‘The Boys’ Creator Eric Kripke Clarifies Homelander Was Never Meant as a Trump Stand-In

Popular shows often get compared to real-life events, especially when they deal with politics, power, or public figures. Viewers frequently try to connect fictional characters and storylines to real-world leaders, even when creators say those links are not intentional.

That debate has come up again around “The Boys,” where fans have been discussing how much the show’s satire overlaps with modern politics. Creator Eric Kripke has now spoken about those comparisons and how actor Antony Starr approaches his role as Homelander.

A new interview with Entertainment Weekly sheds light on how Antony Starr approaches the character of Homelander, especially amid ongoing comparisons between the show’s satire and real-world politics.

Kripke explained that Starr never intended to play Homelander as a direct political imitation or parody of Donald Trump. Instead, the focus has always been on building a consistent and believable character with his own internal logic, rather than modeling him after any real-life figure.

He said, “I totally understand Ant’s point of view. He’s like, ‘I’m not doing a caricature. I’m trying to create a character with a consistent internal life.’ And I absolutely agree and respect that. So we’ll just work on purely internal logic and character motivation and we won’t bring Trump into it all that much.”

Despite that, viewers have continued to draw comparisons between “The Boys” and real-world political imagery. Kripke pointed to recent reactions to a golden Homelander statue shown in the series, which some fans connected to a similar golden statue of Donald Trump displayed at Trump National Doral Miami. The similarity sparked discussion online, something Kripke says he only became aware of after seeing social media reactions.

He described his immediate reaction as confusion mixed with surprise, saying he saw the online response while at home and thought, as he put it, “what the f—?”

Kripke also said that while he does not design elements of the show around specific political figures, he understands why viewers interpret parallels through that lens. He explained that sometimes real-world events end up resembling themes already present in the series, even if they were not intentional references.

According to Kripke, one of the more interesting aspects of the reaction is how audiences use the show as a mirror to current events. He said that if the imagery helps people recognize real-world behavior more clearly, then it can still serve a useful purpose in discussion.

He added, “If it’s helpful in that dialogue to point out the absurdity of it, as horrifying as it might be that it’s happening in reality, but if we’re able to help people point that out or maybe even help people notice it in a way that maybe they wouldn’t have, then that’s a positive.”

Kripke also addressed another storyline involving Homelander’s messiah-like vision in the series, which some viewers linked to real-world political and religious imagery. He said the writers were more broadly inspired by historical examples of authoritarian movements rather than any one modern figure.

He noted that the creative team has discussed global history and patterns of power, saying they were looking at different societies that have experienced similar political shifts rather than focusing on any single contemporary leader.

Overall, Kripke emphasized that the goal of the show is not to directly parody real individuals, but to build fictional characters and stories that sometimes unintentionally reflect real-world events in striking ways.

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