On the surface, The Boys' Homelander is meant to be a counterpart to Superman, albeit serving as a very evil mirror to DC's Man of Steel. However, Homelander's true origins make him much more like Conner Kent's Superboy, who was created in a lab just as Homelander was in his dark childhood. That being said, Conner Kent's battle with his darkness is one he typically overcomes thanks to his family and allies, while Homelander has remained a corrupt and dangerous superhero in the dark universe of The Boys.

In The Boys, Homelander's origins reveal that he was created in a lab owned by Vought International, the company that has turned superheroes and their powers into major commodities for profit. Having no real childhood, the boy that would be Homelander was always surrounded by labcoats and was constantly being tested on, being shown all sorts of American iconography to shape his personality into being the exact superhero Vought wanted him to be. However, while Homelander would grow up to be the face of Vought and their superhero team known as The Seven, his true nature is one that is much more sinister, with his immense power making him believe he can do whatever he wants.

Related: The Boys Theory: Victoria Neuman Hid Her Powers To Kill Homelander

Likewise, DC's Superboy had a similar childhood (or lack thereof), having been created by Cadmus Labs as a clone of Superman. Created in 1993's Adventures of Superman #500 by Karl Kessel and Tom Grummett, Superboy was made to replace the Man of Steel after Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday. However, Cadmus rapidly aged him up into his teenage years, though he broke out before he could be aged to adulthood and implanted with safeguards to keep him in check. Just like Homelander, Superboy lacked a crucial developmental and nurturing childhood. However, he and Homelander differ in that Conner Kent was able to break free, becoming a part of teams such as the Teen Titans and Young Justice, where he learned what it truly meant to be a hero, doing his best to resemble the original Superman. It's an aspect of the character that has largely remained consistent despite the various DC continuity reboots that have changed his origins in numerous ways over the years.

Homelander-Superboy

While Superboy's Titans origins on HBO Max are much more streamlined than in the comics (it was a long time before it was revealed he had Luthor's DNA as well) the core beats are there, and the same is true for Homelander and his comics origins compared to The Boys series on Amazon. Both wield incredible power, and yet neither of them were given the best chance they could have had during their childhoods to shape their abilities for good as Superman did. Both were victims of corporate greed and the pursuit of achieving power, regardless of how their paths diverged once they got older.

For these reasons, Homelander is much more like Conner Kent's Superboy when it comes to his origins than those of the original Man of Steel. However, it's doubtful that Homelander will have the same arc Conner has had where he found family and friends to love him and motivate him to be a force for good. Homelander is as twisted and corrupt as they come, and it's going to be a dark and wild ride to see what he does next in the upcoming third season of The Boys after his recent defeat in the season 2 finale. Likewise, while Superboy's story has essentially just begun in HBO's Titans, things look much more hopeful for Superman's clone now that he's found the Teen Titans heading into Titans' upcoming third season.

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