Why Starlight Should Defeat Homelander In The Boys (Not Butcher)

Although Billy Butcher’s (Karl Urban) personal vendetta against Homelander (Antony Starr) would seemingly make him the obvious choice to defeat the leader of the Seven in The Boys, Starlight’s (Erin Moriarty) position as one of the few “Supes” who actually cares about protecting innocent people actually makes her the perfect candidate to beat the megalomaniacal supervillain. While Starlight and Billy Butcher are on the same side, especially following the former’s formal joining of The Boys, they could not contrast more as characters. Butcher is a hate-filled man who is more than willing to murder his enemies in savagely brutal ways.

Starlight, however, truly wants to use her abilities and fame to help people rather than kill them. While she does become increasingly disillusioned as a superhero in The Boys season 3, eventually willing to blackmail others to get her way, she definitely is not as cynical or brutal as Butcher. While Butcher maybe has the most obvious motivations to want to kill Homelander, Starlight certainly is not lacking reasons for wanting to defeat him. Besides, with the lethal effects of Compound-V24 already affecting Butcher at the end of The Boys season 3, he may not live long enough to even see Homelander’s demise.

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Why Starlight Deserves To Defeat Homelander In The Boys

Starlight has plenty of reasons to want to personally defeat Homelander in The Boys. As the corrupt leader of the Seven, he represents everything wrong with “Supes“. Homelander is the antithesis of Starlight: he wants nothing but power and is willing to do anything to achieve it, whereas she truly wishes to save the world. She even aids her enemy, A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), after he suffers a heart attack during their climactic fight in season 1. Homelander, by contrast, shows nothing but contempt for “Supes” he feels are beneath him. In season 2, Homelander brutally beats Blindspot (Chris Mark), possibly to death, for being a “Supe” with a disability.

Starlight has a significant motivation in wanting to defeat Homelander, due to his constant terrorizing of her while she was a member of the Seven. Homelander makes false public claims that the pair are in a romantic relationship, forcing her to comply by threatening Hughie Campbell’s (Jack Quaid) life. He reinstates Starlight’s abuser, The Deep (Chace Crawford) back into the Seven. Homelander also murders Supersonic (Miles Gaston Villanueva), Starlight’s ex-boyfriend, and presents his mutilated corpse to Starlight in an effort to get her to play ball with his demands. Homelander did nothing but ruin Starlight’s life while she was in the Seven, thus, she has many reasons to defeat him.

Starlight’s Final Battle Can Explain Her Season 3 Upgrade

The question of why Starlight’s powers got upgraded in The Boys season 3 finale can be answered by her needing to defeat Homelander. If she is indeed the one to beat him, instead of Butcher, her abilities needed to become even stronger than they already were. During her battle with Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), Starlight becomes more powerful than she ever had been before, thanks to the intervention of Hughie. He bathes her in studio lights, gifting her with the newfound ability to fly, as well as strengthening what powers she already possessed.

This makes Starlight more of a powerful threat to Homelander in The Boys season 4, meaning that she could indeed be the one to defeat him in a final battle. The number of characters that pose a threat to Homelander has shrunk, following the events of The Boys season 3 finale. Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) sacrificed her powers to kill Soldier Boy, Soldier Boy himself is comatose once again, and Black Noir was murdered by Homelander for not telling him of his lineage. This means that The Boys could really be setting up Starlight as the one to defeat Homelander.

Related: The Boys Season 4 Can Finally Use 1 Missing Homelander Power

Starlight Defeating Homelander Is Better For Butcher

While Homelander may be Butcher’s archenemy, due to his rape, kidnapping, and involvement in the ultimate death of Becca Butcher (Shantel VanSanten), Starlight being the character to defeat the leader of the Seven is better for Butcher’s storyline in the long run. Billy Butcher has a hatred for all “Supes“, stemming from his sheer detestation for Homelander. Even if Butcher kills Homelander, there’s every chance that that hatred does not dissipate as he may not find the man’s death to be emotionally fulfilling.

In Garth Ennis’ The Boys comics, Butcher is revealed to be the ultimate antagonist as he concocts a plan to kill every “Supe” through an act of genocide. If Starlight does end up defeating Homelander instead of Butcher, she could prevent this from occurring, allowing him to live out his final 18 months in relative peace. This would allow his character arc to come to a proper close before Butcher’s V-24-inflicted death, with him moving away from the endless need for vengeance. Billy Butcher may seem like the obvious candidate to kill Homelander, but it would be better for The Boys if Starlight was the one to defeat him.

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