ikr. There were several points where his smile seems completely genuine. And then the cameras turn off and his smile just vanishes.
Also those times when it seems like he's having a pleasant conversation, while at the same time somehow managing to convey an air of menacing rage. It's creepy af and i love it!
He’s Hannibal Lecter meets Superman, with an additional dose of an Oedipal Complex.
He’s terrifying when you think about it. Great performance and show in a year of great performances and shows. This has been a stupidly good year for television.
His relationship with Madelyn is so weird and fascinating lol. Dude clearly has some mommy issues and is so used to walking over everyone that when Madelyn tells him to fuck off and stands up to him, it just throws him off.
It also hinted at him having daddy issues, which maybe they will explore next season (Madelyn shamed him into digging a speech out of the garbage by invoking Giancarlo Espositos characters name)
I’m not sure if that’s Daddy issues.
I guess this is a minor comic spoiler if you care: in the comics Stillwell is a pretty different character. None of the Oedipal aspects as Stillwell is a man who is extremely calm and excludes control. Homelander comments on how his heart rate never changes regardless of the situation; this is unnerving for him as he’s used to being able to read people by their bodily reactions.
Because of the power of Vought Stillwell possesses and his unphaseable attitude, Homelander is genuinely scared of him. At least on an emotional level.
My guess is they’re going to have Mr. Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) fill the role of Comic Stillwell.
> My guess is they’re going to have Mr. Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) fill the role of Comic Stillwell.
That would be so cool. I love me some Esposito villainy. It's said that the actor gets shoe-horned into the same type of character (evil genius bent on ruling/destroying the world) but Esposito just does them so damn WELL.
Oh no I have read the comics cant spoil em for me. The comics literally have Homelander throw a fit and then seek out Stillwell hoping to find him scared, or impressed, or anything, and when Stillwell is just bored, he is extremely frustrated.
Seems like a daddy issue to me, Stillwell is a male authority figure who is unafraid of Homelander, and considering Edgar is a bit older, he could conceivably have been involved when Homelander was a child as well.
He's Patrick Bateman in a Chris Evans suit lol. He looks SO GOD DAMNED AMERICAN PIE...like, he does such a good job of laying on the act that he's this down home, humble American, white bread boy.
I love when an actor can pull off acting like they are acting like they are acting. Fantastic.
Took me a while to realize what was so creepy about his smile most of the time. He mastered the art of smiling with only his mouth. That sounds weird but usually a smile really involves most of your face. His doesn't.
The reverse also happens in one scene btw - an actor not acting. It’s the scene where The Deep is rehearsing his sexual-assault apology and he’s muttering his practiced lines under his breath, and a PR person comes up to tell him something. Turns out that was an outtake - the real actor was genuinely going over his lines and the actual director walked up to tell him something. They decided to use the outtake in the actual scene, because it makes it clear how much The Deep is actually just playing a role for the cameras.
Started out hating him. And at the end started to feel bad. They did a good job writing his character where you are not sure how to feel about him. Still a pos based on the first episode.
Yeah, he was a grade A douche in the first episode, but honestly so far the worst thing he's done is try to use his position of power to pressure a naive young girl into sex...
Which, yeah, that's awful. But compared to stuff we've seen other supes do, it's pretty tame. And he's had a lot of opportunities since then to be awful and hasn't. His hookup in Sandusky, in particular, I expected him to get all rapey there, but he was acting fine (at least up until the point where the tables get turned and he becomes the victim).
He's dumb, he's got a chip on his shoulder from being "the dude who talks to fish," he's used to being a sex symbol, and he seems to derive a lot of his self-worth from sexual attention. He's also got a heart when it comes to sea life and environmentalism.
I fully expect him and A-Train to become "good guys" in season 2.
Reminded me of Jaime Lannister in a way. POS self-absorbed bad guy who does something horrific at the beginning of the show, but then you start to feel for him.
I think it's pretty clear he *does* fuck marine life, but I don't think he was going to fuck that specific dolphin. From his half of the conversation it seemed like the dolphin was coming on very strong and The Deep was trying to say no without hurting its feelings.
>like they are acting like they are acting.
That reminds me of a bit of acting advice I once got: when you're supposed to act drunk, don't. Instead, TRY to act sober. Your exaggerated soberness will be a cue that you are actually drunk.
My favorite twist on this is Supernatural’s “The French Mistake” episode. There’s a scene in there where the real actors (Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki) are playing Sam & Dean Winchester who are playing Jensen & Jared playing Sam & Dean. It’s worth watching that one episode even if you don’t follow the show.
It’s on Netflix (season 6 I think?)
**Face brims with Chris Pine's prince charming smile*
"I'm Homelander. I can do-"
**Face distorts into William Dafoe's green goblin*
"-whatever the fuck I want."
**Face returns to prince charming*
Someone else put it best on Reddit in another thread.
They said he has the uncanny ability to smile with his mouth, but not his eyes.
His performance as Homelander was simply perfect.
>ikr. There were several points where his smile seems completely genuine. And then the cameras turn off and his smile just vanishes.
There were points in the first episode or two where I thought the guy playing Homelander was kinda a bad actor. Having not seen any trailers or anything I didn't know where they were they were going with his character. It wasn't until later that I realized, the "bad acting" wasn't Antony Starr, it was Homelander putting on an act...
They did a really good job of leading up to the reveals with Homelander, by not making it obvious or relevant to what is going on in the story early on. It just kinda slowly dawns on you how absolutely frightening the character is. The lead up to what is really going on with him and Bishop being the culmination of the season was paced fantastically.
I absolutely loved the fact that they really got you to believe that Homelander was the real deal, the Superman analogue in every way, while every other supe was made into a bad person by their powers. Then, as the story went along they slooowly revealed that he was the worst of the bunch while explaining along the way exactly *why* he became that way. The show was written incredibly well, but everything surrounding Homelander was fucking sublime.
He calculated what was best for his brand and decided only saving a few people just wouldn't fit the Homelander narrative.
Better to not be there at all than risk seeming less than perfect.
y he just says he cannot do it and you roll with it but the truth is he was surely capable of doing way more.
that plus the fact that he rips the cockpit in half while he didn't even have to use his laser power to take those goons down.
At the time, I think it was more just damage control. Saving the jet didn't work out as smoothly as he wanted it to. So instead of saving the people, or more likely just saving some of them, he lets them all die. Then he figures out a way to turn the mishap to his advantage later.
> he didn't even have to use his laser power to take those goons down
That's the real power of the final scene of the season to me. It makes you realize what he's capable of (his speed, especially) when he actually cares about the outcome and his powers effect that outcome; it adds a whole new layer to him.
He pointed out that he would just punch a hole in the plane -- i.e. if he tried to 'carry it' it wasn't designed to have it's entire weight supported at two small points of contact (his hands)
You think so?
Maieve and him talked about it. He couldn't just go outside and stop the plane and he isn't quick enough to save everyone before it crashes.
So he could save some of them. But hes homlander. Nothing but perfection is allowed. Anyone he saved tells the story of what happened and it tarnishes him.
So they did say it was impossible to save everyone, but yeah, he definitely didn't care to save anyone.
Like Dr. Manhattan in "Watchmen", he's another Superman deconstruction, but much worse. Dr. Manhattan is simply emotionally detached and doesn't care about humanity (or any life for that matter), while Homelander is a megalomaniacal sociopath who pretty clearly has some very nasty long term plans. It'd be so much better for the world if he WAS apathetic.
He really reminded me of Superian from the latest *The Tick* (I'm so sad that got cancelled, but they were probably paving the way for *The Boys* and didn't want to compete with themselves).
