A powerful figure proclaims absolute freedom, lacks love, and becomes omnipotent and neurotic. His inner circle consists of terrified, hapless subordinates while corporate and PR creators prove powerless to restrain him. Homelander, a villainous Superman analogue, is simultaneously ludicrous and terrifying, capable of flight and laser vision but governed by impulse, rage, and ego rather than reason. A contemporary political leader is likened to this dynamic, surrounded by sycophantic praise and reduced aides, asserting expansive authority and claiming the right to act without constraint. Concentrated power combined with emotional immaturity and institutional cowardice creates profound danger.
A man with the power to destroy the entire world announces that no one and nothing can restrain him. "I can do whatever I want," he says. Raised without love, he has become both omnipotent and neurotic. Unfortunately, his inner circle is a group of hapless subordinates who are scared to death of him. The corporations and public-relations spinmeisters who created and sold him to the public now realize that they are powerless to stop him.
I am speaking, of course, of Homelander, the evil version of Superman who is the main antagonist in The Boys, the Amazon series based on a series of graphic novels. Homelander (played to menacing, narcissistic perfection by the actor Antony Starr) is both ludicrous and terrifying. Like Superman, he can fly and shoot lasers from his eyes, but his brain is definitely not superpowered: Immature and somewhat dim, he is ruled by impulse, rage, and ego.
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