15 Marvel Characters That Could Beat Homelander

The Boys just finished airing its final episode, bringing Homelander‘s horrifying journey to a close. The Superman-pastiche villain is more powerful than most superhero characters, but Homelander isn’t exactly unbeatable. In fact, quite a few Marvel characters would soundly defeat Homelander, and I’m talking about the villain at his strongest and not weakest. Be it through their brains, brawn, or powers, they take advantage of one of Homelander’s many weaknesses, while nullifying his strengths or minimizing his opportunity to use them.

Obviously, we will never see these fights actually play out, but it is fine to imagine what would happen if these characters hit the unmovable object that is Homelander. One thing is for certain: the villain’s run would have ended far quicker if any of these Marvel juggernauts existed in The Boys.

1

ForgetMeNot

Homelander Wouldn’t Even Realize He Lost

• Advantages: Unless directly looking at him, nobody can remember him or what happened with him. Yes, that includes if they blink.
• Disadvantages: Not strong, as he is otherwise a “normal” human.

ForgetMeNot, aka Xabi, is not the well-known mutant in Marvel Comics, but that fits him perfectly. His power (and curse) is that he cannot be perceived, and the second somebody stops seeing they forget entirely about him. He has no control over this ability, and he essentially goes through life being nothing more than a ghost.

If Homelander were to punch ForgetMeNot, he would kill him in one hit… however, he wouldn’t ever even be able to register him or that he is somebody he would need to kill. The only way Homelander wins is if ForgetMeNot happens to be collateral damage, and The Boys villain wouldn’t even know that he just defeated him. ForgetMeNot might not have super-strength, but he has access to the X-Men’s technology, so he can inflict damage.

2

Thor

Mighty, Astonishing, And Immortal

• Advantages: Strong enough to destroy planets and withstand neutron stars, invulnerable to anything short of a Celestial’s attack, manipulate energy to form storms, can see to the farthest edges of the Solar System, and move at Mach 32 with his hammer, Mjölnir or similar weapons (Stormbreaker, etc.).
• Disadvantages: Susceptible to Warrior’s Madness, which makes him stronger but more uncontrollable. Speed and flight are reduced without Mjölnir, Stormbreaker, etc.

The problem with gauging the Marvel Universe’s strength is that they kind of give up past 100 tons. DC will put a ridiculous number to rate Superman’s strength, but Marvel is happy to leave their strongest heroes at “an excess of 100 tons.” Compared to Homelander’s estimated max lifting strength of “a dozen Mag trucks” (approximately 480 tons), that doesn’t bode well for Marvel.

Luckily, fans can compare the two by their feats of strength. For example, the Mighty Thor has held up bridges, pulled islands, and destroyed planets with his physical strength alone. He’s immune to all diseases, poisons, ailments, radiation, and more, can see as far as the edge of the Solar System from Earth, and has near-endless stamina. That’s without accounting for his weapons, items, and storm powers. Against that, Homelander’s chances look bleak.

3

Silver Surfer

When Silver Outdoes Gold

• Advantages: Strong enough to throw stars, survive supernovas and all kinds of radiation, move faster than the speed of light, manipulate elements, and see/hear at great distances.
• Disadvantages: Is prone to self-doubt, is noble to a fault, and often holds back to avoid killing his foes.

The same could be said for the Silver Surfer. The Former Herald of Galactus has been able to withstand black holes, shrug off practically all kinds of radiation, and survive in the vacuum of space. He’s withstood supernovas, has thrown dwarf stars around, and can move faster than light with his board.

Without his board, he’s still agile enough to dodge any errant strikes and figure out a winning strategy in a second. The Fantastic Four had to reason with him and his conscience to get him to become more than Galactus’ warning shot. Given Homelander’s lack of said conscience, his cynicism and brutal outlook on life aren’t likely to move the Surfer any more than his strikes.

