There are few comic book characters in film and TV who are scarier than Homelander on The Boys. He has almost all of the powers of Superman and none of the heart or conscience that makes the Man of Steel a real hero. Instead, Homelander is a psychopath in a cape who is rapidly losing the desire to pretend to be heroic. Now, a previously deleted scene from The Boys Season 1 is shedding some light on how he turned out this way.
Prime Video debuted a scene that was cut from The Boys’ first season that features Homeland’s childhood as the key experiment at Vought International. It’s clear that Vought is trying to mold the young Homelander into their ideal version of a patriotic superhero. But it goes horribly wrong.
Homelander understandably has some questions about who he is and where he came from. In the middle of his indoctrination, Homelander asks if Vought scientist Jonah Vogelbaum is his father. When his female tutor confirms this, Homelander inquires if she is his mother. And her affirmation leads to a fatal mistake. The horrifying aspect of this isn’t just the death of the woman, it’s the way that Vought has covered up Homelander’s murders prior to this one. As a child, Homelander still had some fear about the consequences of his actions. As an adult, he has none.
Without sharing too many spoilers for this week’s episode of The Boys, more info about Homelander is revealed. He also returns to this very room, which adds more context to this deleted scene. Vought’s attempts to manufacture their own Superman-like hero backfired, and history may be repeating itself.
The Boys Season 4 will continue on June 27 on Prime Video.