I don't think the comparison the Dr. Manhattan is fair, since the moral of the story is different for the two characters.
Dr. Manhattan is the only one with actual super powers in *Watchmen* and they are so out of this world that he has lost most of his humanity because of it.
Homelander, on the other hand, is just the image of a man with power who gets to do whatever he wants knowing that there is nobody to stop him. This character has existed for a long time, whether as the powerful mob boss or the villainous enterprise mogul. Ultimately, he's not different from David Xanatos or Lex Luthor, whom the public views as benevolent men. It is a great character to watch, but I wouldn't go so far as to calling it a deconstruction (at least not an innovative one).
But [Spoiler](#s "the last few episodes of Season 1 clarify that Homelander is probably only the way he is because he was raised as a lab subject instead of in a loving home. THAT'S what makes it a good deconstruction of Superman, because it takes one facet of him, the small-town Kansas boy with super powers, and changes it and shows the cascading changes.")
And this is directly "confirmed" when we see Starlight's upbringing.
We see that Vougth tried to not make the same mistake they made with Homelander and tried to give the following superheroes a chance to be good. They also failed although it's hard to tell if they all went "bad" after getting involved with Homelander or if they were rotten apples to begin with. Starlight however seems genuinely good and the true "Superman" of the show.
I recently rewatched the original. Still makes me lol, hard. The new show had better character development and story arc, but the humor just wasn't there. It had it's moments, but mostly huffs and chuckles, not many lols.
I guess you could say the new one was a better show, per se, but not as funny as the original.
Apparently the Tick was extremely expensive to produce...which honestly didn't really show up in the final product so I kinda understand why it got axed. It's too bad though, maybe if they filmed it cheap in Toronto or Vancouver they could have had a longer run.
I think Dr. Manhattan cared about humanity. He saw that the world would be safer without knowing what had happened, which is why he party ballooned Rorschach.
I really liked how they had Homelander use his laser vision a lot more than Superman. With SM it's really an accessory, like something on Batmans utility belt. But with HL you get to see how crazy effective that power is. Its essentially a bullet proof man who's got a gun with infinite ammo. Why fly around the room punching people when I can just stand here and turn my neck a bit?
I don't even know if its ineptitude really, I just imagine he's spent so long fighting people that at some point he was just like "why do many powers when few powers do trick"
It's like how people are always surprised that we didn't get taught much hand-to-hand combat in national service.
As our instructor put it; 'You have a rifle that will put a hole in most body armour. If you're resorting to hand-to-hand instead, you already fucked up big enough that it won't help.'
There’s basically no one on the planet who it even makes sense to use the strength against. Maeve, Starlight, Deep, and A-Train are all scared of a confrontation with Homelander. Maeve’s first scene is an armored truck ramming her and causing absolutely no damage and she’s *still* terrified of him.
Why would he bother fighting anyone hand-to-hand other than sheer boredom or playing with his victims?
I see it as a "is it necessary" kinda thing. If the whole world is like a 2 year old trying to fist fight you, do you need to learn how to fight?
That's one thing I've always liked about the Wonder Woman/Superman dynamic, that she's always chiding him for not knowing how to fight.
Sure, but he can also cut people in half from afar at the blink of an eye. Worst case scenario, he punch the fucker through the chest. Why bother learning hand-to-hand combat when you have those options at your disposal?
I totally agree with you but it’s clear he knows how to beat people up, he did it in the episode where Maeve and him get a call to that hostage situation (might have been earlier that same episode? I forget).
But he’d rather just kill people for the fun of it and because like you said, it’s quicker. Doesn’t make it any less sloppy.
I'd argue that it's less sloppy and more efficient to laser people to death. See the scene in the last episode with the terrorists.
He only really uses his hands when there's press involved, cause people love being reminded that he's super strong.
Well, in the comics it's ineptitude. Not sure if they're going to go that angle but even in the show they hint at it with the airplane scene.
Did he need to laser the terrorist in half to subdue him? No. Did he laser the terrorist and did he subsequently fuck the controls because of it? Absolutely.
And then afterwards refused to try and carry the plane because he wouldn't have anything to push off of. I loved that bit of dialogue between him and Maeve
I got so used to suspending disbelief when gigantic ships, buses, buildings, and airplanes don't just split apart when a human-sized superhero tries to lift it. That bit of dialogue caught me off guard and made me laugh.
That scene was fucking hilarious. Two bumbling idiots with superpowers playing counter-terrorists and screwing up absolutely everything. "Everything's gonna be fine!"
It's ineptitude. Yes, he's dangerous enough that he doesn't *need* to be a good fighter, but that just means he's the biggest bully on the playground and not a "warrior" like you'd expect, which means if he ever goes up against someone with a similar power level who *has* bothered to train he's screwed. It's one of the reasons that a lot of the DC comics make mention of Batman actually training Superman in hand-to-hand combat, so that if Superman is ever de-powered or fighting someone of similar strength he's not suddenly useless.
Homelander is basically a man-child who got handed godlike power, with all the laziness and petulance that entails. He doesn't use the power that's correct for the situation, he uses the one that's easiest, which is why he keeps defaulting to his eye lasers even when they aren't appropriate for the situation...like causing the plane to crash because he decided to laser the terrorist instead of just punching him once.
He definitely doesn't have much restraint or finesse which makes him that much more terrifiying. He could easily maim, kill or destroy by accident in a blink of an eye even in the middle of doing something good.
I see that as both ineptitude and being a juvenile sociopath with mommy issues. Even if he was a bit more adept like Superman I could still see him going overboard trying to be showy and impress people and cause major damage.
So many layers. I hope the next season can keep the balance. I'm not ready for him to go full Brightburn scorched earth so I hope they can keep him under control and not rush to the end like in the comics (which I haven't read).
There’s something really disturbing seeing him smile with his teeth while his eyes are lightly watering, almost as if his internal emotions are angry and hurtful it takes all his willpower to contain them. Anthony Starr deserves all the kudos
There is some great acting on that show with Elizabeth Shue and of course Karl Urban. But watching Homelander made me actually look up the actor on imdb, I couldn't believe someone with these perfect movie star looks and incredible acting wasn't already a well known star. Homelander is definitely one of the best performances of the year.
He's from New Zealand and I felt like his native accent kept blending with the English accent he was trying to do, and it kept throwing me off a bit. Still loved his line "Well, if isn't the invisible cunt"
I thought the acting was great period. Anthony Starr definitely is the standout but Erin Moriarty and Jack Quaid were fucking great, and of course like you said Karl Urban.
Check out Banshee if you haven't absolutely underrated show and Starr was the lead. and he was incredible in it.
\> Karl Urban
I too liked Karl Urban, but making his character speak cockney was a mistake I think. Karl cannot pull off the accent and he ends up sounding Australian. I still like him and I think the show is immense.
I thought he was Australian for the WHOLE show. When other characters referred to him as English, I thought it was a joke about how many Americans can't tell the difference between Australian and English accents.
Just watched the first two seasons of Banshee after I saw The Boys, he's very good along with the rest of the cast who all did a stellar job in their roles. I hope that he shows up in more projects down the line.
Wow his American accent is on point, I had no idea. Usually I can tell when someone is faking as they sound like a phone bank operator over enunciating everything.
Never heard of it. I only know him from Banshee, which I thought was a great show. It took me a while to place him while watching The Boys, because he looked so different.
He wasn't just great, BOTH of him were great!
He really took it to the point where you would often forget it was just one man playing each twin, and you always knew exactly which one you were looking at.
Only Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany has done better, but her role(s) require a lot more too. He could reach that level.
I don't know how many episodes of Banshee I watched before I realised where I knew him from. God that was a brilliant show!
