The Boys Season 5 Episode 3 Recreates A Famous Scene From Invincible

Contains spoilers for "The Boys" Season 5, Episode 3 — "Every One of You Sons of B***hes"

Both "The Boys" and "Invincible" are popular superhero shows on Prime Video, and the former has paid tribute to the latter in the most brutal fashion imaginable, recreating the mayhem of Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) and Invincible's (Steven Yeun) famous fight. After this homage, the Omni-Man and Homelander comparisons aren't about to go away anytime soon. The episode sees Antony Starr's Homelander descend further into madness, believing he's actually a god. At the same time, Homelander's son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), returns, as Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) tells the boy the truth about the nature of Homelander and his mother's (Shantel VanSanten) relationship.

Butcher rallies the boy to his cause to kill Homelander; however, they have another fallout, resulting in Ryan rushing to confront Homelander on his own. At the site of the forthcoming Planet Homelander, Homelander and Ryan engage in conversation. Eventually, Ryan lashes out with his superpowers, as Homelander attempts to subdue him. When this doesn't work and Ryan draws blood on his father, Homelander smashes the boy into a pile of boxes and stands over him, pummeling him until his own fist is bloody and Ryan's face is wrecked. It echoes a scene from "Invincible" Season 1, Episode 8, "Where I Really Come From." Omni-Man beats his son to a bloody pulp, and, like Omni-Man, Homelander has a moment of realization in which he looks at Ryan and stops, knowing he's gone too far.

Many comparisons are made between Homelander and Omni-Man, since they're both superpowered characters in the mold of Superman who turn on humanity. Instead of using their powers for good, they have selfish motivations and attempt to convince (or force) others to join their respective causes. And now both of these thugs have nearly murdered their own sons. Yet, their arcs couldn't be more different.

In "Invincible," Omni-Man leaves Earth and tries to redeem himself for his actions, while Homelander only becomes worse with each passing season. Sure, they have both committed despicable and heinous crimes, but Homelander shows no sign of recognizing the error of his ways. He's a full-blown psychopath, whereas Omni-Man at least shows some remorse for his mistakes.

The respective fandoms love to debate who would beat who in a fight, and the actors have also weighed in on the topic. In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes, Simmons stated, "I will take on Superman and Homelander. One hand for each of them, and kick their butts." At a Q&A event in 2023, Antony Starr went back and forth with a fan who thought Omni-Man would come out on top, eventually saying, "Anyway, Homelander would win. Let's just leave it at that."