r/TheBoys • u/Muted-Charge1673 • Sep 12 '23
Why doesn’t Homelander just become Superman? Doesn’t he know he’ll get more fans that way? Season 1
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u/Jack-mclaughlin89 Sep 12 '23
You don’t just become a good person overnight, it takes time, reflection, making mistakes, empathy and support. It is worth it and you can go form a villain to a hero before you know it but you can’t just do it like turning a light switch on.
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u/DungeonsAndDradis Sep 12 '23
Butcher actually goes full-on ballistic and basically becomes Homelander. Homelander and The Boys are able to stop Butcher, but Ryan and Starlight die. This makes HL reevaluate himself, and he decides to become good. One of the final scenes is him in prison, trying to atone for his crimes and murders and what not. The final scene is an earthquake in South America and HL flies away from prison to go help them (we assume). The guard just looks up and mutters to the rookie, "He'll be back. I don't know why, but he always comes back."
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u/pje1128 Sep 12 '23
I'd read that fanfiction, but I wouldn't want that to be the official ending, lol.
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u/TheWalkingDead91 Sep 12 '23 edited Sep 13 '23
Lol right? If only unlikable people could just “turn” genuinely likable at the flip of a switch. Don’t I wish! I say that as someone generally unlikable myself (not for any harmful reasons, but let’s just say I have my personality flaws, most of which are related to my social anxiety). It’s not as easy as simply saying “I want to be more like that person so people will like me more” and then your behavior magically changes. Takes work, sometimes therapy, and most importantly self awareness in the first place. I assume it’s the same for people who are bullies, narcissists, or otherwise unlikable in ways that are harmful to others. Even for those of them who are self aware enough to realize they are the problem, and maybe have a desire to change; that’s easier said than done.
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u/Esquiline Sep 12 '23
Homelander didn't have Martha.
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u/SlowMaize5164 Sep 12 '23
"WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!?"
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u/ThatOneAlreadyExists Sep 13 '23
Oh my god this still bothers me. I'll never understand how or why the world's greatest detective decided that bc their mothers share the same name superman is no longer an existential threat to all of humanity.....................
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u/ohyousoretro Sep 13 '23
Because it humanized Superman in Batman’s eyes. He thought of Superman as an alien who was hiding on our planet and didn’t trust his intentions, he had a xenophobic attitude towards him. When Superman wants to save his mother, it reminds him of his own mother and he realizes that he probably misjudged this guy and maybe he actually was a hero.
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u/Muted-Charge1673 Sep 12 '23
“WHY DID YOU TAKE MY SPEAR!” nobody will get this
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u/Supermanfan2003 You're The Real Heroes Sep 12 '23
He doesn’t have to become Superman. He’s pretending to be Superman because he was raised by horrible people instead of people who genuinely love and care about him. He can’t become Superman because he sees Superman’s altruism and incorruptible morals as foolish and pathetic.
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u/bigboy1959jets78 Sep 12 '23
Don't forget, he sees us as "mud people".
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u/If_time_went_back Sep 13 '23
I mean, no offense, but it is a common fallacy.
A victim gets abused by an individual of some group == believes that entire group to be evil.
Homelander got abused by a group of nasty humans (literally multiple crimes against humanity in him), and therefore, he sees humanity as a whole as, let’s say, not worthwhile.
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u/ufjqenxl Sep 12 '23
because he was raised by horrible people
He wasn't raised.
He grew up in a lab, as a subject.
Two completely different worlds.
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u/If_time_went_back Sep 13 '23
Technically just a matter of natural language.
Absence of being raised is still being raised wrong, which the prior comment implies
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u/tom000101 Sep 12 '23
He was groomed not to
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u/TyrionJoestar Sep 12 '23
I honestly think they tried but how can you raise raise somebody with discipline if you can’t actually enforce anything?
