WARNING: Spoilers ahead for The Boys season 3, episode 4
The Boys season 3 may have viewers wondering whether Homelander dies or survives in the original comics - here's the answer. At its core, The Boys is a story about Billy Butcher's relentless quest for revenge against Homelander, and that's true for both Amazon's TV adaptation and the Garth Ennis comic books it's based on. The Boys season 3 brings Butcher closer than ever to achieving his aim. Though a mission to locate an enigmatic supe-killing weapon in Russia proves futile, the Boys find Soldier Boy himself locked up in a secret lab. Strangely, Jensen Ackles' captured commando now emits a powerful radioactive blast that strips a supe of their powers - the very weapon against Homelander Butcher was seeking.
The Boys has already taken a series of massive deviations from the comics, and these ensure Antony Starr's Homelander can't have exactly the same fate as his comic counterpart. Nevertheless, their stories remain broadly similar. Homelander is the leader of the Seven and the world's greatest superhero, targeted by Billy Butcher after the death of his wife, Becca. They indirectly exchange blows from issue to issue, but the situation intensifies in the final volumes when the Boys begin blackmailing Homelander with photos of him committing crimes he genuinely doesn't remember...
Homelander is no saint in The Boys comic series - he's just as murderous and despicable as on TV. But the sight of photographic evidence depicting crimes he can't recall slowly drives the supe insane. Maddened, Homelander attempts a supe uprising that culminates in him alone in the White House doing unspeakable things to the President's head, and Billy Butcher - crowbar in hand - is sent into the blood-soaked Oval Office to handle the situation. Before these fated enemies can properly get down to business, they're interrupted by Black Noir, who unmasks to shockingly reveal himself as a Homelander clone created by Vought in case the real deal ever lost control. Noir became so sick of waiting to fight his target, he created the photos, committed the acts in them, and deliberately sent Homelander insane. The two supes duke out their differences while Butcher runs for the hills, and Black Noir successfully kills Homelander.
Will Homelander Die In The Boys Season 3?
Amazon's live-action The Boys TV series has made an authentic comic ending difficult to pull off. For starters, Black Noir is definitely not a Homelander clone, and the Seven leader has committed every single crime he's accused of. The Boys might still introduce a Homelander impersonator further down the line but, as of season 3, there's only one red, white and blue sociopath in town.
Instead of following the comic book route, The Boys season 3 has positioned Soldier Boy as the means for Billy Butcher to murder Homelander. If these radioactive blasts can render a supe powerless - as with Kimiko - Butcher simply needs to get Soldier Boy one clean shot at the Seven's leader. Suddenly, Homelander can be punched, stabbed, or beaten with a crowbar, and in a power-free fight between him and Butcher, the smart money's on Karl Urban. Even though Soldier Boy's presence in The Boys brings Homelander's death closer than ever before, will it actually happen? Amazon has already confirmed The Boys season 4 is happening, and the prospect of continuing without Antony Starr's Homelander seems rather unlikely, suggesting Homelander won't die in The Boys season 3.
Beyond the current season, however, death is surely the only feasible ending for Homelander when The Boys ultimately concludes. After all the horrific acts he committed (and has thus far gone unpunished for), the audience needs justice meted out in some form. Odds are high that The Boys' brand of "justice" involves Butcher cracking open Homelander's skull like a can of Turbo Rush.
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The Boys continues Friday on Prime Video.