All year, Eric Kripke and the producers of The Boys have been hyping up “Herogasm” as the most shocking episode of season three, a bold claim given the season premiere. “Herogasm” takes its title from a six-issue miniseries spinoff from The Boys comic, one that followed a Vought-sponsored orgy filled with even more nastiness than found in the mainline series. But for many fans, the real standout of the episode was not the depraved sex-capades or even a few gory kills. Rather, it was the confrontation between Homelander and Soldier Boy, the recently revived WWII-era Supe. When the rumored weapon to kill Homelander was revealed to be Soldier Boy, some worried that the tyrannical leader of the Seven would continue his reign of terror unabated. But the episode proved that Soldier Boy could not only chase away Black Noir with his mere presence but could also take down Homelander, especially with the help of the superpowered Butcher and Hughie. As these reactions indicate, the scene thrilled fans not just because it was a good fight, but because it upended the always-tenuous balance of power in The Boys universe. For more than two seasons, the series has established Homelander as the ultimate Supe, a threat that was only compounded as he grew increasingly unstable. Rather than take some hope from the fact that Butcher and Hughie were almost able to defeat Homelander with Soldier Boy’s help, viewers recognized that the fight would likely have unintended consequences. It only encourages Hughie and Butcher to keep using V, thus becoming the Supes they hate, and emboldens Soldier Boy, who was directly responsible for the death of M.M.’s family. Perhaps the most thrilling aspect of the fight was that it pushed Homelander further to the edge, giving Antony Starr another opportunity to show off his range. A Twitter user called for Starr to earn an Emmy award, comparing his performance to that of Willem Dafoe in Spider-Man, while another attributed all of the show’s success to Starr’s abilities.
