The Starlight Theory That Changes Everything On The Boys
Starlight (Erin Moriarty) has had a fascinating journey in Amazon's "The Boys" so far. She starts out as a naïve hero who just wants to help the world, and slowly learns that being part of The Seven isn't all it's cracked up to be. The glamorous veil of superheroism was quickly lifted in the first episode of Season 1, when she was sexually assaulted by The Deep (Chase Crawford). Thankfully, the show didn't go as far into the abuse as the comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson did, but it was still a horrific moment that changed Starlight forever.
Starlight later found the strength to publicly speak out about The Deep's abuse as a way of taking back some of her own agency and control of the situation. Her growing relationship with Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid), meanwhile, also instilled a fair amount of trust issues. "The Boys" Season 2 also surprised audiences by showing Starlight working directly against The Seven with Hughie and Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), but a new theory suggests the show could take a dramatic left turn from the comics where this hero is concerned.
The new Homelander
Although Starlight doesn't have a villainous turn in "The Boys" comics, fans on Reddit seem to think the Amazon show is setting the stage for her to become more violent like Homelander (Antony Starr). As Season 2 progresses, Starlight accidentally kills an innocent man after he draws a gun on her. Some fans think this moment is a sign of things to come.
Reddit user unpocoloco13 suggested that because Starlight's seen so many horrible things as part of The Seven, accidentally killing someone was worth it to protect herself and Hughie: "It just seems that with all the terrible things Starlight has seen and witnessed, accidentally killing a man who pulled a gun on them as collateral damage was ultimately worth it if they could save Hughie." Compared to the heinous actions of Homelander and Stormfront (Aya Cash), killing an innocent man certainly isn't the worst thing that's happened on the show.
But another Reddit post from thelure2112 suggested that Starlight is slowly becoming more and more violent because she's being enabled by the rest of The Seven. This user also theorizes that Annie will eventually become The Seven's leader, but she'll have to get just as sadistic as Homelander to do so. "As she continues to fight it she seems to be ever more conforming to the ruthless and sadistic patterns the other 7 operate under," they wrote. "My belief is that by the end of the series she will succeed in leading the 7 but it will require her to become a monster. And she has already shown a willingness to compromise her values to achieve her goals. Give her 4 or 5 seasons and the girl will be Homelander."
We'll just have to see how her arc plays out when "The Boys" Season 3 eventually arrives.