Why Antony Starr Calls Homelander The Weakest Character On The Boys

Amazon Prime Video's "The Boys" brings a special type of "superhero" to the streaming scene. Starkly different from the various offerings of Marvel and DC, the excessively crude 2019 series follows the trials and tribulations of a group of anti-heroes who fight against a team of the worst superheroes imaginable. Chief among the team of baddies known as the Seven is Homelander, an obnoxious and deadly man-child who is as aimlessly patriotic as he is infantile. 

Armed with god-like superhuman abilities and an almost certainly under-developed prefrontal cortex, Homelander routinely causes the very destruction he often claims to protect against. For a variety of reasons (the least of which is the fact that he could snap and literally murder them at any moment), Homelander is habitually babied by the various employees of Vought International, the shady multi-billion dollar conglomerate responsible for management of the Seven. Of course, there are consequences to such babying, especially when it comes to someone capable of such levels of mass destruction.

Despite the strength and ferocity of Homelander's super powers, plenty of people have their doubts about Homelander's inner strength. During an interview to promote Season 2 of "The Boys," Homelander actor Antony Starr explained why he believes Homelander is actually the "weakest" character.

"He's physically the strongest man in the world and the most dangerous man in the world. He's the super superhero," Starr said (via Collider). "But I've always viewed him, right off the bat, as the weakest character on the show, emotionally and maybe arguably spiritually."

Starr went on to refer to Homelander as "crippled" and "dysfunctional," saying, "He has a very difficult time dealing with his own humanity." Because of Homelander's laser eyes, flight, super speed, and super strength, he is often compared to DC's Superman (aka Clark Kent / Kal-El), but Starr also told Collider that he thinks Homelander is similar to the Man of Steel in a decidedly different manner.

"If you compare him to Superman, his kryptonite is his own humanity, which he's constantly trying to avoid but also can't escape," Starr said. "It's one of the most important things that you always see that vulnerability. It's a weakness."

"The Boys" Season 3 premieres on Amazon Prime Video on June 3 (via IMDb).