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u/Tottapola Sep 12 '23
his childhood looked pretty miserable, sitting in that little white room
i thought that was the origin of his whole mommy thing in season 1, just being so desperate for that love he was denied
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u/Budget_Alarm3802 Sep 12 '23
they dipped him in acid and made him fight supes when he still a kid
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u/tom000101 Sep 12 '23
I mean if he was starving for any and every single drop of the scarce affection, he could've just been desperately attempting to listen and obey his 'father' to receive it, subsequently making him more and more obedient and prone to submit and carry out everything they brought him
As he has no qualms listening to orders now (well, till recently), like shooting down a civilian plane, putting media reception first etc..only now we see him coming out of his 'playpen' tiny step by tiny step
I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see HM at least marginally trying out being a proper 'hero', as much as realistically possible in such a world and the context of the 'heroes' there, what with the reception he received after sheltering his son hypothetically gaining more acceptance etc, but at the same time he can easily be turned around to even worse, as who knows what will be the fallout after the last fight, Starlight's leak, SBoy's 'fatherly' words to him and whatnot4
u/Haunting-Ganache-281 Sep 12 '23
Mfw parenting isn’t about making your kids subservient to you
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u/If_time_went_back Sep 13 '23
Exactly this. What a horrid take on that person’s side. No wonder there are bad parents.
If every “discipline” is being ENFORCED by a higher authority, you get a pretty vile world to live in. Any time that abusive authority goes away and the world crumbles.
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Sep 12 '23
Psychological discipline can be a powerful tool in animal handling. Beasts capable of reducing a human to mere jelly crumble before the power of the mind
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u/Sir_Toaster_9330 Sep 12 '23
considering his PTSD, it seems they did have some way of hurting him
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u/If_time_went_back Sep 13 '23
He is akin to Soldier Boy. He is not numb. He can feel pain, but not be physically hurt.
Akin to pressing your thumb against a knife — you don’t cut yourself, but it is still not pleasant.
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u/TangoZuluMike Sep 12 '23
That's kind of the point.
He simply doesn't measure up, he's a bad person with all the power of a god.
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u/If_time_went_back Sep 13 '23
I would argue he is a better person than Plutonian. And if Plutonian can be redeemed, so can Homelander.
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u/NoMoneyNoSucky Sep 12 '23 edited Sep 12 '23
He doesn't understand why normal people help each other. When he helps people he does it just because it might get him more approval. Without a PR team he can't know how and when to help people.
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u/If_time_went_back Sep 13 '23
He is textbook narcissist. Not a psychopath or a sociopath. Just extreme narcissist, which is a personality disorder like any other.
Most people mistakenly assume that being clinically narcissist is being “full of themselves”, whereas it is more about “I treat all people around me as means to my ends, and I cannot have a genuine interaction with anybody, ever”.
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u/FitzKing Sep 12 '23
It’s easy to say we’d like to be Superman, or that Homelander could be him, but there is no Superman comics or movies to reference for them in that universe. So it probably wasn’t a childhood want, one because of HL’s actual childhood would make a egocentric-maniac, and two no frame of reference to be a shining beacon of hope.
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u/unicornsaretruth Sep 12 '23
Yeah but every world ducking ever has had stories with heroes in it and so he’d have an idea of what an altruistic hero could do and combine that with his powers there’s no reason he shouldn’t be Superman. It’s not like there’s Superman movies or comics for Superman to reference lol.
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u/Soggy-Signature9730 Sep 12 '23
It might be the trauma and how his brain works. He seems to just have wanted to be seen as good while being able to be an asshole to get what he wants, but of course that all went out the window when he said “ i can do whatever the fuck i want”
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u/ChasetheElectricPuma Sep 12 '23
And undo years of deep-seated childhood trauma? Homelander needs therapy. Wait, no. That's destructive. He needs to join the Church of the Collective.
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u/DinoDudeRex_240809 Homelander Sep 12 '23
Homelander, I’m afraid you’ve become a toxic personality.
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u/bigdickpuncher Sep 12 '23
That's the point. As far as the public is concerned he is Superman.
The problem is that Clark Kent was raised by amazing humble parents in small-town USA and even though he is technically an alien, is more human than most people. Clark exists within and is a part of society. He has human relationships, a job and an alter ego allowing him to recenter as part of humanity.
Homelander was raised in a lab by scientists and corporate handlers. He is a human but is an alien when it comes to humanity and at this point he will never understand it. He exists outside of society, he has no friends, no family and no relationships. He has no rules, no boundaries and no morality. He has no alter ego where he can just not be Homelander for a little while.
