Summary
- Homelander's horrifying kills in The Boys #40 is too gruesome for any TV adaptation.
- Homelander escalates from killing to tearing, biting, and even eating victims in an unexplained massacre.
- The Boys comic solved the mystery with a Homelander clone, meaning the TV show can thankfully avoid the comic scene entirely.
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Boys & description of disturbing violence
The most horrifying kill by Homelander in The Boys' comic book is likely too brutal and gruesome to ever appear on the television series. The show, like the comic, features outlandish extremes of violence and brutality. But one murder committed by Homelander In issue #40 of the original comic, and the subsequent 'feast' upon his victim, crosses too many horror lines to be adapted to TV.
In both The Boys TV series from Prime Video and the comic book series, Homelander is one of the scariest, most dangerous Supes alive. While originally published under DC's own Wildstorm imprint (before moving to Dynamite), Homelander is a parody of Superman, who could not be more different morally from the Man of Steel. His ego and short-temper have led to the deaths of hundreds, including the terrible tragedy in which Homelander left a plane of passengers to die to ensure his image remained intact. But Homelander's brutality, bloodlust, and amoral violence is even worse than viewers will believe... even if it wasn't really him who committed the acts in the comic.
The Boys' comics by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Tony Avina, and Simon Bowland made a horrifying reveal about Homelander in the series fortieth issue. In the scene, Vought-American executive James Sitwell is filling in senior officer Jessica Bradley on a Homelander spree which took place 20 years prior. Described as a unique, one-time occurrence, it's revealed that Homelander was once pushed too far, leading to a chaotic montage of him killing, dismembering, and eating people. Most disturbingly, he ate a newborn baby (the images obviously too gruesome to include here).
Related
The Boys: The Gruesome Death of Butcher's Wife The Show Wouldn't Show
In comparison to The Boys TV series, the death of Billy Butcher's wife is somehow even more disturbing in the original comics.
'Why Homelander Snapped' Was A Major Comic Mystery
The Boys #40 by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Tony Avina, and Simon Bowland
One of the major mysteries of The Boys comic is exactly what caused Homelander to snap to this degree. There are several times in the comic where Homelander expresses confusion at his own mental state, and after seeing the pictures of himself committing these extremey, grotesque atrocities, Homelander is absolutely horrified that he could be capable of such a thing. Realizing that he could do and can do anything without punishment, he starts to lean into his villainy (though never quite reaches the insanity and evil expressed in those photos).
In the original comics, this carnage is actually explained as a deception, when it is revealed that Black Noir is actually a Homelander clone, and is the one responsible for committing his worst recorded atrocities (as a direct means to direct Homelander's action). Showrunner Eric Kripke has spoken openly about his decision to ignore the Homelander clone for The Boys TV show, making this scene unnecessary. The series hasn't been shy about featuring either violence or objectionable content of all manners, but it is something entirely different to depict Homelander eating a baby in live-action.
TV Homelander is More Brutal Than The Comics, Anyway
The TV show version of Homelander is different from this comic incarnation in multiple ways. While the comic version was essentially gaslit into becoming a villain by Black Noir, the TV version of Homelander is evil for a very different reason. Desperate for love and acceptance, Homelander is only ever exposed to fear and sycophantic behavior from the people around him. This has caused him to continue acting out, but Homelander's bursts of violence and evil always have a purpose. But the vicious and heinous actions shown in the comic weren't Homelander's doing at all, merely Black Noir trying to drive him insane. As such, it wouldn't serve a purpose in the story The Boys is trying to tell.
Ultimately, the scene from The Boys' comic is one of the vilest things ever printed in a comic, with no clear advantage or need for the show to adapt it. The Boys TV show isn't modest with violence, but 'Homelander's worst massacre' shouldn't, and likely won't ever be seen outside the comic.
7/10
The Boys
The Boys is a gritty and subversive take on the superhero genre, focusing on a group of vigilantes who confront powerful superheroes abusing their abilities, exploring themes of corruption and moral ambiguity in a world where heroes are not always what they seem.