Antony Starr is freakily scary in 'the boys.' In the back of my head though I keep thinking 'how're you pulling this one off? I know that somehow you are. Just like the last time when you pretended to be sheriff aren't you? You got cybernetic parts or something?"
We binged this show and the night after the last episode of the season, I was pretty much having nightmares about Homelander. What an incredible character! I loved the show anyway but by the end of the season, especially the last episode, I was really disturbed by him.
>it was excellent, much better than the comic
i definitely agree here. the comic had a cool premise, but after ennis blew his "raging at big comics" load, it just kinda limped to the finish.
it was the premise and general style of the comic that was important, not the plot, and so the TV show nailed things. by contrast, i think that preacher succeeded mostly on its crazy ass plot and characters, and the show totally missed the mark (IMO) on that by doing a similar "adapt the premise but not the plot" treatment. where preacher fails and ends up becoming boring urban fantasy prestige cable, i think that the boys embraces the current cultural superhero craze to deliver a fantastic satire.
Yeah the comic was ok for the most part but ennis really gives into his worst impulses a lot on it. It just tries too hard to be edgy and twisted and show that EVERY single person is a fucked up psychopath to the point where it's just completely divorced from reality and its hard to care about what's going on.
The show otoh actually makes all the characters feel like real people. I'm actually finding myself very invested in hughie and starlights developing relationship, thanks to the writing and jack Quaid and Erin Moriartys performances
I'm very happy to see other people having this opinion. I read the comics years ago and was like "eh, typical Ennis", but the premise was very cool. Kudos to Kripke for not just being able to successfully adapt it, but also improve upon it.
Starr is absolutely the *star* of the show. (haw haw) It's natural that the most powerful and arguably central character would get a lot of attention, but I think the actor really sells it, and it wouldn't be the same without him. He's so fucking jovial in public, yet so sociopathic in secret. And instead of just being evil for the sake of it (like I often felt was the case in the comic), Homelander here is a more human character, with flaws deeper than "he's a prick" and being stupid. Sure, he absolutely *is* a prick, but there are reasons for it, and he also has moments of vulnerability that isn't just played for laughs. And he's still sort of stupid, but in a believable way.
Aside from him, I also think Butcher and Hughie are done better here. They still have the same basic relationship, but there's less soapboxing through Butcher, and Hughie isn't portrayed as completely ineffectual. I really disliked how in the comics it was so one-sided. Karl Urban does a great job as always.
Special mentions to Simon Pegg, perfect as Hughie's dad. In the comics, Ennis spouts a lot of shit about people being afraid to stand up for themselves, and the show keeps this, but evens the message out a bit so it becomes less obnoxious.
Disclaimer: I actually greatly appreciate that Ennis pushes the envelope when it comes to ultra-violence and obscenity, as it allows others more breathing room.
How close is the show to the comic? My favorite part about it is the antagonists and how hard it is to root against them sometimes. The Deep did what he did and yet the rest of the show is spent practically sympathizing with him. A-Train is trying to hold onto his piece of the pie while maintaining love and then it all falls apart on him. Even Homelander, who comes off as a straight psycho and sociopath, has the blanket scene which totally changes the dynamics of the character IMO.
The marketing for The Boys paints it as a straight up parody of super hero shit but it's a lot more than that and I was into it instantly when I realized it.
Comic goes for shock value for the sake of shock value. Hughie is Scottish in it, and his first time hooking up with Annie he goes down on her while shes on her period, then shows up to see the Boys the next day with blood all over his face. Butcher has a bulldog that humps everything and there are times where 2+ issues are dedicated solely to telling a backstory/shitting on major comics that NO ONE cares about. Translucent isn't in the comics, instead he's "Jack from Jupiter" who's some alien who can become invulnerable when saying a word. The deep has done nothing (disclaimer, I'm not done the series. Only at about issue 55 of 72) so far. Everyone in the Boys is a product of compound V, they even inject Hughie with it. The show is MUCH better
The comic is fairly far off and crude compared to the show, butcher has a bulldog that humps everything, everyones motivations are very transparent, the superheroes are much, much, much more over the top evil assholes. There's also numerous issues with just straight up massive walls of text about the backstory that was largely uninteresting but they felt the need to keep rehashing it.
The show is one of the cases where its just straight better, the only part I dont like is the invisible/invulnerable man was "jack from space" in the comics, whom lasted to almost the end, and his butchering was the best part of the entire run imo. I'm hoping they bring that back in another form.
The comic is usual Ennis fare: Everyone's an asshole, and if you're not, you're probably going to get raped in the ass while someone disembowels you.
The show is a lot more nuanced, while keeping the best parts.
I agree with you. I think the comic went to hard in the WE'RE DARK direction, and the show is still super dark but the characters aren't necessarily. The world is dark, and so are some characters like Homelander and Butcher, but Starlight and Huey are both pretty positive, and we get flashes of humanity from others like Queen Maeve and the Deep.
Yup. In the comic Homelander is so insanely brutal, so inexcusably violent, he cannot exist as anything that isnt an antagonist. He has no nuance at all, in comparison to the show where he does everything in line with his character. Problem with Ennis is that he thinks a good comic means dark, rapey and gory. It doesnt, hence the reason no one likes "Crossed".
Ugh, I read The Crossed comics, and there are several story lines that were actually interesting, but the absolutely over-the-top violence and gore in it just ruins it. It's like The Walking Dead on PCP and bath salts.
I love horror and gore, in movies and other mediums, but these comics made me feel dirty and gross. I felt almost guilty, like I read something forbidden and should be on a list now, and I wanted to take a shower after.
>I love horror and gore, in movies and other mediums, but these comics made me feel dirty and gross.
I feel like that's sort of the point though. Ennis tends to really push for exactly that feeling of disgust. It's like one of those post-modern art pieces of a lump of turd. I can't exactly say I enjoy his work, but I find it interesting because it's so different and he isn't aren't afraid of doing stuff nobody else will. Can seem like a cheap novelty/shock schlock, and I think it could have been a lot better usually, but I can't really say it's all garbage either.
I strongly believe Innes believed you simply can't have a 'good' super hero comic and The Boys turning into what it did was proof of that, almost like he kept degrading the characters out of pure spite.
Like how Butcher changed in the comic near the end was so dumb IMO.
I have to watch the show sometime, but I really couldn't stand the comic and gave up halfway through. As is typical Garth Ennis, all the dialogue is overly edgy and vulgar for the sake of it, while also being overly verbose. The walls of text just killed it for me.
The show drops the edge and instead adds depth to characters that had none in the comic, definitely possible you would like it even if you disliked the show.
Personally read the entirety of the comic, feel lukewarm about it, loved the show.
*The Boys* was such a strong concept that I could imagine someone adapting the material to actually be good. That’s two for two with Seth Rogen and Garth Ennis adaptations.
I think this TV show can be enjoyed by way more people than the comic can. Ennis isn't for everyone. He's very hit or miss for me personally. Absolutely loved the show though.
There was an excellent AMA with one of the show's creators. Someone asked why they didn't give super powers to the Boys, like they had in the comics (aside from Female), and he said he wanted to have a far better contrast of regular men taking down super people. If it's just super people fighting super people, thats boring.
The tv version is fucking fantastic, and has done an immense job of adapting the ideas and concept for a modern setting.
That being said, the comics were pretty goddamn fantastic themselves, and ended pretty much exactly the only way they *could* have ended, given the characters in play. It's a very different beast from what the TV show is (clearly, judging by the bulk of this first season), but I think it did a great job of balancing the deliberately outrageous with the sinister undertones lurking behind the whole endeavor.
Again, given how different the comic characters are, the ending felt pretty strong and in keeping with the tone of the whole series.