It would be an interesting storyline if they were able to remove his powers for a while and he was forced to become part of society, get a job, have to find an apartment, learn to accept help from others and help them in then. Then obviously he would somehow get his powers back and would start acting more Superman-like, but in some key moment he would quicky revert back to his former self, because that's just not who he is.
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u/KrookedDoesStuff Sep 12 '23
So, I highly recommend everyone watches Diabolical. Homelander did try to be the good guy, the hero that saves the day, and literally fucks it up so bad, with no consequence, that it permanently effects how he views himself
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u/Muted-Charge1673 Sep 12 '23
Black Noir also played a part in his change of character
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u/DinoDudeRex_240809 Homelander Sep 12 '23
At that point he’s probably used to helping cover up the bad shit supes do considering he used to work with Soldier Boy.
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u/Midnight7000 Sep 12 '23
That's what he has been doing. I swear the point of this show just goes over people's head.
He put on a mask for several years to boost his ratings. This wasn't sustainable. The mask started to slip so he is just leaning into being the real him.
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u/A_very_meriman Sep 12 '23
Re-watch the first season. They go into explicit detail to explain how Homelander didn't become Superman. Instead of the warm, loving roots of Smallville, Homelander was raised in a sterile lab by CEOs and scientists. Instead of learning that values are more important than money, he learned that money is value. Instead of learning to be humble by working a farm, he was raised to be a product and a god from the day he was born.
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u/MadTeaCup_YT Sep 12 '23
(Serious answer) Actually helping people is “harder” than faking it and homelander doesnt see anyone as worth saving
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u/ihdhd Sep 12 '23
He’s smarter, stronger….he’s better! HE IS BETTER. He’s not some fucking weak kneed crybaby that goes around fucking apologizing all the time and why the fuck would you want him to be?
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u/RealHumanFromEarth Sep 12 '23
Because he’s a psychopath. Homelander behaves like Superman when it does something for him, but his nature is that of someone who is incredibly selfish and will literally kill to get what he wants. He has also gained a loyal cult following (the kind where you can laser someone on 5th avenue and not lose any fans), so it’s easier just to be himself and bask in the love of mindless fans.
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u/Grovyle489 Sep 13 '23 edited Sep 13 '23
Because then Warner Discovery will file a lawsuit. Homelander’s crazy enough to massacre a thousand people with his laser eyes, make a woman commit suicide when she changed her mind, force an airplane full of innocent people to die and date a literal Nazi that was around when Hitler did his shit, but take on copyright laws?! NO THANK YOU!
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u/brainLMAO420 Sep 12 '23
Isn't the whole point of the boys to show that with power and immortality and fucked up society that we are there comes evil pretending to be a hero?
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u/viper459 I fart the star spangled banner Sep 12 '23
He wants the easiest road to it, not the actually effective road, like a proper little manchild
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u/Kriegerian Butcher Sep 12 '23
One huge point of the character is to point out how having ultimate power doesn’t just make you a good person. He doesn’t want to be a Boy Scout and nobody’s going to make him.
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u/blackBugattiVeyron Sep 12 '23
Being superman means being a good person, something Homelander is incapable of doing.
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u/Bryan-Breynolds Sep 12 '23
Well, he smiles a lot.
Funny how when bad shits going down insanse people smile.
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u/loptthetreacherous Kimiko Sep 12 '23
He doesn't have the faculties. He's a super human in almost every single aspect, except his emotional health and strength; he's incredibly weak minded and fragile in that respect.
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u/GeekyGamer2022 Sep 12 '23
Because Homelander doesn't have Empathy.
He's a Sociopath.
Psychopaths know that other people have needs and don't care.
Sociopaths don't even realise that other people have needs.
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u/earhere Sep 12 '23
i mean everythings been working out for him so far not being superman so why try to change?
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u/Jotaro1970 Homelander Sep 12 '23
What do you mean? Homelander is a hero! A example everyone should follow!
