Antony Starr's Homelander in The Boys has all the makings of a live-action Cell in Dragon Ball. Despite being the venerable sensei of anime and manga, Dragon Ball is still going strong with a modern comic series and an internationally successfully string of movies. But despite Dragon Ball's sustained popularity, the less said about Goku's ill-fated live-action adventure, the better. Dragonball: Evolution released in 2009 to universal disdain, and while the merest mention of Goku in high school still sends a shiver down the spine, rumblings of Hollywood making a second attempt have never completely vanished. With live-action adaptations of Naruto, One Piece, The Promised Neverland, One-Punch Man and many more on the horizon, it's surely only a matter of time before someone takes another stab at Dragon Ball.
Among Dragon Ball's rich roster of villains, fans have always hoped to see Cell realized in live-action. The third major villain of Dragon Ball Z, Cell was created by Dr. Gero, designed as a perfect fighting organism and instilled with a burning desire to kill Goku. Like most villains, Cell cycles through several transformations before hitting his final form, and is ultimately defeated by Gohan in one of the franchise's best bouts. Renowned digital artist bosslogic recently posted his vision of what Cell might look like played by Antony Starr of The Boys fame, but while Starr certainly looks the part, the actor's performance as Homelander demonstrates a host of shared attributes between these two despicable villains.
Where Frieza sought galactic conquest and Buu was just a pink blob of chaotic energy, Cell's personality was entirely driven by ego. The green android was hell-bent on becoming the most powerful being on Earth and asserting his dominance over lesser life forms, while also possessing a certain showmanship. Instead of simply killing Goku at the first opportunity, Cell made a point of hosting his own tournament, the Cell Games, announced to the world on TV and taking place on a grand, purpose built stage. These traits can all be found in Homelander's character too. Viewing those without power as inferior beings, Homelander's sole focus is remaining on top of the pile - the strongest, most famous face on the planet, but he also knows how to work a crowd. In both cases, this single-minded focus results in a dramatic fall from grace. Cell's hubris eventually led to his destruction when Gohan attained the Super Saiyan 2 transformation, while Homelander's need for public adulation allowed Queen Maeve to blackmail him in The Boys season 2.
Homelander and Cell both have a tendency to manipulate their opponents for their own amusement. In Dragon Ball, Cell deploys his Cell Jr warriors to battle the other Z-Fighters, not because the likes of Yamcha and Piccolo are a threat to him, but purely to torture Gohan. Homelander is prone to similar shows of dominance. After discovering Maeve's bisexuality, Homelander could've easily taken Elena out of the picture, but he outed Maeve on live TV and forced her to endure a barrage of passive-aggressive homophobia instead. In an alternate reality, Cell might've done something similar. The Boys sees Antony Starr portray a narcissistic villain with a superiority complex and a "how dare you make me bleed my own blood" attitude, but Homelander also harbors an inner vulnerability. Due to his upbringing; Homelander fails to understand the world around him, or the feelings of regular people. As an android grown in a lab, Cell shares this fault, and fails to grasp the nuances of human emotion.
Dragon Ball fans would be understandably cautious in the event of another live-action movie effort. However, one of Dragonball: Evolution's greatest flaws was casting, and Antony Starr in the role of Cell is a far more exciting prospect than anything attempted previously. If the remainder of a new live-action cast followed in this vein (Karl Urban for Vegeta, anyone?) then the next attempt at a Dragon Ball movie might not make fans want to claw their eyes out.