Summary

• Homelander, the most powerful Supe in The Boys, is not indestructible and would not survive a nuclear bomb according to a backup plan devised by Vought-American.
• The backup contingency against Homelander reveals the limits of his superhuman abilities and shows that even someone as powerful as him is vulnerable to certain forces.
• The Boys definitively proves that Homelander, despite his strength and invulnerability, cannot compete against the destructive power of a nuclear weapon.

The Boys' central antagonist Homelander is powerful, but is he mighty enough to withstand the full brunt of an nuclear bomb? The Supe is one of the strongest, most resilient products ever created by Vought-American. But it turns out the company had a surprising contingency for their ultimate creation the entire time.

The Boys is a satirical superhero story about a small crew of CIA-backed operatives surveilling and, if necessary, taking out the superpowered humans of Earth. In this world, the Supes are the creations of Vought-American, which uses the chemical compound, Compound V, to empower the heroes and make money off their endeavors.

The most well-known and beloved hero is the Superman-like hero Homelander. While he pales in comparison to the genuine Man of Steel, he's still one of the strongest Supes in the world. Homelander's power level and his array of abilities make him all the more terrifying as Homelander starts to lose it over the course of The Boys.

Vought-American Knows Homelander Wouldn't Survive a Nuclear Bomb

In The Boys #61 by Garth Ennis and Russell Braun, Vought-American executive Jasper Stillwell discusses the company's plans with his protégé, Jessica Bradley. After meeting with Team Titanic, the two discuss how Homelander will be handled as Vought-American plans its next moves. Stillwell reveals that the company has contingencies in place and reveals that a nuclear bomb would be more than enough firepower to take care of Homelander. Bradley surmises that Stillwell plans to bomb Herogasm, the Supes' annual orgy. Stillwell its that such a plan has been discussed, but due to the level of attention that would attract, Vought-American has a more deft contingency prepared to take out Homelander.

The executives of Vought-American were smart enough to realize that having just one backup plan against Homelander wouldn't be enough (a wise decision given how Homelander's clone, Black Noir, went mad). While the company never enacted this plan against Homelander, it does reveal that the Supe, for all of his strength, isn't indestructible. This makes sense given the story reveals that Homelander is only capable of lifting around 480 tons, well below what someone like Superman could lift. Homelander might be stronger, faster, and even more durable than most people in The Boys. But he's still a human and just as vulnerable to a nuke as anyone else.

The Backup Contingency Against Homelander Reveals His Limits

Though the 'heroes' of The Boys are almost all pastiches of more famous comic book characters, they're just modified humans. There's no magic or advanced science other than Compound V, and while it does give people fantastic abilities, it has its limits. Even someone like Homelander, who seemingly has the power of the Man of Steel, is just a person when it comes to a nuclear weapon.

hough it wasn't ever used in the story, The Boys definitively proved that even Homelander just can't compete against the might of a nuke.