the boys will end his story in a fifth and last season. We know that Eric Kripke plans to continue Gene V for a few more seasons and create others the boys spin-off, too. And we're getting some very, very strong indications the boysThe main villain, Homelander, could have a prequel series. Is it a good idea? I think so, if approached in the right way.
In episode four of season four, Homelander spends time confronting some of her deepest and earliest core wounds. He returns to the Vought lab where he was born and raised for a “family reunion” of sorts. He confronts a couple of people who abused him as a child. Of course, Homelander gets bloody revenge on just about everyone, setting the stage for him to get even more deranged. This little peek into Homelander's origin story gives us a lot of context to some of his downright disturbing inclinations. A Homelander prequel series would further establish how he became such a twisted being.
I'm not very interested in seeing a very young homelander being tortured by adults. That seems too brutal, even by this universe's standards. But I think the period from when he became “The Homelander” at age 16 until he became the leader of the Seven is an intriguing part of his life that we know little about. After spending years in isolation and brainwashing, how did he learn to navigate a larger society and become America's hero? What challenges did you face? His journey from a socially awkward loner to the cunning leader we all know would be fun to witness. Much of it would depend on finding the right young man to complement Antony Starr's impeccable portrayal of a grown-up Homelander.
I'm not always a fan of trying to humanize a villain. But the duality of having the powers of a god yet the innate human need for love, family and approval, even after excruciating torture, is what makes Homelander such an effective antagonist. Sure, we could have flashbacks to his toddler and pre-teen days, like what the boys posted on social media with the hashtag #HomeSweetHome. (Is that a hint from the title? I wish it was Home Sweet Home (lander) personally.)
But that shouldn't be the primary goal of a Homelander prequel spin-off series. Set in their late teens and early 20s, we'd also get a chance to meet other members of the OG Seven, like Queen Maeve, also at a more impressionable time in their lives. Maybe we can find out what happened to Mr. Marathon, who A-Train replaced before the events of the boys. In fact, the boys I could even make it a true “Dawn of the Seven” story about how they all came together, but with a bigger focus on the Homelander story.
Right now, we don't know if Homelander will survive the events of the boys or not (My guess is he'll stick around.) But if he does, it wouldn't be out of the realm for him to appear in other spinoffs. A prequel series would be an excellent way to get a complete picture of Homelander as it moves forward. In fact, it might even connect to what we enter The boys: Mexico or future Gene V seasons Who knows how far the reach of Dr. Vouglebaum? Let's see where this wild world takes us in the future.