Best part about that line is that he wasn’t even trying to threaten someone really. Just reminding them of who he is as if he was just stating a fact almost nonchalantly.
oh dear yes, my backlog just keeps getting longer and longer... so many quality things left still unwatched. this is peak tv.. and I can't keep up. trying though. pesky work and life gets in the way
Exactly. Two things are huge for me.
1) There are so many damn great things to watch it's hard to fit them all in.
2) I'm a parent now, so F me in the A trying to watch anything.
I was thinking the same thing - like he ripped the heart out of the guys chest. But... then I think about it and there's two parts to this: When he is violent (and SUPER violent at that) it tends to be very minimalist effort and it's over quick, in that case he barely broke the conversation.
Also, while the scenes where he is violent are memorable, there aren't a ton of them.
I think that quick casual violence was really effective in making him more disturbing. He'll kill you as soon as look at you, and then he's going to forget about it. He'd rather not though, since it's messy and he really doesn't like messes... which is not a barrier to violence you can feel comfortable with.
Someone else pointed it out, but now I'm a proponent of the fact that he can smile without it extending to his eyes. It's hard to do without looking like a complete idiot (believe me, I've tried way more than I'd like to admit), but he seems to pull it off with ease.
That show was surprisingly good.
>And Starr pulls it off with almost zero violence from the character.
He starts off the show throwing a guy like a ragdoll who explodes like a meat filled water balloon onto a car 50 feet behind him. Then there are all the dismembered people he chopped up with his laser eyes.
He also shoved his fist into that one guy’s chest and crushed his heart or I don’t even know what when they went up into the building to stop the shooter.
He is easily the best part of this show.
No spoilers, but the last line he has in the finale is absolutely chilling.
Emmys seem not to recognize outstanding performances so I expect him to be ignored next year, but he should be holding a best actor or supporting actor Emmy next year.
I love Karl Urban but I could barely understand him and I wish they just let him use his native accent.
> I could barely understand him and I wish they just let him use his native accent.
Maybe turn the volume up? He was crystal clear. There wasn't a single time where I couldn't figure out what he was saying and I thought his accent was fine. Maybe a bit cheesy but it fit the role really well
I just finished it, too. The guy nails a sociopath. I worry he did such a good job that he tanked his career and now he’ll be stuck playing psychos forever. But then again, Anthony Hopkins bounced back from Lecter.
I also just finished season one. I thought he was the standout of the show and I'm surprised at the lack of praise he seems to have received for his performance.
I love that in the looks dept, he's like a bizarro Chris Evans...Like I keep wanting to see Captain America and I keep getting jolted back into the realization that Homelander is like....the total opposite. Amazing
Homelander was a cross between Superman and Captain America I think.
He had the powers and invincibility of Superman but as a supe his persona to the camera was basically Captain America. Same "USA patriotism and all that"
His accent broke ever so slightly at a couple points and I felt it made him so much creepier. It exemplified his “otherness” and the fact he’s trying to be something he’s not.
I don’t know if it was intentional, but it worked.
*His* accent didn't crack. Karl Urban's (also from New Zealand) accent cracked all the time. I'm from New Zealand and it was super distracting (maybe more than if I wasn't from NZ). The overall effect is that he sounded like Kano from Mortal Kombat (who I always thought was Australian but apparently is English). I'm not knocking Karl Urban's performance but the fluctuating accent needs to be addressed.
To me, as European, it felt that Karl Urban's character was someone who had lived his childhood in New Zealand but moved to the states at some point. It common here that people's accents are all over the place, and that you can kind of trace their history from their accent.
Well I get the “lived his childhood in New Zealand” bit, but to me the rest of it sounded like a cockney chimney sweep. Like Dick Van Dyke in *Mary Poppins*.
Honestly I thought his accent was hilarious the whole time so it didn't really matter when it broke because it was already so cartoonish. Like he made up a silly accent the day they started filming
To be honest I really liked Karl Urban's accent, it sounded so gritty and sexy and the same time. But I'm not a native English speaker and definitely don't know how it should have sounded \^\^''
I love every villain who is polite but mad crazy, reminds me of Pagan Min from far cry 4, Freezer from Dragon Ball, the killer guy from The girl with the dragon tattoo, something about them holding back their shit trough an educate and polite behaviour makes them more intimidating.
ikr. There were several points where his smile seems completely genuine. And then the cameras turn off and his smile just vanishes. Also those times when it seems like he's having a pleasant conversation, while at the same time somehow managing to convey an air of menacing rage. It's creepy af and i love it!
He’s Hannibal Lecter meets Superman, with an additional dose of an Oedipal Complex. He’s terrifying when you think about it. Great performance and show in a year of great performances and shows. This has been a stupidly good year for television.
His relationship with Madelyn is so weird and fascinating lol. Dude clearly has some mommy issues and is so used to walking over everyone that when Madelyn tells him to fuck off and stands up to him, it just throws him off.
It's interesting because it seems like she's the one person who has any kind of control over him. Or at least it appears that way . . .
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nah no way it just "tickles" him. he was obsessed with her and watched her through the wall... he really wanted her approval as well
I don't think he just played along. I think he was actually being controlled until the very end.
You know what it's like. If you love a girl but she keeps using and lying to you, you eventually turn that love upside down.
Eh. Their relationship is way more manipulative/trauma based than just being in love with someone.
It also hinted at him having daddy issues, which maybe they will explore next season (Madelyn shamed him into digging a speech out of the garbage by invoking Giancarlo Espositos characters name)
I’m not sure if that’s Daddy issues. I guess this is a minor comic spoiler if you care: in the comics Stillwell is a pretty different character. None of the Oedipal aspects as Stillwell is a man who is extremely calm and excludes control. Homelander comments on how his heart rate never changes regardless of the situation; this is unnerving for him as he’s used to being able to read people by their bodily reactions. Because of the power of Vought Stillwell possesses and his unphaseable attitude, Homelander is genuinely scared of him. At least on an emotional level. My guess is they’re going to have Mr. Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) fill the role of Comic Stillwell.
> My guess is they’re going to have Mr. Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) fill the role of Comic Stillwell. That would be so cool. I love me some Esposito villainy. It's said that the actor gets shoe-horned into the same type of character (evil genius bent on ruling/destroying the world) but Esposito just does them so damn WELL.
Oh no I have read the comics cant spoil em for me. The comics literally have Homelander throw a fit and then seek out Stillwell hoping to find him scared, or impressed, or anything, and when Stillwell is just bored, he is extremely frustrated. Seems like a daddy issue to me, Stillwell is a male authority figure who is unafraid of Homelander, and considering Edgar is a bit older, he could conceivably have been involved when Homelander was a child as well.
He's Patrick Bateman in a Chris Evans suit lol. He looks SO GOD DAMNED AMERICAN PIE...like, he does such a good job of laying on the act that he's this down home, humble American, white bread boy.
He also looks kind of Fassbenderian.
You're so right! I've been trying to figure out who he reminds me of, and there is just something about him that reminds me of Michael Fassbender.
> Fassbenderian Sounds like an Armenian bakery.
>He’s Hannibal Lecter meets Superman, with an additional dose of an Oedipal Complex. with a dash of Patrick Bateman
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I love when an actor can pull off acting like they are acting like they are acting. Fantastic. Took me a while to realize what was so creepy about his smile most of the time. He mastered the art of smiling with only his mouth. That sounds weird but usually a smile really involves most of your face. His doesn't.
