A Curious 'The Boys' Reddit Theory Reveals Series' Most Powerful Character
In a world filled with superpowered (and slightly unhinged) people capable of almost anything, the greatest power is actually information, as this character certainly proves.
The Amazon Prime series with Billy Butcher (Karl Urban ) and his crew of vigilantes struggling to take down the villainous Homelander (Anthony Starr) managed to effectively turn the tired superhero formula upside down by portraying comic book heroes resembling Superman or Wonder Woman as the real villains. In the universe of the series all of the so-called supes rely on Vought International to raise their personal approval ratings that show superhero's popularity among the United States people. But what if these ratings turn out to be just a hoax, allowing Vought CEO Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito ) to control all the superheroes working for the company?
In a recent thread on Reddit a fan suggested this idea, concluding that managing a superhero image is itself a superpower. In season three, Homelander's ratings plummeted after his questionable decisions in the previous installment, while Starlight's (Erin Moriarty) ratings reached an all-time high. Edgar definitely does not care about well-being of his superheroes, using the media to get them to do some unspeakable things.
Of course he can mess with the system. There's no third party that's evaluating superheroes of different companies. It's only Vought and their own metrics for their own superheroes. – /Emajenus.
The great manipulator has already proven that he is not afraid of Homelander's bad temper, which certainly makes him one of the most powerful men in 'The Boys ' universe. Although he himself has no superpowers, Edgar actually doesn't need them; he uses a dubious approval rating system to control everything his superheroes do.
There's no way he cares about giving Starlight co-captain position so that she can bring about positive change, given his history of exploiting everybody (and of course not warning Starlight about the Seven beforehand like she did for the other guy). So whatever he's doing, he's manipulating her, and it looks like it's likely playing out as expected. – /AnOnlineHandle.
Of course, someday Homelander is bound to snap and unleash his full power on the conniving CEO, and fans can't wait to see how Edgar reacts to that.
I wonder how Edgar will compose himself when Homelander decides to teach him a lesson. Of course, Edgar is by far the most powerful man in the series, yet his tactics are manipulative, and Homelander is pretty notorious for his anger. – /MymanEKB.