Homelander vs the world · Cosmic
Homelander vs Superman
Homelander was built to be Superman. He is about to meet the real one.
Tale of the tape
| The Boys | Universe | DC |
|---|---|---|
| City to planet | Tier | Cosmic |
| Flight, heat vision and invulnerability | Strength | Solar-powered strength, flight, heat vision and freezing breath |
| Never trained, never tested, and desperate to be adored | Weakness | Pulls every punch: he is more afraid of hurting people than of losing |
| 4–10 | Record on Versus | 5–2 |
The Arena
Homelander had always been told he was the strongest being in the world. When he discovered a world where a man in blue and red flew above a city called Metropolis, beloved by everyone, he felt something he had never admitted to anyone: jealousy. He flew there to prove that he was better.
He found Superman above Metropolis, catching a falling helicopter and setting it gently on a rooftop. Homelander floated in front of him, smiling. “So you’re the one they love.” Superman turned, his expression kind. “I’m sorry, have we met?” Homelander’s smile grew colder. “I’m the one who should have your job.”
Superman looked at him for a long moment, and his face grew serious. “I can hear your heartbeat,” he said quietly. “It’s very angry.”
Round One
Homelander fired his heat vision, and Superman fired his own. The two beams met in the sky above Metropolis and exploded, a flash of light visible from orbit. Homelander flew through the explosion and punched Superman in the jaw. Superman’s head turned slightly. He looked back at Homelander, surprised, but unhurt.
Superman did not strike back immediately. He tried to talk. “You don’t have to do this.” Homelander laughed and hit him again, and again. Superman blocked, deflected, absorbed. He was holding back, the way he always holds back, the way Homelander never had in his life.
Homelander noticed. “Fight me!” he screamed. “Stop pitying me and fight me!”
The Turn
Homelander flew at a crowded street below, his eyes glowing, aiming his heat vision at the people. It was a trick he had used before: threaten the innocent to make a hero stop holding back. Superman moved faster than Homelander could see, caught him, and hit him for the first time.
It was the hardest punch Homelander had ever taken. He flew backwards across Metropolis and crashed into a building, and for the first time in his life, he felt real pain. He stared at the blood on his hand, shocked. Nobody had ever made him bleed. Nobody.
Superman hovered in front of him, calm, his cape billowing. “You threatened innocent people,” he said. “That’s where this ends.”
The Finish
Homelander attacked with everything he had, raw fury, every ounce of power in his body. Superman met it head on, and for a few seconds they were evenly matched. Then Superman drew on the sun above Metropolis, and his strength kept climbing, and Homelander’s did not. Superman pinned him to the side of a building and held him there.
Homelander struggled and could not break free. He looked up at Superman’s face, expecting contempt, hatred, triumph. He saw only sadness. “Who taught you to be like this?” Superman asked quietly. Homelander’s eyes filled with tears, which he hated. “Nobody,” he whispered. “Nobody taught me anything.”
Superman did not let go, but his grip softened. He took Homelander somewhere he could not hurt anyone, and then he stayed, talking to him, for hours. Homelander did not change. But for one night, someone had seen the frightened, unloved child inside the monster. It was the closest he had ever come to being saved.
The verdict
Superman wins
Homelander was built to match Superman and is close in raw power, but Superman draws ever more strength from the sun, has far more control and experience, and stops holding back the moment innocent people are threatened.
- Solar powerSuperman grows stronger under the sun; Homelander does not.
- ExperienceSuperman has fought gods; Homelander has fought people who could not fight back.
- ControlSuperman’s restraint is a strength Homelander never learned.
How the rematch could go differently: There is no version of this fight Homelander wins, because Superman is everything he was built to imitate.
Who do you think wins?
Who would win in a fight between Homelander and Superman?
Superman wins. Homelander was built to match Superman and is close in raw power, but Superman draws ever more strength from the sun, has far more control and experience, and stops holding back the moment innocent people are threatened.