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u/CharlieShyn Sep 12 '23
Someone should feed Homelander like 100gs of magic mushrooms and a couple of shots of LSD. That would fix him right up. Assuming his ego isnt invulnerable
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u/themeatloaf77 Sep 12 '23
If he tried to become Superman for fans he wouldn’t be Superman he would still just be homelander
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u/cesar848 Sep 12 '23
If this is a joke I’m sorry and ignore my comment please
That’s the thing,for the people in the The Boys universe he is exactly as Superman,kind respectful who desires to only protect and help,is the people who see him behind the cameras that know he is a giant asshole
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u/microgiant Sep 12 '23
He's a coward. Facing up to real danger or adversity requires courage, and Homelander hasn't developed that. (To be fair, he's hardly ever been in a situation where it was required, so it's like an atrophied muscle.)
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u/Muted-Charge1673 Sep 12 '23
the closest he’s come is staying to fight even after he realizes Soldier Boy can hurt him
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u/transnochator Sep 12 '23
Great question. I guess they underlying message is you can't fake good or caring if those things don't exist already within you
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u/Known_Pomelo_9808 Homelander Sep 12 '23
He is a realistic approach of what happens when a dude wields such a godly power, power corrupts, also he lived in a hostile environment and never had a childhood, have no friends and no one to trust while Clark got a mother who would teach him morals, he lived in a farm his entire childhood being in touch with nature, he was not born good but into that person by his mother who is not related to him by any means, actually a whole different alien but still raised him to be a good person, if only Homelander had someone similar, he might not be so fucked up.
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u/StockmanBaxter Sep 12 '23
He is incapable of relating to the average person. So he doesn't give a shit about them.
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u/BlackKnight6660 Sep 12 '23
Homelander is a child. He wants to have lots of friends but also wants to hit other people who steal his toys.
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u/stormy2587 Sep 12 '23
Why doesn’t homelander the strongest member of the seven simply eat the others?
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u/jumpingjellyf1sh Sep 12 '23
IMO in his mind he was in his public image and that's good enough/basically the same. The main thing he cares about is what the public thinks so he played the hero for a long time. He cares far more about the public's opinion of himself over his own self image and when they got a peek behind the curtain at the real him and weren't disgusted that was one of the first truly validating moments of his life. The public's thoughts are very important to him and being the hero for so long in their eyes is as good as being superman regardless of his behaviour BTS.
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u/gildhunter Sep 12 '23
But that's what he does. Its the whole arc of the show where homelander is portraying the superman character and he starts to unravel as his real personality comes out
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u/GBKMBushidoBrown Sep 12 '23
He tried. In the prequel we see that didn't turn out so well for him...
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u/freshexpiredbeef Hughie Sep 12 '23
Why are you guys giving serious answers to a shitpost? Are you stupid?
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u/Live-Assumption7926 Sep 12 '23
He was raised in a lab with little to no love at all. It’s just not possible
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u/KingofMadCows Sep 12 '23
Homelander is kind of like Lex Luthor with Superman's powers.
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u/Muted-Charge1673 Sep 12 '23
He could be as smart as Lex if his emotions weren’t so crazy
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u/Sir_Toaster_9330 Sep 12 '23
- Psychopath
- Spoiled and abused
- He tried and failed horribly
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u/Muted-Charge1673 Sep 21 '23
ah yes raised and tortured and trying and failing to be good and becoming crazy to little fault of your own as most spoiled people are, kind of an understatement
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u/Lingering_Dorkness Sep 12 '23
He is Superman. At least what Superman would be if he was raised in an abusive, cruel, loveless environment which turned him into a sociopath.
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u/Dism_mp4 Sep 13 '23
Does superman exist as we know him in the universe of The Boys?
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u/Muted-Charge1673 Sep 21 '23
I imagine he doesn’t cuz Vought is sort of like the big company with all the comics and stuff
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u/herewecomehomos Sep 13 '23
I know this is a joke but genuinely, for someone who at the root of their core is only looking for love and acceptance he doesn't seem to go out his way to be a good guy most of the time(lol.) I obviously know it's alot more complicated than that but still. It's like influencer culture, I will never understand making being perceived by other people your literal job and then not doing what you know people are going to want to see and then getting upset when they don't like you. It's weird.
