The Boys Season 4 Reveals Why Homelander Is Evil

Amazon Prime Video's The Boys Season 4 gave more reasoning for why Homelander is now so evil.

Homelander, or John Gillman, has been masterfully portrayed by Antony Starr since The Boys Season 1. With every season, it seems the writers have only given the supervillain more to do and a deeper look into his psyche.

This went to a new level during Episode 4 of the latest season, which examined Homelander's origins and traumatic uprising in detail.

Why Is Homelander Evil? Season 4 Confirms

Warning - This article contains spoilers for The Boys and graphic descriptions.

The new episode of The Boys sheds more light on why Homelander is evil. Episode 4 reveals his tragic backstory, detailing how he was treated poorly by laboratory scientists during his childhood testing. 

This included flashbacks and Homelander's recollection of being put in the "oven" and being burnt alive repeatedly. While his Compound V-powered flesh didn't burn, he told the scientist responsible that it was brutally painful.

Homelander recounts various traumatic experiences from his childhood, including one humiliating incident involving a lab worker named Marty.

As a child, Homelander was subjected to cruel and painful experiments by the lab's scientists. Marty, one of these scientists, once caught young Homelander masturbating in private. Instead of treating him with compassion or understanding, Marty mocked and humiliated him, giving him the derogatory nickname "Squirt." 

In a twisted act of revenge, Homelander forces Marty to masturbate in front of the entire team of scientists. When Marty is unable to comply, Homelander threatens him with violence, ultimately lasering off his genitals. 

This harsh upbringing fostered a profound lack of empathy, ultimately leading him to become the narcissistic maniac fans know (and maybe love weirdly) today.

The final nail in the coffin of the episode and a look into Homelander's current personality is the confirmation that Vought brought in renowned physiologists to make him long for love and approval. 

This mental set-up is a key element of Homelander's personality and his primary weakness as a Supe with seemingly unlimited power.

[ Here's Why Homelander Killed Black Noir In The Boys, Explained ]

Could Homelander Have a Redemption Arc?

It's hard to imagine Homelander as anything other than a vile character who has little room for any redemption. While viewers are meant to feel some empathy toward the villain, those not questioning that he's evil, whether he chose to be.

Throughout the series, Homelander has committed numerous heinous acts, including the massacre of innocent civilians, the abandonment of hijacked plane passengers, and the psychological manipulation of his son. 

His most recent atrocities in Season 4, Episode 4 involve torturing and killing the scientists who experimented on him as a child. 

This episode details his gruesome methods, such as burning a scientist in an oven and crushing another's skull, showcasing the full extent of his cruelty and lack of empathy.

Despite his character's actions, however, Starr's portrayal has become arguably one of the best modern superhero antagonists. 

All episodes of The Boys Season 4 are streaming on Amazon Prime Video. 

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