The Supe That Could Give Homelander Trouble In The Boys

The end of The Boys' season 2 saw the demise of one of the show's strongest Supes: Stormfront (Aya Cash). She was beaten bloody and then lasered to a burnt crisp. She still didn't die, though, as it takes a lot of creative thinking to kill any of these superpowered jerks. Now, with her incapacitated, the series' most terrifying threat is once again the twisted Superman parody that is Homelander (Antony Starr).

Although you could argue that Homelander isn't the show's true villain, he's still a huge threat, and, perhaps is an even bigger one now that he's lost Stormfront and his son, is being blackmailed, has a public image issue after dating a Nazi, and is becoming outnumbered in the Seven by people who actively want to hurt him (as opposed to the simple loathing from before). With Homelander set to explode — metaphorically, though we can't count out a literal explosion — in season 3, and become a true "homicidal maniac," as Starr told Collider, the Boys are going to have to deal with him. If they don't take Compound V themselves, and with Black Noir's identity splitting from the comics, the question remains: who or what is going to take him down?

Well, if it's a creative method that's needed to kill Homelander, then perhaps one Supe from the comics could be manipulated into that use: the shapeshifter Malchemical. He has the ability to alter his form into anything, adjusting his density and chemical state as needed, like an alchemist's dream come true. However, in the comics, he is far from sympathetic to the Boys' mission of uprooting Vought's corruption. They'd have to be incredibly convincing to get him on their side.

As it goes in The Boys' source material, Malchemical is demoted from his super team for tricking the leader's girlfriend into having sex with him. Vought sends him to lead the naive, third-rate team Super Duper, where he proceeds to torment its members. Hughie intervenes and fights him, though Malchemical's shapeshifting powers get the better of him when the Supe turns into a tentacled gaseous form. Luckily for Hughie, however, Billy Butcher shows up and sets Malchemical on fire, revealing that the shapeshifting is both a superpower and a clear weakness.

Homelander dies in the comics at the hands of Black Noir, but we already know that Black Noir's character in the show has diverged from the source material, so it seems likely that Homelander will meet his demise some other way; assuming he dies, that is. There's the possibility that the Boys will inject themselves with Compound V and use that to take him down. Or maybe Homelander's son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), who has the same powers as him, will take out his father, just like he did with Stormfront.

Not only are Malchemical's powers able to be used in surprising ways — like turning into a gas and potentially poisoning Homelander — he has a habit of making himself look like other people to manipulate those around him. If the Boys need to find Homelander's weakness, then perhaps they could blackmail Malchemical into tricking him into divulging sensitive information. He could take the form of a partially healed Stormfront. We'll just have to wait until season 3, though, to see what other Supes are brought into the fold.