The Boys never shies away from controversy, whether it's the hit show or the original comic; there's always plenty of shock and discomfort to go around, and Homelander is at the center of a great deal of both. Yet as cruel as TV's Homelander can be, he manages to routinely take that up a notch in the comic series.

Erik Kripke's adaptation of The Boys has included many Homelander scenes that leave audiences squirming in their seats. Anthony Starr's compelling performance adds depth to a character who could easily have been shallow and sadistic in the wrong hands. He still does plenty of objectively terrible things, but even the worst of them doesn't hit exactly the same notes as his comic counterpart.

Homelander from The Boys' comic and live-action, eyes glowing red.

For anyone coming away from watching The Boys with the idea that Homelander is the most terrible guy around, he still isn't half as bad as he could be, even with one season left to play catch-up.

Homelander's Comic Counterpart Was Cruel In A Way That TV Homelander Couldn't Even Imagine

A Deadly Character At The Heart Of A Brutal Story

Homelander sitting in the Oval Office at the President's desk, holding up his head.

To say that Homelander has a lot of skeletons in his closet is a gross understatement; his life has been packed to the brim with atrocities. As one of the most powerful Supes in The Boys' universe, Homelander essentially fills the role of "Evil Superman and Then Some". His sheer power easily outstrips many of the other Supes around, meaning there aren't many who can actually do much to stop him. Although some of his more crazed comic moments actually come at the hands of long-term manipulation (courtesy of Black Noir) he can't get off the hook for them all.

Collage of Homelander and Black Noir in The Boys
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In the comics, some of Homelander's worst offenses center around sexual assault. Unlike the show, where The Deep is responsible for assaulting Starlight, that experience is even more chilling in the comics thanks to Homelander, Black Noir, and A-Train. Similarly, he's responsible for murdering and (presumably) violating the deceased president's head in what can only be described as an unforgettably disturbing moment. Callous murder is always on the table, too, with one of his most needlessly cruel moments costing a family of four their lives when Homelander lifted their car high into the sky and dropped them to their deaths.

Comic Book Homelander Only Pretends To Be A Hero; Really He's The Opposite

His Atrocities On The Page Are Far Worse

There's no sense in pretending like Homelander isn't deranged in Kripke's adaptation, as he's proven on countless occasions just how unhinged he can be. From forcing The Deep to eat Timothy the Octopus (effectively killing his friend so Homelander could assert his authority) to coaxing a Jewish woman to commit suicide to honor a Nazi, he's easily one of the cruelest characters around. In general, for all of the dicey topics and intensely uncomfortable moments the show generates, it just doesn't approach The Boys' comic in of sheer depravity. Most moments are dialed up by ten on the page.

The plane crash in The Boys #21 featrues Homelander giving a racist, slur-infused rant, hitting Maeve, and abandoning the Seven to an utterly botched mission.

One of the show's earliest demonstrations of Homelander's willingness to sacrifice lives happened with his failure to stop Transoceanic Flight 37's crash, despite Maeve's pleading that they do something. He let everyone aboard die to mask his own failure. Yet, as sickening as that scene is in the show, the plane crash in The Boys #21 featrues Homelander giving a racist, slur-infused rant, hitting Maeve, and abandoning the Seven to an utterly botched mission. The plane still goes down, revealing not only what a terrible person he is but his incompetence and impatience as a leader and a supposed hero.

Homelander's Actions Put Him Far Beyond Redemption, No Matter Their Root Cause

An Unforgivable Character In Every Way

The Boys' Homelander flying outside someone's office in the comics.

There is no universe where Homelander deserves to be forgiven of any of his crimes. In both the comics and the show, his list of heinous acts is impossible to keep up with. The show grants a level of depth the comics don't quite achieve and removes a few of the characters' abrasive qualities, as well as skipping out on (or redistributing) some of his more vomit-worthy scenes, but none of that comes anywhere close to making him redeemable. On a ranked scale, Homelander is noticeably worse in the The Boys comics, but he's a warped and twisted individual in any form.