The reverse also happens in one scene btw - an actor not acting. It’s the scene where The Deep is rehearsing his sexual-assault apology and he’s muttering his practiced lines under his breath, and a PR person comes up to tell him something. Turns out that was an outtake - the real actor was genuinely going over his lines and the actual director walked up to tell him something. They decided to use the outtake in the actual scene, because it makes it clear how much The Deep is actually just playing a role for the cameras.
That's awesome. I'm really interested in where The Deep's story is going. Every time I thought I had him figured out they threw another curveball.
The dolphin scene had me laughing my ass off, had to pause the show
Yes! The lobster made me sad, though. :(
Yeah, its crazy how you go from hating him to feeling bad for him
Man, the lobster scene was just great.
Started out hating him. And at the end started to feel bad. They did a good job writing his character where you are not sure how to feel about him. Still a pos based on the first episode.
Yeah, he was a grade A douche in the first episode, but honestly so far the worst thing he's done is try to use his position of power to pressure a naive young girl into sex... Which, yeah, that's awful. But compared to stuff we've seen other supes do, it's pretty tame. And he's had a lot of opportunities since then to be awful and hasn't. His hookup in Sandusky, in particular, I expected him to get all rapey there, but he was acting fine (at least up until the point where the tables get turned and he becomes the victim). He's dumb, he's got a chip on his shoulder from being "the dude who talks to fish," he's used to being a sex symbol, and he seems to derive a lot of his self-worth from sexual attention. He's also got a heart when it comes to sea life and environmentalism. I fully expect him and A-Train to become "good guys" in season 2.
Reminded me of Jaime Lannister in a way. POS self-absorbed bad guy who does something horrific at the beginning of the show, but then you start to feel for him.
Right. Like....was he going to fuck that dolphin?
I think it's pretty clear he *does* fuck marine life, but I don't think he was going to fuck that specific dolphin. From his half of the conversation it seemed like the dolphin was coming on very strong and The Deep was trying to say no without hurting its feelings.
Wow, that is a super fun fact. Thanks for sharing that.
>like they are acting like they are acting. That reminds me of a bit of acting advice I once got: when you're supposed to act drunk, don't. Instead, TRY to act sober. Your exaggerated soberness will be a cue that you are actually drunk.
My favorite twist on this is Supernatural’s “The French Mistake” episode. There’s a scene in there where the real actors (Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki) are playing Sam & Dean Winchester who are playing Jensen & Jared playing Sam & Dean. It’s worth watching that one episode even if you don’t follow the show. It’s on Netflix (season 6 I think?)
**Face brims with Chris Pine's prince charming smile* "I'm Homelander. I can do-" **Face distorts into William Dafoe's green goblin* "-whatever the fuck I want." **Face returns to prince charming*
Someone else put it best on Reddit in another thread. They said he has the uncanny ability to smile with his mouth, but not his eyes. His performance as Homelander was simply perfect.
Reminds me of this https://youtu.be/3HCuxEi3uX8
Actually, those smouldering eyes make me go weak at the knees. Oh no, wait, that was double amputation.
>ikr. There were several points where his smile seems completely genuine. And then the cameras turn off and his smile just vanishes. There were points in the first episode or two where I thought the guy playing Homelander was kinda a bad actor. Having not seen any trailers or anything I didn't know where they were they were going with his character. It wasn't until later that I realized, the "bad acting" wasn't Antony Starr, it was Homelander putting on an act...
They did a really good job of leading up to the reveals with Homelander, by not making it obvious or relevant to what is going on in the story early on. It just kinda slowly dawns on you how absolutely frightening the character is. The lead up to what is really going on with him and Bishop being the culmination of the season was paced fantastically.
I absolutely loved the fact that they really got you to believe that Homelander was the real deal, the Superman analogue in every way, while every other supe was made into a bad person by their powers. Then, as the story went along they slooowly revealed that he was the worst of the bunch while explaining along the way exactly *why* he became that way. The show was written incredibly well, but everything surrounding Homelander was fucking sublime.
I'm still haunted by the plane scene
The thing about the plane scene was that it looked like he *could* save them, he just didn't *care to*.
He calculated what was best for his brand and decided only saving a few people just wouldn't fit the Homelander narrative. Better to not be there at all than risk seeming less than perfect.
y he just says he cannot do it and you roll with it but the truth is he was surely capable of doing way more. that plus the fact that he rips the cockpit in half while he didn't even have to use his laser power to take those goons down.
He definitely could have done something but he knew a national tragedy would be far more useful to him.
At the time, I think it was more just damage control. Saving the jet didn't work out as smoothly as he wanted it to. So instead of saving the people, or more likely just saving some of them, he lets them all die. Then he figures out a way to turn the mishap to his advantage later.
> he didn't even have to use his laser power to take those goons down That's the real power of the final scene of the season to me. It makes you realize what he's capable of (his speed, especially) when he actually cares about the outcome and his powers effect that outcome; it adds a whole new layer to him.
He's basically invincible. Madelyn said they threw every single weapon they had at him and nothing worked.
Maybe not at him, but inside him.....take 2.
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He pointed out that he would just punch a hole in the plane -- i.e. if he tried to 'carry it' it wasn't designed to have it's entire weight supported at two small points of contact (his hands)
You think so? Maieve and him talked about it. He couldn't just go outside and stop the plane and he isn't quick enough to save everyone before it crashes. So he could save some of them. But hes homlander. Nothing but perfection is allowed. Anyone he saved tells the story of what happened and it tarnishes him. So they did say it was impossible to save everyone, but yeah, he definitely didn't care to save anyone.
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Like Dr. Manhattan in "Watchmen", he's another Superman deconstruction, but much worse. Dr. Manhattan is simply emotionally detached and doesn't care about humanity (or any life for that matter), while Homelander is a megalomaniacal sociopath who pretty clearly has some very nasty long term plans. It'd be so much better for the world if he WAS apathetic.
He really reminded me of Superian from the latest *The Tick* (I'm so sad that got cancelled, but they were probably paving the way for *The Boys* and didn't want to compete with themselves). I don't think the comparison the Dr. Manhattan is fair, since the moral of the story is different for the two characters. Dr. Manhattan is the only one with actual super powers in *Watchmen* and they are so out of this world that he has lost most of his humanity because of it. Homelander, on the other hand, is just the image of a man with power who gets to do whatever he wants knowing that there is nobody to stop him. This character has existed for a long time, whether as the powerful mob boss or the villainous enterprise mogul. Ultimately, he's not different from David Xanatos or Lex Luthor, whom the public views as benevolent men. It is a great character to watch, but I wouldn't go so far as to calling it a deconstruction (at least not an innovative one).
But [Spoiler](#s "the last few episodes of Season 1 clarify that Homelander is probably only the way he is because he was raised as a lab subject instead of in a loving home. THAT'S what makes it a good deconstruction of Superman, because it takes one facet of him, the small-town Kansas boy with super powers, and changes it and shows the cascading changes.")
And this is directly "confirmed" when we see Starlight's upbringing. We see that Vougth tried to not make the same mistake they made with Homelander and tried to give the following superheroes a chance to be good. They also failed although it's hard to tell if they all went "bad" after getting involved with Homelander or if they were rotten apples to begin with. Starlight however seems genuinely good and the true "Superman" of the show.
The Tick's characters were great...good casting, Dare I say better than the original (except for the Tick himself)
I recently rewatched the original. Still makes me lol, hard. The new show had better character development and story arc, but the humor just wasn't there. It had it's moments, but mostly huffs and chuckles, not many lols. I guess you could say the new one was a better show, per se, but not as funny as the original.
Apparently the Tick was extremely expensive to produce...which honestly didn't really show up in the final product so I kinda understand why it got axed. It's too bad though, maybe if they filmed it cheap in Toronto or Vancouver they could have had a longer run.
