Antony Starr’s Brutal Reaction to Fans Who Think Homelander Is Redeemable Is Going Viral
Some villains are so compelling that audiences can’t help rooting for them, and ‘The Boys’ has built an entire satire around that uncomfortable truth. Homelander is a narcissistic, violent and deeply insecure supe who has terrorized the show’s heroes for years. Yet he also remains the most magnetic character on the series, which has led some viewers to defend him in ways the creators never intended.
The man who plays him has spent years trying to keep that reaction in check. Antony Starr has repeatedly pushed back on the idea that Homelander is anything other than a monster, and the show’s final season only made the question louder. Now a new moment has put his feelings on full display.
A clip making the rounds online shows Antony Starr reacting to fans who come up to him and say Homelander is redeemable, and his response is a mix of horror and dark humor. He recoils at the idea and even jokes that he hopes the person doesn’t have kids, a line that fans have quickly embraced. Where and when the exchange took place hasn’t been detailed.
The reaction fits a long pattern. Starr told the Golden Globes that he doesn’t think Homelander “is a character that should be redeemed.” He added that he wants audiences to understand why the character is the way he is, but he doesn’t want them to feel sorry for him.
He has also been careful about the balance between backstory and excuses. Starr has described a fine line between servicing a character’s history and overplaying it, and he prefers shows that don’t tell the audience how to feel. That approach has given Homelander layers, but it has also made him easy to misread.
Starr has been even more direct about fans who idolize the character. During an Entertainment Weekly roundtable for The Awardist, he said he and the cast had to knock down online fans who were glorifying Homelander by reminding them that he is not the hero of any story. He called the reaction surreal.
He also said he didn’t expect people to feel so conflicted, or to find themselves feeling empathy for what he described as a monster. In another interview, he told Hindustan Times that a small minority of people had idolized the character and gotten the wrong end of the stick, because he’s quite obviously the bad guy.
When asked directly about a redemption arc, Starr has been more playful. In an Entertainment Tonight interview, he said he doesn’t know but that you never say never. He compared Homelander to the shark in ‘Jaws,’ noting that the shark is still a shark at the end of the movie, and said a redemption arc would be a challenge.
That answer shows how the actor thinks about the role. Homelander is a character built around a lack of accountability, and any attempt to turn him into a tragic hero would run against the entire point of the series. It’s why jokes about a happy ending, including a fan theory pairing him with Butcher, tend to leave Starr baffled.
‘The Boys’ has since wrapped, and its finale leaned into that philosophy. One review of the series finale, titled ‘Blood and Bone,’ argued that the episode gives Homelander the fate he deserves after piling on humiliations. After 5 seasons of building him up as one of TV’s worst people, the show doesn’t offer him a neat redemption.
That fits the tone Starr described in his farewell message ahead of the final season, in which he said they had created a monster. He has also joked that playing the role is like a therapy session with lots of killing, a description that captures both the emotional work and the horror.
We’re going out with a fuckin’ bang. It’s The Boys final season teaser trailer, folks. Get ready to climax April 8. https://t.co/05lAd9VaZl
— THE BOYS (@TheBoysTV) December 7, 2025
The fandom’s attraction to Homelander isn’t hard to understand. Starr’s performance gives the character vulnerability, and the show’s writing often places him in situations that make viewers wince and laugh at the same time. For many fans, understanding him feels very close to excusing him.
That tension is exactly what the series set out to explore, and it’s why Starr’s reaction works as both a joke and a warning. The actor knows what the character is, and he isn’t interested in letting anyone off the hook.
Is Homelander redeemable in 'The Boys'?
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