4

Thanos

His Victory is Inevitable

• Advantages: Super strong and durable, agile with quick reflexes, can sense disturbances and anomalies across the universe, can manipulate forcefields and energy, manipulate matter and minds, fly, teleport, recover from death, etc.
• Disadvantages: His ego has often gotten the better of him, has fallen to other cosmic-level threats, was beaten by Squirrel Girl once.

All those advantages come even without the Infinity Gauntlet and its Gems. The Mad Titan, Thanos, is ridiculously strong. He has powers gained over the years by becoming the universe’s Avatar of Death, and he gained godhood by passing the Witches of Infinity’s trial. Even before then, his unusual genetics of being a part-Eternal, part-Deviant made him an anomaly from a physical standpoint, too. He’s built like a tank and strong enough to fight off Thor and the Phoenix, while being fast enough to keep up with and outflank Captain Marvel.

As such, Homelander would find himself quickly crushed under Thanos’ boot. Only similarly strong cosmically-powered beings like Adam Warlock, or the God Emperor form of Doctor Doom, have been able to defeat him. Thor and the Silver Surfer were, at best, distractions. Homelander’s only hope would be to end up with the Infinity Gauntlet himself, as he’d need all the Gems’ powers to turn the tide against the Titan.

5

The Incredible Hulk

Limitless Rage, Limitless Strength

• Advantages: Super strength and stamina grow exponentially with no upper limit. Capable of destroying planets and withstanding the largest supernovas.
• Disadvantages: Base forms are weaker than Homelander, with some Hulks being weaker than others (e.g. Gray Hulk), susceptible to sleeping gases and cosmic radiation, reverts back to Bruce Banner once calmed down or tired.

Homelander taking on the Incredible Hulk seems just as imbalanced, but the Man in the Sky might have a chance in the early goings. Depending on which form he takes (gray, green, etc.), the Hulk’s base strength starts between 80–150 tons. If Homelander went full-on at the Hulk the moment he transformed, he might be able to stop him in his tracks. The problem is that the angrier Hulk gets, the stronger he gets, and his strength is practically infinite.

He can smash asteroids twice the size of Earth with a punch, and withstand 100 supernovas. Killing him as his human self, Bruce Banner, doesn’t work either (despite Ennis doing that in Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe), as regular continuity has him Hulking out the moment a lethal bullet or blade strikes him. Unless Homelander got smart or lucky, he’d be puny compared to the Hulk.

6

Captain Marvel

Interstellar Hero Can Bring Homelander Back Down To Earth

• Advantages: Strong enough to carry Celestials and knock out Superman-level heroes like Sentry, durable enough to withstand equal blows, can manipulate energy as Binary, and use it to enhance her strength and heal herself.
• Disadvantages: Can run out of energy as Binary, bringing her back to her base level.

Whether it’s as the original Ms. Marvel, Captain Marvel, or just herself, Carol Danvers has had a messy superhero journey. At first, she was a Human-Kree hybrid who could lift 100+ tons, and catch bullets if she wasn’t in the mood to just let them deflect off of her body. Like this, she’d have a close enough battle with Homelander to annoy him. But then aliens called the Brood experimented on her, and linked her strength with “the primal forces of the universe.”

It gave her the ability to become Binary, an alter-ego who could manipulate all forms of energy. Like this, she could turn any attack Homelander lands into energy to make herself stronger. Even if he didn’t fight, she could do the same with heat, light, radiation, etc., and pulverize the guy. Her ability to make energy duplicates of herself, fire nuclear bomb-level photon blasts, sense his attacks in advance, and survive in space seem like overkill to mention.

7

Doctor Strange

He’s Sorcerer Supreme For A Reason

• Advantages: As Sorcerer Supreme, he can use telepathy, phase through strikes, shift him or others into astral forms, manipulate minds, time and elements, and fire energy blasts strong enough to destroy planets.
• Disadvantages: No super strength or durability. Some of his spells require special items, like the Eye of Agamotto, etc.

