The Boys Season 3 finale revealed and confirmed the sad origin story of Homelander’s infamous corny catchphrase. The Boys gave Homelander a family-friendly, appropriate catchphrase: “YOU guys are the real heroes.”
Until his birthday meltdown in Season 3, Homelander was adored for being a flagbearer of morality and had a great public reputation to keep up with. To present him appropriately, Vought even devised a patriotic all-American persona, with a red, white, and blue costume.
The show did not even try to hide the many similarities between Homelander and Soldier Boy. So, many saw it coming when Soldier Boy was revealed to be Homelander’s father. Vought’s Homelander was not just a spiritual successor to Soldier Boy, but also an actual successor, which means he inherited much more than a toxic patriotic legacy.
Season 3 finale then proved how Homelander inherited his infamous catchphrase. After discovering his biological roots, Homelander decides to look through archive footage of his father, Soldier Boy.
In “The Instant White-Hot Wild”, Homelander found an old reel of Soldier Boy liberating Nazi prisoners. In this reel, Soldier Boy says, “These boys here, they’re the real heroes.” The audience can assume that Soldier Boy did not come up with this signature phrase on his own, considering he was too deep in bennies and mature women.
So, we can assume that Vought came up with the line specially for Soldier Boy. In 1984, Stan Edgar got Soldier Boy replaced with Homelander. They probably wanted to keep the phrase, wanting to give it a nostalgic appeal. So, Soldier Boy’s catchphrase was handed over to Homelander.
The Boys revealed the duality behind Homelander’s villainy quite well as it showed us two sides of him—the dark, evil side and the one desperately wanting a loving family and its approval.
Homelander desired parental love and approval so desperately that he murdered Black Noir, the closest thing he had to a friend, for keeping Vought’s father-son secret. The tragedy of it all lies in the fact that the truth was in front of Homelander all along.
Every time Homelander said his catchphrase, he was only following the father whom he always wanted to have. Soldier Boy’s words were with him throughout, yet he was never able to draw the connection. It is Homelander’s proximity to the truth and his inability to see it that makes the origin behind his catchphrase all the more tragic.
Homelander as a villain is irredeemable in The Boys, yet it is interesting to see how the makers try to make him a tragic hero and garner sympathy for him. From being a decent father to Ryan to revealing how Vought made him into a spitting image of Soldier Boy without revealing the truth, The Boys tries hard to make Homelander a tragic figure.
The Boys wants its viewers to empathize with the villain and understand the reason behind his dark side. The origin story behind his catchphrase perhaps simply contributes to that.
About The Boys
The Boys is an American satirical superhero streaming television series developed by Eric Kripke for Prime Video. Based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, which was originally published by DC Comics under their Wildstorm imprint before moving to Dynamite Entertainment, it follows the eponymous team of vigilantes as they combat superpowered individuals who abuse their abilities.
The show is a satirical take on the superhero genre and showcases a world where superheroes are corporatized and controlled by companies. What happens when these superheroes step out of line and rub some boys the wrong way, is the story.
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