at his hands, but The Boys season 3 wasted Butcher’s temporary powers on other Supes when they could have at least been used on Homelander more than twice.

The stakes are higher than ever now and, with Homelander at the very top, there is nowhere for him to go but down. Killing him will surely change The Boys, but it’s about time the series also introduced other powerful Supes to be seasons-long villains. Having such a compelling villain like Homelander is a strength of The Boys, but every foe must eventually be defeated. That includes Homelander. And while the series mirrors reality when it comes to those in power not always facing consequences for their actions, The Boys has to face a villain's downfall eventually or risk running its Homelander plot into the ground without any pay off.

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