Audiences ofThe Boyshave seen somedownright disturbingthings over the show’s four-season run. And, it would be incredibly fair to say that a solid chunk of them have been perpetrated by the title’s primary antagonist,Antony Starr’s Homelander. During the show’s fourth season, which arrived last summer,viewers were given an all-access pass into the traumatic upbringing that turned Homelander into the maniacal psychopaththat now runs not only the Seven but the entire country as well. Recently chatting with TV Insider, series creator,Eric Kripke, shed some light on Homelander’s big “heartbreaking” homecoming moment and how it not only better formed his villain origin story, but also managed to make those watching at home feel some empathy towards such a disgusting and dislikable character.
Giving credit where credit is due, Kripke notes that withoutStarr’s precise, insightful, and perfect portrayalof the character, fans would never be able to meet Homelander on that basic human level.
“That particular story, where Homelander goes down to the lab, that’s a really heartbreaking story. And a lot of that comes down to Ant[ony Starr], who really wanted to play it like a little boy. He had this really smart, insightful observation that when you go home,you revert to whoever you were when you were at that home, and he was a scared little boy then. Now he has all this power, but he’s still that little kid, and so, it made him, weirdly — to the extent to which Homelander can be — sympathetic [or] at least empathetic. You could at least understand how that torture led him to become the person that he is today.”
There’s No Place Like Home
Duringthe scene in question, Homelander tortures the lab workers in the same way that he was tortured before eventually leaving via the elevator, completely covered in blood and grinning from ear to ear. But, throughout the sequence, when he’s reflecting on the moments that defined his traumatizing childhood,we see through his facial expressionsthat the tough-as-nails maniacdoesfeel pain, which, again, is all thanks to Starr’s performance. With a similar sentiment,Kripke continues to champion the leading actor,sharing,
“I thinkAnt pulls off an incredible magic trickto make maybe the most evil and sociopathic person on television understandable to the audience. And that is no small thing.”
Using Homelander’s homecoming as an example, Kripke revealed that – while there have been someabsolutely bonkers happenings– he never feels like he’s pushing the characters too far from themselves.
“I mean, my north star is just the characters, because I don’t know. So for me, it’s like,is it true to those particular characters?Are we so locked into what we think that character is thinking and feeling and would do? And if we think we’re showing that character the appropriate diligence and discipline, it’s a good bet the audience will follow them, too, because it’s as airtight as we can make it.”
The Boysis now streaming on Prime Video.
Source:TV Insider
