Homelander’s Terrible Parenting in The Boys Season 2 Had Antony Starr In Stitches

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Homelander’s Terrible Parenting in The Boys Season 2 Had Antony Starr In Stitches

Homelander's terrible parenting skills in The Boys season 2 had Antony Starr in stitches. Season two of the Amazon Prime hit original series spends a lot of time focusing on Homelander's awkward interactions with his newfound son. The first four episodes of season two are available to stream now, with a new episode premiering every Friday until October 9th.

One of the big reveals from the first season of The Boys was that Becca Butcher had given birth to Homelander's son, Ryan, and they were living peacefully protected away from Homelander's sight. Once Homelander discovers Ryan is alive he attempts to force his son to use superpowers and gets frustrated by how Becca raised Ryan as a sheltered and soft-mannered boy. Homelander continually tries to bond with Ryan and get him to use his superpowers by utilizing his terrible parenting skills. This unhealthy relationship culminates in one scene where Homelander literally pushes Ryan off of a roof, convinced his son can fly just like him.

Antony Starr actually had a hilarious reaction to the roof scene. He spoke to Cinemablend about how he "get[s] very subjective about these things because I'm looking at them from the character's point of view." Check out the rest of what Starr had to say about filming the scene below.

"All I can say is this, my friend: when I saw that, and that little high-pitched scream came out of that child, I was on the ground crying with laughter. I think it is so funny. I just love what the guys did in post with the visual effects. We’re so lucky we got [VFX supervisor] Stephan Fleet and his team in The Boys. They do such a great job and [it’s great] when you see it all put together. Like, obviously we didn’t push the kid off the roof. That would have been way too time consuming. But, um, that was a joke. But, you know – [Laughs] – we’d have to reset the plaster every take. No, no. But it’s great."

Starr's joke about filming the scene is hilarious. Starr definitely portrays the sadistic Homelander perfectly. After all, Homelander doesn't bat an eye when he pushed Ryan off the roof after Ryan pleaded with him not to make him jump. There's even a subtle moment where Homelander rolls his eyes and shakes his head incredulously in response to Becca's understandable worry about the unconscious Ryan laying in the grass. It's interesting how Ryan does manage to take Homelander by surprise by knocking him down after Homelander threatens Becca by grabbing her wrist. Once again, Homelander doesn't bat an eye, actually seeming pleased at what Ryan did, especially when his son's eyes start to glow red in anger. Homelander getting pushed down by his own son is interesting, as it's one of the few moments where fans see Homelander show that he might have a weakness.

It's an interesting dichotomy that The Boys set up between Homelander and his son. Ryan rejects Homelander's declaration that he's just like him. Becca is definitely a better and far more caring parent than Homelander, who doesn't understand basic concepts like empathy and love. Could Ryan possibly be Homelander's downfall? Nothing's off-limits in The Boys.