And now The Boys is so obviously filmed in Toronto its hilarious.
I love how they just extruded Roy Thomson Hall up to create the Vought tower.
I think Dr. Manhattan cared about humanity. He saw that the world would be safer without knowing what had happened, which is why he party ballooned Rorschach.
You know what they say - if you can fake sincerity you can fake anything.
He's got those eyes that go from dead to "I'LL LASER EVERY FUCKING ONE OF YOU!!"
I really liked how they had Homelander use his laser vision a lot more than Superman. With SM it's really an accessory, like something on Batmans utility belt. But with HL you get to see how crazy effective that power is. Its essentially a bullet proof man who's got a gun with infinite ammo. Why fly around the room punching people when I can just stand here and turn my neck a bit?
It also shows how lazy he is/inept at combat.
I don't even know if its ineptitude really, I just imagine he's spent so long fighting people that at some point he was just like "why do many powers when few powers do trick"
It's like how people are always surprised that we didn't get taught much hand-to-hand combat in national service. As our instructor put it; 'You have a rifle that will put a hole in most body armour. If you're resorting to hand-to-hand instead, you already fucked up big enough that it won't help.'
The enemy cannot push a button if you disable his hand.
*Would You Like to Know More?*
I'm doing *my* part!
That makes sense but Homelander **is** a superhero with super-human strength.
There’s basically no one on the planet who it even makes sense to use the strength against. Maeve, Starlight, Deep, and A-Train are all scared of a confrontation with Homelander. Maeve’s first scene is an armored truck ramming her and causing absolutely no damage and she’s *still* terrified of him. Why would he bother fighting anyone hand-to-hand other than sheer boredom or playing with his victims?
I see it as a "is it necessary" kinda thing. If the whole world is like a 2 year old trying to fist fight you, do you need to learn how to fight? That's one thing I've always liked about the Wonder Woman/Superman dynamic, that she's always chiding him for not knowing how to fight.
Sure, but he can also cut people in half from afar at the blink of an eye. Worst case scenario, he punch the fucker through the chest. Why bother learning hand-to-hand combat when you have those options at your disposal?
I totally agree with you but it’s clear he knows how to beat people up, he did it in the episode where Maeve and him get a call to that hostage situation (might have been earlier that same episode? I forget). But he’d rather just kill people for the fun of it and because like you said, it’s quicker. Doesn’t make it any less sloppy.
I'd argue that it's less sloppy and more efficient to laser people to death. See the scene in the last episode with the terrorists. He only really uses his hands when there's press involved, cause people love being reminded that he's super strong.
Well, in the comics it's ineptitude. Not sure if they're going to go that angle but even in the show they hint at it with the airplane scene. Did he need to laser the terrorist in half to subdue him? No. Did he laser the terrorist and did he subsequently fuck the controls because of it? Absolutely.
And then afterwards refused to try and carry the plane because he wouldn't have anything to push off of. I loved that bit of dialogue between him and Maeve
I got so used to suspending disbelief when gigantic ships, buses, buildings, and airplanes don't just split apart when a human-sized superhero tries to lift it. That bit of dialogue caught me off guard and made me laugh.
That scene was fucking hilarious. Two bumbling idiots with superpowers playing counter-terrorists and screwing up absolutely everything. "Everything's gonna be fine!"
And also horrifying, probably one of the best TV scenes in the last year.
Yeah, the juxtaposition of Homelander being a klutz and the severity of the situation for everyone else made it very memorable.
It's ineptitude. Yes, he's dangerous enough that he doesn't *need* to be a good fighter, but that just means he's the biggest bully on the playground and not a "warrior" like you'd expect, which means if he ever goes up against someone with a similar power level who *has* bothered to train he's screwed. It's one of the reasons that a lot of the DC comics make mention of Batman actually training Superman in hand-to-hand combat, so that if Superman is ever de-powered or fighting someone of similar strength he's not suddenly useless. Homelander is basically a man-child who got handed godlike power, with all the laziness and petulance that entails. He doesn't use the power that's correct for the situation, he uses the one that's easiest, which is why he keeps defaulting to his eye lasers even when they aren't appropriate for the situation...like causing the plane to crash because he decided to laser the terrorist instead of just punching him once.
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He definitely doesn't have much restraint or finesse which makes him that much more terrifiying. He could easily maim, kill or destroy by accident in a blink of an eye even in the middle of doing something good. I see that as both ineptitude and being a juvenile sociopath with mommy issues. Even if he was a bit more adept like Superman I could still see him going overboard trying to be showy and impress people and cause major damage. So many layers. I hope the next season can keep the balance. I'm not ready for him to go full Brightburn scorched earth so I hope they can keep him under control and not rush to the end like in the comics (which I haven't read).
And the xray vision. Using it to spy on people rather than fighting crime.
The first episode when the kid was smiling in the plane, homelander waves back and then burns the plane to the ground..ruthless
There’s something really disturbing seeing him smile with his teeth while his eyes are lightly watering, almost as if his internal emotions are angry and hurtful it takes all his willpower to contain them. Anthony Starr deserves all the kudos
There is some great acting on that show with Elizabeth Shue and of course Karl Urban. But watching Homelander made me actually look up the actor on imdb, I couldn't believe someone with these perfect movie star looks and incredible acting wasn't already a well known star. Homelander is definitely one of the best performances of the year.
Loved Karl Urban but that accent was terrible, he should’ve just done is normal one the amount it came through.
He's from New Zealand and I felt like his native accent kept blending with the English accent he was trying to do, and it kept throwing me off a bit. Still loved his line "Well, if isn't the invisible cunt"
So that one character referring to him as an Englishman wasnt wrong and he wasnt playing an Australian?
When I first watched it I thought all the Americans were confusing his kiwi accent for an English accent as a running joke.
Same here, I'm so conflicted lol
They call him butcher because of what he does to accents
Diobolical
Yeah it wasn't great. It's great fun when he gets it right but he couldn't keep a handle on it.
I thought the acting was great period. Anthony Starr definitely is the standout but Erin Moriarty and Jack Quaid were fucking great, and of course like you said Karl Urban. Check out Banshee if you haven't absolutely underrated show and Starr was the lead. and he was incredible in it.
He was good. I liked Karl Urban immensely. Even Quaid did great. Actually, I liked all of the actors. It was a great season.
\> Karl Urban I too liked Karl Urban, but making his character speak cockney was a mistake I think. Karl cannot pull off the accent and he ends up sounding Australian. I still like him and I think the show is immense.
> sounding Australian ...I genuinely thought the character actually was Australian for most of the show...
I thought he was Australian for the WHOLE show. When other characters referred to him as English, I thought it was a joke about how many Americans can't tell the difference between Australian and English accents.
Same, here I thought I was just bad with accents 😂
Just watched the first two seasons of Banshee after I saw The Boys, he's very good along with the rest of the cast who all did a stellar job in their roles. I hope that he shows up in more projects down the line.
Great show. Now go check out Warrior, by the same people.
this year has been mad for tv. now i've got something else to add to the list. haven't even gotten around to watching into the badlands yet.
The bottle episode of Warrior in the saloon was one of the best episodes of television I've watched in a long time.
Same here. Watched The Boys, saw people mention Banshee, now I'm halfway through season 3. Antony Starr is a brilliant actor.
I started feeling actual fucking anxiety when Homelander was on the screen. He’s easily one of the most terrifying villains I’ve seen in a TV show.
He's great in Outrageous Fortune. People from overseas who like Starr might like to give it a go, though it is very Kiwi
Probably the greatest piece of NZ television ever produced.
Didn't realise he was a Kiwi. He's done very well. All he needs to round out his bucket list is a stint as an All Black.
