Anthony Starr as Homelander, in The Boys Season 3, Credit: Courtesy of Prime Video
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There is a plethora of “Evil Supermen” in the comic book medium these days. A lot of writers have taken the Superman archetype and broken it down in order to see what would happen. Heck, even the Man of Steel himself isn’t protected from this since the Injustice franchise exists. The appeal is usually to see what Superman would be like as a villain and while the results have been mixed, Homelander is definitely viewed as one of the most successful versions.
It’s natural that a lot of people want to compare these two characters and see who would come up on top in a battle. While they are very similar in superficial traits and abilities, they are vastly different in terms of morals and points of view, which would also make for a fascinating ideological battle.
Brief Rundown Of Their History
Superman was created in 1938 and first introduced in Action Comics #1 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. He is often heralded as the first major superhero in the medium of comics and the catalyst for the Golden Age, which was the industry’s prime back in the 1940s. The character has gone through iterations and alternate takes in the DC Universe but the main chronology Superman has remained the same, even if his powers sometimes are improved or decreased.
He is the last son of Krypton, and grew up in Kansas in the United States, raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent. As he grew older, he decided to use his powers for the greater good and became the Superman everyone knows.
Homelander was created by legendary writer Garth Ennis for his indie series, The Boys, in the mid-2000s. The Boys is a violent satire of superheroes and what they represent, with very clear references to some of the most iconic characters in the business. Homelander is a mix of Superman and Captain America, often appearing virtuous and kind in public but being a very cruel and devious individual when no one is watching.
Amazon Prime Video did a TV adaptation of the series which has become extremely popular and with Anthony Starr’s portrayal of the character being extremely praised. While he was already quite insane in the comics, the show added an element of mental instability and deep insecurity that made him an even more interesting character in the story.
Powers and Abilities
There are different interpretations of the character of Superman due to DC constantly rebooting their continuity, but this is going to be the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman since he is the version most people are aware of. He can fly, he can run very fast, he has super strength, he can shoot lasers, he has a lot of endurance, he can freeze things with his breath, has heat vision, and X-ray vision.
On the other hand, Homelander has the following abilities: poison and toxin immunity, heat vision, nigh-invulnerability, the ability to fly, super strength, super speed, supersonic scream (comics only) and durability.
How The Fight Would Go?
In this case, the setup will probably be Superman finding out that Homelander has been evil for a long time and trying to put an end to it. And considering Homelander’s nature, he will have no problem in making it as chaotic and destructive as possible so other people can die in the process and hurt Superman’s conscience and public image.
How Each Could Gain The Edge In Battle?
This is going to be a hard pill to take for a lot of Homelander fans out there but here is the thing: there is very little that he can do against Superman in a battle. One big reason Homelander is so superior in The Boys universe is because no one else has the degree of abilities that he has, so he simply has an edge over everyone else.
However, when compared to the Man of Steel, he simply can’t compete. Superman has all the abilities that Homelander has and are much superior to the latter’s, which is why in every scenario he would win. He is faster, stronger, much better trained, usually with a lot more experience, and with enough knowledge of his abilities.
It’s also worth pointing out that Homelander is poorly trained. This isn’t shown that much in the TV version but in the comics, he has proven to be fairly incapable of saving people, even if he wanted to. The infamous plane scene is a very good example of that, with the character simply bailing when the going got tough. Superman is the direct opposite, usually exceeding expectations when things are at its darkest.
Superman is also fairly intelligent and a capable strategist, even if that side is not always shown in his stories because of his raw strength. And Homelander, on the other hand, has proven to be someone who can have a breakdown in moments of high stakes. This is very important because he is not going to be able to come up with a strategy when he is cornered by the Man of Tomorrow in battle.
The Result – Who Would Win?
Superman wins this because he is better than Homelander in any possible metric, which is quite ironic considering the latter’s character arc in his own series. There isn’t a very logical scenario where Homelander would have the upper hand and it would up to Superman deciding how he wants to end this battle.
This is something that our readers agreed to since our polls had Superman winning this fight by 71% on Instagram and 79% on YouTube.
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