Concrete Proof That Antony Starr Was Homelander Even Before The Boys
Antony Starr's Banshee role is eerily similar to Homelander.
Before Antony Starr completely aced the role of Homelander in the hit Prime Video series, The Boys, his biggest gig was arguably the TV series Banshee. If you watched that show, you might've noticed some uncanny similarities between his character there and his iconic role in The Boys.
Banshee is a gripping action-crime drama series that aired from 2013 to 2016. Set in the fictional town of Banshee, Pennsylvania, the show revolves around an ex-con and master thief who assumes the identity of the town's sheriff.
While enforcing his own brand of justice, he continues his criminal activities, even as he's hunted by the shady gangsters he betrayed years earlier. Antony Starr plays the lead role, and his portrayal of a man with a dual identity evokes shades of the duality we later see in Homelander.
In a particular scene from Banshee season 1, episode 4, we see Antony Starr's character confidently walking into a room, exuding that same intimidating aura we've come to associate with Homelander.
As he enters, someone tries to question Lucas’ (Starr’s character) presence with a rather aggressive, "Hey, cop! What the f*** are you doing here?" And in true Homelander fashion, Starr coolly replies, "Whatever the f*** I want..." But it’s not just in Homelander fashion — it is exactly what Homelander says in The Boys season 1 episode 2.
The scene continues with a chase. As Lucas and his partner catch the suspect, he tells the other thugs to “stay the f*** back.” Doesn’t it sound familiar? Yep, it is another phrase that Antony Starr later repeated as Homelander.
In season 1 episode 4, Homelander and Queen Maeve try to save a hijacked plane. The plane gets damaged, and Homelander decides to let people die. As people start panicking, Homelander scrams, “Stay the f*** back or I laser you.”
This might be a coincidence, given that the archetypes of these two characters might be somewhat similar, or it is Eric Kripke’s clever nod to Starr’s previous work. Or Antony Starr is Homelander in real life…
Jokes aside, many people who watched Banshee are convinced that this show is criminally underrated. So, if you are a fan of Antony Starr, you might want to give it a try.