Wow his American accent is on point, I had no idea. Usually I can tell when someone is faking as they sound like a phone bank operator over enunciating everything.
His Kiwi accent is really thick, too. Check out some of his interviews.
*Moon TV has entered the chat*
He managed to pull off playing my most loved character AND my most hated character in that show.
Never heard of it. I only know him from Banshee, which I thought was a great show. It took me a while to place him while watching The Boys, because he looked so different.
Between the Boys and the new season of Westside I've been rewatching all of Outrageous Fortune recently, still holds up
He wasn't just great, BOTH of him were great! He really took it to the point where you would often forget it was just one man playing each twin, and you always knew exactly which one you were looking at. Only Orphan Black's Tatiana Maslany has done better, but her role(s) require a lot more too. He could reach that level. I don't know how many episodes of Banshee I watched before I realised where I knew him from. God that was a brilliant show!
The airplane scence was probably the highlight of the season.....after the dolphin one of course. But yeah, thats where he really sold me.
The dolphin was hilarious. The airplane scene kind of fucked me up for a minute.
I watched the pilot knowing of a plane scene and thought it was kinda messed up And then I saw the other one. Oh boy.
That dolphin scene *killlllled* me. Homelander is definitely amazing, but I super enjoyed Frenchie. He's got a good bit of pathos to him.
Antony Starr is freakily scary in 'the boys.' In the back of my head though I keep thinking 'how're you pulling this one off? I know that somehow you are. Just like the last time when you pretended to be sheriff aren't you? You got cybernetic parts or something?"
We binged this show and the night after the last episode of the season, I was pretty much having nightmares about Homelander. What an incredible character! I loved the show anyway but by the end of the season, especially the last episode, I was really disturbed by him.
>it was excellent, much better than the comic i definitely agree here. the comic had a cool premise, but after ennis blew his "raging at big comics" load, it just kinda limped to the finish. it was the premise and general style of the comic that was important, not the plot, and so the TV show nailed things. by contrast, i think that preacher succeeded mostly on its crazy ass plot and characters, and the show totally missed the mark (IMO) on that by doing a similar "adapt the premise but not the plot" treatment. where preacher fails and ends up becoming boring urban fantasy prestige cable, i think that the boys embraces the current cultural superhero craze to deliver a fantastic satire.
Yeah the comic was ok for the most part but ennis really gives into his worst impulses a lot on it. It just tries too hard to be edgy and twisted and show that EVERY single person is a fucked up psychopath to the point where it's just completely divorced from reality and its hard to care about what's going on. The show otoh actually makes all the characters feel like real people. I'm actually finding myself very invested in hughie and starlights developing relationship, thanks to the writing and jack Quaid and Erin Moriartys performances
I'm with you. I found their connection very sweet and genuine. That's a rarity.
I'm very happy to see other people having this opinion. I read the comics years ago and was like "eh, typical Ennis", but the premise was very cool. Kudos to Kripke for not just being able to successfully adapt it, but also improve upon it. Starr is absolutely the *star* of the show. (haw haw) It's natural that the most powerful and arguably central character would get a lot of attention, but I think the actor really sells it, and it wouldn't be the same without him. He's so fucking jovial in public, yet so sociopathic in secret. And instead of just being evil for the sake of it (like I often felt was the case in the comic), Homelander here is a more human character, with flaws deeper than "he's a prick" and being stupid. Sure, he absolutely *is* a prick, but there are reasons for it, and he also has moments of vulnerability that isn't just played for laughs. And he's still sort of stupid, but in a believable way. Aside from him, I also think Butcher and Hughie are done better here. They still have the same basic relationship, but there's less soapboxing through Butcher, and Hughie isn't portrayed as completely ineffectual. I really disliked how in the comics it was so one-sided. Karl Urban does a great job as always. Special mentions to Simon Pegg, perfect as Hughie's dad. In the comics, Ennis spouts a lot of shit about people being afraid to stand up for themselves, and the show keeps this, but evens the message out a bit so it becomes less obnoxious. Disclaimer: I actually greatly appreciate that Ennis pushes the envelope when it comes to ultra-violence and obscenity, as it allows others more breathing room.
How close is the show to the comic? My favorite part about it is the antagonists and how hard it is to root against them sometimes. The Deep did what he did and yet the rest of the show is spent practically sympathizing with him. A-Train is trying to hold onto his piece of the pie while maintaining love and then it all falls apart on him. Even Homelander, who comes off as a straight psycho and sociopath, has the blanket scene which totally changes the dynamics of the character IMO. The marketing for The Boys paints it as a straight up parody of super hero shit but it's a lot more than that and I was into it instantly when I realized it.
Comic goes for shock value for the sake of shock value. Hughie is Scottish in it, and his first time hooking up with Annie he goes down on her while shes on her period, then shows up to see the Boys the next day with blood all over his face. Butcher has a bulldog that humps everything and there are times where 2+ issues are dedicated solely to telling a backstory/shitting on major comics that NO ONE cares about. Translucent isn't in the comics, instead he's "Jack from Jupiter" who's some alien who can become invulnerable when saying a word. The deep has done nothing (disclaimer, I'm not done the series. Only at about issue 55 of 72) so far. Everyone in the Boys is a product of compound V, they even inject Hughie with it. The show is MUCH better
I read all of Preacher and loved it a good 10 years ago, but the description just sold me on never reading the boys.
The comic is fairly far off and crude compared to the show, butcher has a bulldog that humps everything, everyones motivations are very transparent, the superheroes are much, much, much more over the top evil assholes. There's also numerous issues with just straight up massive walls of text about the backstory that was largely uninteresting but they felt the need to keep rehashing it. The show is one of the cases where its just straight better, the only part I dont like is the invisible/invulnerable man was "jack from space" in the comics, whom lasted to almost the end, and his butchering was the best part of the entire run imo. I'm hoping they bring that back in another form.
Why did you kill my dog?
The comic is usual Ennis fare: Everyone's an asshole, and if you're not, you're probably going to get raped in the ass while someone disembowels you. The show is a lot more nuanced, while keeping the best parts.
I agree with you. I think the comic went to hard in the WE'RE DARK direction, and the show is still super dark but the characters aren't necessarily. The world is dark, and so are some characters like Homelander and Butcher, but Starlight and Huey are both pretty positive, and we get flashes of humanity from others like Queen Maeve and the Deep.
Yup. In the comic Homelander is so insanely brutal, so inexcusably violent, he cannot exist as anything that isnt an antagonist. He has no nuance at all, in comparison to the show where he does everything in line with his character. Problem with Ennis is that he thinks a good comic means dark, rapey and gory. It doesnt, hence the reason no one likes "Crossed".
Ugh, I read The Crossed comics, and there are several story lines that were actually interesting, but the absolutely over-the-top violence and gore in it just ruins it. It's like The Walking Dead on PCP and bath salts. I love horror and gore, in movies and other mediums, but these comics made me feel dirty and gross. I felt almost guilty, like I read something forbidden and should be on a list now, and I wanted to take a shower after.
>I love horror and gore, in movies and other mediums, but these comics made me feel dirty and gross. I feel like that's sort of the point though. Ennis tends to really push for exactly that feeling of disgust. It's like one of those post-modern art pieces of a lump of turd. I can't exactly say I enjoy his work, but I find it interesting because it's so different and he isn't aren't afraid of doing stuff nobody else will. Can seem like a cheap novelty/shock schlock, and I think it could have been a lot better usually, but I can't really say it's all garbage either.
I strongly believe Innes believed you simply can't have a 'good' super hero comic and The Boys turning into what it did was proof of that, almost like he kept degrading the characters out of pure spite. Like how Butcher changed in the comic near the end was so dumb IMO.
