Why Homelander Should Worry About This Supe In The Boys' Future
By the end of The Boys season 2, Homelander is more unstable than ever before, and that makes him a terrifying wild card for the Boys, the Seven, and the world at large as the show heads into season 3.
Losing Stormfront and then watching his son Ryan choose Butcher over him as Queen Maeve blackmailed him with the plane footage left the dangerous supe on edge — and it's only a matter of time before something (or someone) leads to him dropping the good guy charade he puts on in public. Given just how powerful Homelander is, if he goes nuclear the results would be catastrophic, but in an interview with TV Guide, showrunner Eric Kripke revealed there's at least one supe who could stop the leader of the Seven if and when he loses control for good.
The only trouble is the supe in question is Homelander's own son, Ryan. And as he illustrated in the season 2 finale, he has no idea how to control his powers yet. Ryan's inexperience means he's not prepared to take his father on in a fight, but Kripke did confirm that the young boy is stronger than Homelander. Much like Marvel's Hulk, it seems you don't want to get Ryan Butcher angry.
Ryan could be The Boys character who ultimately brings Homelander down
Becca Butcher went to great lengths to protect her son from the influence of Vought. Her goal was to raise Ryan as normally as she possibly could, despite his powers. As a result, he doesn't fully understand just how strong (and dangerous) he is, but he definitely got a taste of what he's capable of when he used his lasers on Stormfront.
In that moment, Ryan revealed he's actually stronger than his father, according to Kripke. "The strength of Ryan's lasers — which were surprisingly powerful — are way more powerful than even Homelander's when Ryan gets angry enough," he told TV Guide.
Given that Ryan is still quite young, it's possible the full extent of his strength won't be revealed for some time, but Homelander should certainly be worried about his son being used as a weapon against him. Since Butcher knows he can't be a father to the boy, he handed him over to Mallory's team, and you can bet they're teaching him how to control and utilize his powers just in case they need to utilize him against his father. Fingers crossed they're working fast though, because given his current state of mind, Homelander is an imminent threat.
There's only one character on The Boys who fully understands just how dangerous Homelander is
As Kripke revealed to TV Guide, only Maeve is fully aware of just how precarious the Homelander situation is going into season 3.
"I think she's more aware than most how dangerous he is and knows that he is ultimately a ticking time bomb," he explained. "So when you come in on Season 3, you find people feeling probably a little too comfortable because they scored a win and Homelander seems under control. She's one of the only [members of The Seven] who is feeling pretty edgy about what she believes is coming around the corner, and spoilers, she turns out to be right."
Now the big question is, will Ryan be ready to go toe-to-toe with his dad by next season or will the Seven and the Boys be forced to find an alternate way to bring Homelander down? Because it doesn't sound like there's going to be any time to waste when it comes to stopping the leader of the Seven from turning the full strength of his power on the world at large. That means Ryan may have to step up for the sake of humanity, whether he's ready or not. Now, the big question is, who is going to volunteer to make him angry?