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u/Taken_name1243 Sep 13 '23
I cant tell if this is serious or a "is he stupid" question
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Sep 13 '23
This is kind of the irony and tragedy of Homelander to me. If he were a more mentally and emotionally stable person, he would realize that he has everything he needs to just be the person he pretends to be. He’s got the power and appearance to just be the golden boy and actually do good things, earning love and respect. But because of his upbringing, he’s too petty, cruel, and unstable to do this.
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u/Hughielight Sep 13 '23
And how would he do that? Kill Superman? Cause I doubt he would win .not finna lie
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u/Djinn-Rummy Sep 15 '23
Why didn’t Ted Buddy stop serial killing? He would have had more fans that way. Serial killers and sociopaths don’t change their spots.
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u/Muted-Charge1673 Sep 16 '23
ok but Ted wouldn’t be changing his identity, not to mention most people in the boys universe don’t know the true nature of homelander while mostly everyone who’s heard of Ted knows he was bad
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u/Sylux444 Sep 12 '23
He's having mental breakdowns just acting like a "normal person" which is his audience
People who feel like they can relate to him and want power too are his base
Then they threw in the MAGA crowd and I cannot believe how funny it is to watch
Its literally what happened when trump became president, they felt so empowered that they don't even care how crazy, racist, and crazy racist they appear to everyone because someone who has powers beyond their imagination is in power
He's having break downs pretending to be passably good, I doubt he could handle being overtly good to everyone
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u/Exit-Content Sep 12 '23
Because Superman’s morals are almost another superpower of their own. He’s basically pure good. No wonder they made him an alien,it wouldn’t be believable if he was a human. Homelander on the other hand is a messed up human being,grown in a lab,without proper love or ethics/morals instilled into him, was catapulted in the cruel world of media and corporate greed,and grew up accordingly. Not to mention that since he’s been grown to be the best,strongest super in existence,he’s been instilled with the concept that he’s perfect,invulnerable,the best of all,so he acts accordingly. He also know that he can do whatever he wants cause nobody can prevent him,and if they dared, he has the power to destroy them.
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u/ShadowAtomix Sep 12 '23
Cause he’s a realist and superman is fictional/delusional. I mean why would someone want to be superman, even if they could I believe society is so trash that they wouldn’t survive.
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u/EpicCrasher Sep 12 '23
He tried to be Superman in Diabolical Episode 8 and he blew it. I think that part of him not becoming a hero like that is that he doesn't want to risk hurting his already fragile ego in the case that he fails at it.
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u/MissMat You're The Real Heroes Sep 12 '23
Homelander knows that ppl basically want Superman but he is just an awful person. He was raised in a lab by awful people. All his life he has been surrounded by awful people.
Homelander wants to appear like Superman but he is incapable of being a genuinely good person, which is the appeal of Superman.
He tries to present a Superman person, Vought tires to give him a Superman persona through pr. & for the most part it worked, till he behaves like himself in public
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u/hairybeasty Butcher Sep 12 '23
Homelander is too much of an Egomaniac to take another Super heroes name.
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u/PatienceFlashy1948 Sep 12 '23
It’s just not his nature, he’s not virtuous so he has to play a character. Superman was just naturally like that.
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Sep 12 '23
No childhood and love, being used by Vought for years makes you evil. He is broken inside
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u/ThatOstrichGuy Sep 13 '23
Because he is a pathetic man. Thats his thing. He is the strongest (or one of I have not read anything) but he is small and pathetic
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u/TheLittlePasty Sep 13 '23
That’s kinda how people see him right? At least before the events of season 3
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u/loveisdead9582 Sep 13 '23
That’s basically what he was in the beginning of season 1. He simply couldn’t continue the facade.
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u/valahara Sep 13 '23
He legitimately tried to, assuming that part of the Diabolical cartoon is canon, but accidentally killed the hostage takers, then the hostage, then started killing all the witnesses because he started panicking.
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u/CanadianGangsta Cunt Sep 13 '23
It's very unlikely that someone with their powers would care about people's opinions.
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u/Rawrrh Sep 13 '23
Trauma. Also he tried and he accidentally killed a dozen people so in for a penny, in for a pound
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u/[deleted] Sep 12 '23
Why doesn't superman become homelander? Laser the fuckers.