Ever since it came out in 2019, the Amazon Prime series The Boys has been a huge hit. With a score of 90% of Rotten Tomatoes, it qualifies as one of the best TV shows to come out in recent years. The series, which pits a team of vigilantes against an organization of villainous super-powered individuals, has no shortage of great characters.
One of those is Homelander, who is the leader of corrupt superheroes known as the Seven. Homelander is quite similar to the DC superhero Superman in many ways. He has even been labeled a parody of that iconic character. But that doesn't make him any less entertaining. Here are ways in which the two are similar.
Inability To See Through Metals
Superman has the kind of vision that could make any ophthalmologist proud. He can see through anything. But there is one exception—lead, and his foes have frequently used the metal to hide from him.
Homelander can see through anything too, except for zinc. In Season One, he explained to The Deep that he couldn't see through zinc because the metal can absorb low photon X-Rays. Homelander uses low photon X-rays to see through opaque objects. He could only be able to see through zinc if his X-Rays were of the high photon quality.
Optical Beams
Superman is always able to generate heat energy from his eyes and project it as powerful, laser-like optical beams. These beams can cut through most things, and even blow up things.
Homelander has the same ability too. He was first seen projecting his beams when he used them to destroy the Mayor of Baltimore's private jet. Unlike Superman, who mostly uses his beams to do good, Homelander uses his to commit villainous acts. He has been seen melting flesh and destroying things for no good reason.
Costumes
Superman's suit mostly consists of the color blue, with red in certain sections. The same applies to Homelander's suit. It's mostly blue, with touches of red and white.
Like Superman, Homelander has a cape too. The only major differences between their costumes is that Homelander's cape has the design of an American flag. Homelander also wears gloves, which is something Superman has never been seen doing.
Super Hearing
Superman is able to hear many different sounds at different frequencies. Even when the sounds are far away or blocked by other objects such as walls, he is able to hear them well. This is an ability that all Kryptonians and Daxamites possess.
Homelander also has the same kind of auditory awareness. He can easily use this ability to hear someone's heartbeats and judge whether they are nervous or excited. His hearing ability also enables him to detect a person's blood pressure. He could easily tell that Hughie Campbell had a blood pressure of 150/90.
Romance
Apart from saving the world, Superman has always been a symbol of romantic relationships. He adores his wife Lois and their romance has always been a hug part of DC storylines.
Homelander started out as a misogynistic jerk (he still is) but in Season 2 of The Boys, he embraces love too. Homelander falls in love with the equally crazy and deadly Stormfront, and their romance has been interesting, even if it obviously didn't last.
Super Speed
Like all Kryptonians, Superman can move very fast under the earth's yellow sun. In the Golden Age comics, his speed was limited to 60 mph, but later on, his speed increased significantly. The explanation for this was his continued exposure to the sun, which boosted his speed thanks to the Photonucleic Effect.
Homelander can move very fast too. A networked CCTV also recorded Homelander flying at speeds of 1,874.482 kph/Mach 1.53.
Superhuman Stamina
Superman is able to perform highly taxing physical activities for long periods of time without getting tired. He has fought in many earthly and space wars for long periods of time without any effect on his body.
Homelander is said to produce no fatigue toxins while performing a physical activity. As a result, he can keep going as long as he wants to. He can fly for long periods at high altitudes where winds would logically make him fatigued.
Invulnerability/Endurance
Both Superman and Homelander are immune to most forms of physical harm. Homelander was shown to not be completely bulletproof, as there were some weapons that could destabilize him. The same applies to Superman, who can be destabilized by Kryptonite.
However, the two are invulnerable most of the time. Homelander was at the Stillwell residence when Billy blew it up but he still came out unscathed. Madelyn Stillwell once stated that there wasn't a weapon on Earth that hadn't been used to attack Homelander.
Icons
Both heroes are icons to the public. Homelander is only well-perceived by the public because of the genius marketing campaigns by Vought. Behind the scenes, he is evil. Since the public isn't aware of his antagonistic actions, he is always respected.
The same applies to Superman. Unlike Homelander, Superman is genuine. He has rightfully earned the respect of the public. He is considered Earth's most popular Superhero in the DC world.
Background Story
Both Superman and Homelander have the same background stories. However, Homelander's background story isn't true. Vought International told the public that Homelander was an alien who dropped to Earth as a baby and was raised by loving parents in a tiny rural town. That's exactly Superman's background story.
The truth is that Homelander was given Compound V as a child in an effort to make him a hero that Vought could market to the public. Compound V was initially developed to create super soldiers for Nazi .