How The Boys Fans Think A Fight Between Homelander And Invincible Would Really End
Showdowns between superheroes have long fascinated fans of the superhero genre. In between fights with criminals like Penguin and Lex Luthor, Batman and Superman square off with each other numerous times in the comics. In 2016, the two even came to blows in a rather dramatic fashion on the big screen in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." On the other side of the DC vs Marvel coin, 2016's "Captain America: Civil War" also showed how an ideological divide between the Avengers leads to a similarly dramatic physical confrontation between Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Captain America (Chris Evans). This trend of superheroes fighting other superheroes exists within other universes as well, such as Amazon's two major franchises: "The Boys" and "Invincible."
Both "The Boys" and "Invincible" imagine worlds populated by godlike heroes, giving audiences some of the most powerful (and corrupt) beings ever shown in superhero history. Because both shows are ultra violent and excessively crass, many fans have grown to wonder what a showdown between two of their strongest and most durable lead characters would look like, and most importantly, who would be the victor. While the Superman-like Homelander (Antony Starr) of "The Boys" is certainly a terrifying opponent, Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) of "Invincible" also represents an alarmingly imposing force.
This question was recently raised among fans of both shows in an online poll posted to Reddit.
Fans overwhelmingly think Invincible could beat Homelander
It seems that many fans of "The Boys" think Invincible would be able to best Homelander in a battle. In a recent survey posted to the r/TheBoys subreddit, a fan of both series posed an interesting question: "Can Invincible beat Homelander in a fight?" Despite the votes taking place on a subreddit dedicated to "The Boys" fandom, the lead of "Invincible" was actually the one who came out on top.
325 votes were cast in response to the question, and 185 respondents stated that they believe Mark Grayson would beat Homelander in a 1-on-1 battle. This means that more than 55% of the Reddit users who responded to the poll favored Invincible over Homelander in any situation. Moreover, an additional 57 respondents felt that Mark could not beat Homelander alone but may be able to beat him with the help of another superhero.
Out of the 325 votes cast, only 65 voters said "No" to the question, and 18 said, "Not at all." Clearly, Homelander had his share of fans who thought he could win, but the response was overwhelmingly in Mark Grayson's favor. So, what could possibly lead this many respondents to the same answer?
Many fans argue Invincible's feats are more impressive than Homelander's
These results are interesting, as they suggest that even within the fandom of "The Boys," there is an acknowledgment that Invincible seems stronger. In the discussion surrounding this debate, many fans noted that Mark has already shown more impressive physical feats than Homelander, and he is only going to get stronger as he ages into an adult Viltrumite like his father, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons).
As Mark has already fought numerous superpowered beings, battled armies of aliens, and flown into space, many fans simply feel that he has proven himself more in his one season of "Invincible." Because of his experience, many Reddit users said they believed that Homelander would pose little to no threat to Invincible. Responding to the question, u/astonishing_flash wrote, "Very easily. Even in his weaker stage (17-18), he is just way more impressive in every regard, except heat vision since he doesn't have it. Even the show version would beat comics Homelander. And while he hasn't shown his limits in the show, what Mark has done overshadows everything massively. So it would just be guesswork, but from what we know Invincible has better feats."
Interestingly, while Mark has definitely struggled more as a hero than Homelander, many fans still feel that the challenges he has faced dwarf what Homelander has had to encounter. Between the two of them, Invincible is the hero whose mettle has been tested more, and fans seem to have a better understanding of just how far Invincible is able to push his physical and mental limits in the heat of battle.
Many feel Homelander has not proven his ability to fight yet
Some have argued that Mark knows pain better than Homelander. In that regard, Mark may have a leg up if the fight ever gets particularly nasty. In fact, addressing this, u/sonsargon13 said, "Mark has been in multiple fights to the death he can handle pain extremely well. Then there's Homelander who's never felt physical pain how do you think he would react to something so foreign to him." Fans have only really seen Homelander take on humans wielding guns and Supes whose powers don't match up to his own. Since he has never felt pain in battle, it may hold him back if Invincible is able to hurt him.
While Homelander's physical weaknesses remain a mystery, the fact remains that even those close to the character feel that he has some serious downsides that could hinder him. Even Antony Starr has stated that he feels Homelander is the weakest character on "The Boys" because of how dysfunctional he is. Of course, the counterpoint to this is that Homelander may have no weaknesses. As u/jarson911 pointed out, "Homelander absolutely rolls mark. We haven't seen Homelander get hurt we don't know his durability for all we know he's as durable as Mark because he's part human like him."
Given this debate, only time will tell if "The Boys" and "Invincible" ever cross over, but for now, it looks like fans give the edge to Mark Grayson.