Homelander doesn’t have Superman’s level of strength, speed, etc., but he also lacks his weaknesses. Sure, he can’t see through zinc, he’s annoyed by certain sound frequencies, and might be incapacitated (not killed) by enough Novichok gas. But the Boys can’t just find a special mineral and wave it at him to make him humble. However, since magic isn’t a thing in The Boys, Homelander has no special protection against Doctor Strange.

He can turn Homelander into anything he likes, rewire his mind with telepathy, phase through his strikes, reduce him to his astral form, etc. If he wanted to keep things simple, he could just banish him to another dimension. Only someone of equal or greater magic can overcome the latter, and since Homelander isn’t magic, he’d be in trouble.

8

Jean Grey

When Homelander’s Greatest Weakness Is His Mind

• Advantages: Arguably the strongest telepath and telekinetic in the Marvel universe, can rewire people’s brains, change their emotions, memories, and possess them. Can summon superstrong forcefields and rip people apart molecule by molecule.
• Disadvantages: No super strength or durability.

Doctor Strange shows that one doesn’t have to be physically strong to overcome Homelander. But they don’t necessarily need to be Sorcerers Supreme either. Jean Grey gets the mention here, though any of Marvel’s strong telepaths like Professor X or Emma Frost could fit here, as Homelander doesn’t have any special mental protection against them.

Jean Grey alone can manipulate people’s emotions, memories, minds, and more. She could mentally block Homelander from using his powers, send him to sleep, and then probe his deepest traumas to see how he got so messed up. Jean could practically turn him into a completely different person. But if she’s feeling violent, her telekinetic forcefields are strong enough to hold Captain Marvel and honed enough to disintegrate people at the molecular level.

9

Scarlet Witch

If Homelander Gets Vexed, She’ll Leave Him Hexed

• Advantages: Vast magical knowledge, able to warp reality itself, create things from nothing, raise the dead, manipulate energy, predict the future, form forcefields, fly, go invisible, manipulate plants, weather and the elements, augment strength, etc.
• Disadvantages: No super strength or durability by default.

If Scarlet Witch was the same character she was in the 1960s-1970s, putting her up against a Superman-like character like Homelander would have seemed ridiculous. Her hex powers affected probability, meaning she basically cast bad luck on people, which might have gotten her out of some sticky situations. However, writer Steve Englehart felt this was just the tip of the iceberg, revealing her hexes were chaos magic granted to her by the demon Chthon, which she learned to tailor further under Agatha Harkness.

From then on, through training, dramatic interventions, and more, she has become one of the most powerful magical figures in the Marvel Universe. Instead of hexing Homelander into stumbling over stuff, she could split him apart at the molecular level, trap him in forcefields, attack him with energy weapons, break his brain with her telepathy, or change his reality all together. If she could take away nearly every mutant’s powers, she could reduce Homelander to an ordinary man, which he might consider a fate worse than death.

10

Rogue

Look, But Don’t Touch

• Advantages: Is strong enough to match or exceed Homelander’s strength, speed, and flight. Can predict her foes’ movements and counter them quickly. Can drain their energy via skin-to-skin contact, and even absorb their powers.
• Disadvantages: Only has the power-draining and absorption abilities in some continuities.

Depending on the source, Homelander would either have a chance against Rogue, or he’d be outmatched. In the comics, her power absorption abilities were enough to give her Wonder Man and Carol Danvers’ pre-Binary powers permanently. With flight, super speed, and super strength, she’d at least be an even challenge for the hero, with the advantage of Carol’s Seventh Sense to predict Homelander’s next moves, and the reflexes to counter them.

Without those skills, like in the X-Men movies, Homelander could reduce her to a smear…provided she didn’t get to touch him beforehand. All she needs is some skin-to-skin contact to gain Homelander’s powers and durability. Prolonged contact could weaken Homelander further until he’s a withered husk. Few beings have been able to counter her abilities, and they’ve usually been special cases, like Juggernaut’s magic.