The Absolute Worst Thing Homelander Ever Did In The Boys Comics
Amazon Studios' stylized, beyond-graphic superhero series The Boys is a mere eight episodes old, and if there's one thing to which fans of the show can attest, it's that superheroes really aren't what they used to be. In fact, more often than not, The Boys depicts its "supers" as the worst kind of megalomaniacs, typically using their largely unchecked powers to inflict all manner of brutality on their enemies, their allies, and humanity, itself. Simply put, The Boys doesn't just seek to re-imagine what a superhero story could be more than it takes sledgehammer to the concept of supers, then re-assembles superhero mythos in truly unnerving ways.
In that regard, the Amazon series is a pitch-perfect adaptation of the comic book series that inspired it. That series is, of course, Garth Ennis' The Boys, which follows a clandestine, anti-super group assembled to provide a check on the privatized, and wildly corrupt, superhero squad The Seven. The leader of that squad goes by Homelander, possesses Superman like powers, and is worshipped with the fervor of a deity by many in the world. He's also one of the most vile comic book creations the world has ever seen, frequently using his powers in unimaginably cruel ways.
While the Amazon adaptation has already depicted many of Homelander's worst deeds from The Boys comics, there's one particularly malicious moment from the books that may have been deemed too brutal even for the unseemly world of the adaptation. That moment came in the books' "Believe" storyline, and found Homelander auctioning off a new car, and a dinner with the hero himself at a Christian convention in New York. The lucky winners were the deeply devout Muller family, who were beyond ecstatic to win some face-time with their favorite "super." Little did the Mullers know that their night with Homelander would be their last on Earth.
Will Amazon's The Boys ever depict this brutal moment on screen?
If you've never read the The Boys, we can tell you that Homelander initially plays nice with the Mullers, picking their car up and using his powers to take them for a ride in the friendly skies. The Muller's dream come true quickly becomes a living nightmare as the "hero," having taken them thousands of feet into the sky, offers some scathing commentary on Christianity before dropping the car, Mullers and all, and watching them fall to an unfathomably brutal death. As they fall, he offers the cruelest of parting words, telling the doomed family, "The only man in the sky is me."
Now, if you have read The Boys comics or watched the Amazon series, you know murdering the Mullers is hardly the first time Homelander had broken bad. To date, he's actually overseen the crash of two planes (one with over 100 passengers on board) and killed good guys and bad with unflinching barbarism. Even as patently evil as Homelander is typically depicted in the books and series, however, it seems producers of the Amazon adaptation just couldn't find it in themselves to bring the Muller's murder to life in season 1 of The Boys.
To be honest, we're not entirely sure they ever will. The truth is, Homelander's flight with the Mullers remains one of the most sadistically savage moments we've ever seen in a comic book. So disturbing is the act, it could easily become the sort of event that turns even the staunchest The Boys' fans off of the show for good. That being said, the series' creatives have more than laid the groundwork for such a vicious moment to occur and, with The Boys ramping up to unleash a second season of salacious superhero savagery on the world, we should probably all brace ourselves to finally witness Homelander's fateful meeting with the Mullers.