The Boys season 2 followed the unsettling relationship between Homelander and Stormfront, but The Boys season 4 could have an even worse couple. Considering how Homelander is always seeking approval, having the world’s strongest superhero paired with another powerful supe that enables his actions is always dangerous. Stormfront was the reason why Homelander stopped hiding behind the “benevolent superhero” mask, and the twisted dynamic between Vought’s first supes and the company’s current flagship hero set the stage for Homelander to stop playing by Vaught’s rules. While Stormfront only appeared briefly in The Boys season 3, her previous time with Homelander explains The Boys season 3’s final scene and why Homelander's partners are so significant.
Stormfront showed Homelander that he could be bigger than Vought itself, a dangerous precedent for someone who already saw themselves as bigger than the whole world. Homelander sees himself as a god, yet Stan Edgard and Madelyn Stillwell had being able to keep him under control. Now, despite Stormfront being dead, Homelander no longer fears Vought or public opinion. In fact, Homelander now runs Vought and has retained a lot of his popularity despite Starlight revealing much of the truth about him to the world. With Homelander and Starlight’s fake relationship over and Homelander now picking the new members of the Seven, The Boys has established Homelander's next relationship as being even more toxic and potentially dangerous than ever. With teases suggesting his new partner could be Firecracker, the stage is set for a partnership even worse than Homelander and Stormfront.
Are Homelander And Firecracker Dating In The Boys Season 4?
A The Boys season 4 set picture suggests that Homelander and Firecracker, one of The Boys’ new members of The Seven, will have a close relationship. While not much is known about The Boys’ new members of The Seven Sister Sage and Firecracker, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke suggested (via Twitter) that Homelander himself chose the two new supes to fill in the spots left by Starlight, Black Noir, and Maeve. Considering how much power and influence Homelander has gained by the end of The Boys season 3, it will be no surprise if Homelander gets to choose the new members of the Seven without any sort of external input.
For that reason, it would also make sense for Homelander to choose supes he knows he can trust. After the betrayals of Maeve, Black Noir, and Starlight, Homelander cannot afford to have another member of The Seven either helping Butcher or acting on their own interests. Firecracker, Sister Sage, and whoever gets the final remaining spot on The Seven are likely supes that Homelander trusts on some level, meaning that he must already be familiar with their history as heroes and likely agree with their outlook. This, in turn, sets Firecracker up as either a deferential personality willing to go along with whatever Homelander says, or someone who appeals to his more psychopathic tendencies. Therefore, unlike what happened with Maeve and Starlight, Homelander publicly dating Firecracker could be The Seven’s “dream couple” that Vought has so long looked for.
How Homelander & Firecracker Can Be Worse Than Homelander & Stormfront
One of the many reasons that made Homelander and Stormfront such a scary couple was the fact that Stormfront would enable Homelander’s actions. Without Stormfront, the Homelander audiences see at the end of season 3 – one that was willing to risk his public perception simply because he no longer cared about being loved by everyone – would never have come to be. Unlike in the comics, Homelander still had strings on him for most of The Boys season 3 – the fake relationship with Starlight as a prime example. Now, not only does Homelander no longer need to play along with a publicity stunt, but he is also free to enter whatever relationship he wants without having to answer anyone else. It's unlikely that a new, more unstable and egomaniacal Homelander, free to choose who he really wants to be with, will make healthy relationship choices. This makes a future with Firecracker (or anyone else), who would likely appeal to his worse instincts, potentially even scarier than what's come before.