The Boys: Antony Starr Played A Murderer In Banshee Long Before He Played Homelander
Antony Starr might be one of the most recognizable faces on television at the moment. This is due to the fact that he's currently playing Homelander on "The Boys," one of the most despicable villains in television history. Whether it's letting a group of passengers die on a plane, shoving a teenage girl to her death, or literally tearing a character limb from limb, Homelander is not going to be ingratiating himself with any reasonable person.
However, long before Starr was violently murdering folks in "The Boys," he'd already made a steady habit out of it on "Banshee." The actor played Lucas Hood in the series, an ex-con who steals the identity of a dead sheriff after a chance encounter and uses his new position to gain access to resources he could never utilize as a common thief while occasionally trying his hand at a little redemption.
What fans of "The Boys" will love about the Cinemax series, which can also be streamed on Max, is that Hood is absolutely ruthless. Any time the character is pushed a step too far or backed into a corner in "Banshee," he will come out swinging, and chances are someone is about to either get horribly mutilated or viciously killed in a manner that would make Quentin Tarantino or David Cronenberg jealous as a result.
Lucas Hood is much more likable than Homelander, despite his brutality
We won't break down every instance of Antony Starr's Lucas Hood absolutely ruining folks in "Banshee" out of respect for spoilers and redundancy. Still, let it be known that if the prospect of a prison rapist having his head bashed in with weights or a mixed martial artist and domestic abuser losing the ability to ever do either one again after his arm is horrifically broken sounds like your cup of tea, chances are you'll love "Banshee."
Funny enough, though, Starr's character on "Banshee" is actually more like Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) from "The Boys" than "Homelander." While Lucas Hood is a nasty piece of work, he does have a code, and he will generally only hurt or kill people who he thinks have it coming.
On the other hand, while we've seen bad cops on screen before, Hood is among the top of the heap when it comes to abusing his badge to get things done in "Banshee." Hell, that's why he stole the sheriff's identity in the first place. Still, while Starr's character gets suitably nasty throughout the show's four seasons, he remains likable enough that viewers will still root for him.
Basically, a cross between the AMC crime drama "Breaking Bad" and FX's nasty police thriller "The Shield," "Banshee" is just the show to tide fans of Starr over until the spin-off "Gen V" and Season 4 of "The Boys" drop. Even better, coming in at a crisp 38 episodes, "Banshee" is not a show that will take viewers long to get through, especially with its incredible storytelling, brutal beat-downs, and jaw-dropping cliffhangers.