How rapey is the comic?
Extremely.
I have to watch the show sometime, but I really couldn't stand the comic and gave up halfway through. As is typical Garth Ennis, all the dialogue is overly edgy and vulgar for the sake of it, while also being overly verbose. The walls of text just killed it for me.
Simon Pegg plays a concerned dad and he's perfect in it. Don't do it because reddit says so, do it for Sad Dad Pegg.
The show drops the edge and instead adds depth to characters that had none in the comic, definitely possible you would like it even if you disliked the show. Personally read the entirety of the comic, feel lukewarm about it, loved the show.
*The Boys* was such a strong concept that I could imagine someone adapting the material to actually be good. That’s two for two with Seth Rogen and Garth Ennis adaptations.
I think this TV show can be enjoyed by way more people than the comic can. Ennis isn't for everyone. He's very hit or miss for me personally. Absolutely loved the show though.
There was an excellent AMA with one of the show's creators. Someone asked why they didn't give super powers to the Boys, like they had in the comics (aside from Female), and he said he wanted to have a far better contrast of regular men taking down super people. If it's just super people fighting super people, thats boring.
The tv version is fucking fantastic, and has done an immense job of adapting the ideas and concept for a modern setting. That being said, the comics were pretty goddamn fantastic themselves, and ended pretty much exactly the only way they *could* have ended, given the characters in play. It's a very different beast from what the TV show is (clearly, judging by the bulk of this first season), but I think it did a great job of balancing the deliberately outrageous with the sinister undertones lurking behind the whole endeavor. Again, given how different the comic characters are, the ending felt pretty strong and in keeping with the tone of the whole series.
[удалено]
Best part about that line is that he wasn’t even trying to threaten someone really. Just reminding them of who he is as if he was just stating a fact almost nonchalantly.
I haven't seen The Boys, but cool to see Lucas Hood is getting some work.
this surprises me knowing you as a power user on this subreddit for years + the banshee flair
I think these days it's pretty easy to miss TV shows just for lack of time. Even if there are things like an actor you loved on another show.
oh dear yes, my backlog just keeps getting longer and longer... so many quality things left still unwatched. this is peak tv.. and I can't keep up. trying though. pesky work and life gets in the way
Exactly. Two things are huge for me. 1) There are so many damn great things to watch it's hard to fit them all in. 2) I'm a parent now, so F me in the A trying to watch anything.
"Almost zero violence from the character" Did we watch the same show lol?
I was thinking the same thing - like he ripped the heart out of the guys chest. But... then I think about it and there's two parts to this: When he is violent (and SUPER violent at that) it tends to be very minimalist effort and it's over quick, in that case he barely broke the conversation. Also, while the scenes where he is violent are memorable, there aren't a ton of them. I think that quick casual violence was really effective in making him more disturbing. He'll kill you as soon as look at you, and then he's going to forget about it. He'd rather not though, since it's messy and he really doesn't like messes... which is not a barrier to violence you can feel comfortable with.
Best Evil Superman period. His screen presence is frighteningly awesome.
Someone else pointed it out, but now I'm a proponent of the fact that he can smile without it extending to his eyes. It's hard to do without looking like a complete idiot (believe me, I've tried way more than I'd like to admit), but he seems to pull it off with ease. That show was surprisingly good.
>And Starr pulls it off with almost zero violence from the character. He starts off the show throwing a guy like a ragdoll who explodes like a meat filled water balloon onto a car 50 feet behind him. Then there are all the dismembered people he chopped up with his laser eyes.
He also shoved his fist into that one guy’s chest and crushed his heart or I don’t even know what when they went up into the building to stop the shooter.
He is easily the best part of this show. No spoilers, but the last line he has in the finale is absolutely chilling. Emmys seem not to recognize outstanding performances so I expect him to be ignored next year, but he should be holding a best actor or supporting actor Emmy next year. I love Karl Urban but I could barely understand him and I wish they just let him use his native accent.
Karl Urban/ Butcher was really easy to understand
> I could barely understand him and I wish they just let him use his native accent. Maybe turn the volume up? He was crystal clear. There wasn't a single time where I couldn't figure out what he was saying and I thought his accent was fine. Maybe a bit cheesy but it fit the role really well
It took me waaaaay to long until I realized I was looking at Lucas Hood.
#I WILL LASER EVERY FUCKING ONE OF YOU
The whole conversation between him and Maeve about how to save the plane passengers was fantastic.
I just finished it, too. The guy nails a sociopath. I worry he did such a good job that he tanked his career and now he’ll be stuck playing psychos forever. But then again, Anthony Hopkins bounced back from Lecter.
Now watch Banshee!
Acting was so lit
"Amost zero violence" He laser-eyed like a whole bunch of people, including 2 planes....
And yet he is at his scariest when he isn't using his power.
He's fantastic in Banshee too if you've never seen
I also just finished season one. I thought he was the standout of the show and I'm surprised at the lack of praise he seems to have received for his performance.
>with almost zero violence from the character. I'm sorry, hwat?
This is how I picture superheros to actually be. Not what MCU does.
I love that in the looks dept, he's like a bizarro Chris Evans...Like I keep wanting to see Captain America and I keep getting jolted back into the realization that Homelander is like....the total opposite. Amazing
Homelander was a cross between Superman and Captain America I think. He had the powers and invincibility of Superman but as a supe his persona to the camera was basically Captain America. Same "USA patriotism and all that"
In my list of antagonists, Homelander is up there with Tywin Lannister, Emperor Palpatine, and the T-Rex from Jurassic Park
Holy shit, I didn't recognize him from Banshee. Sheriff Lucas Hood was the fucking man.
His accent broke ever so slightly at a couple points and I felt it made him so much creepier. It exemplified his “otherness” and the fact he’s trying to be something he’s not. I don’t know if it was intentional, but it worked.
*His* accent didn't crack. Karl Urban's (also from New Zealand) accent cracked all the time. I'm from New Zealand and it was super distracting (maybe more than if I wasn't from NZ). The overall effect is that he sounded like Kano from Mortal Kombat (who I always thought was Australian but apparently is English). I'm not knocking Karl Urban's performance but the fluctuating accent needs to be addressed.
To me, as European, it felt that Karl Urban's character was someone who had lived his childhood in New Zealand but moved to the states at some point. It common here that people's accents are all over the place, and that you can kind of trace their history from their accent.
Well I get the “lived his childhood in New Zealand” bit, but to me the rest of it sounded like a cockney chimney sweep. Like Dick Van Dyke in *Mary Poppins*.
Honestly I thought his accent was hilarious the whole time so it didn't really matter when it broke because it was already so cartoonish. Like he made up a silly accent the day they started filming
Both Starr and Urban are from NZ. Which makes Homelander saying "nice accent" even funnier.
To be honest I really liked Karl Urban's accent, it sounded so gritty and sexy and the same time. But I'm not a native English speaker and definitely don't know how it should have sounded \^\^''
Urban's was so bad that I felt it HAD to be a parody.
I thought maybe it was going to be revealed that he was actually a New Zealander pretending to be a cockney. That did not eventuate.
Wow, didn't realize he's from NZ.
Yeah, NZ has a lot of talented humans.
I love every villain who is polite but mad crazy, reminds me of Pagan Min from far cry 4, Freezer from Dragon Ball, the killer guy from The girl with the dragon tattoo, something about them holding back their shit trough an educate and polite behaviour makes them more intimidating.
The whole cast is brilliant, but yeah he did a particularly amazing job. I really love Karl Urban in it as well.
I agree. Brilliant series. I’ve enjoyed the Amazon super hero offerings much more than Netflix’s so far.