The Boys has never shied away from holding a mirror up to real-world events, and showrunner Eric Kripke has now admitted that one particularly shocking scene from the season 3 finale was inspired by am infamous quote from former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The sequence in question saw Homelander introduce his son Ryan to the public. Most of the people assembled are fans, but when one protestor throws a bottle at the lad, the increasingly psychotic leader of The Seven responds by using his heat-vision to blast him in two.
Fully expecting a riot, Homelander is pleasantly surprised when the crowd starts to cheer, and a sinister smile spreads across Ryan's face.
While speaking to Variety, Kripke has the following to say about the scene.
"It's just a notion taken to the extreme that the more horrible public leaders act, the more fans they seem to rack up. And there's always that expression that Trump can shoot a guy on Fifth Avenue and wouldn't lose any fans. And so we said, 'Let's do that. Let's have Homelander kill a guy on Fifth Avenue and see what the reaction is.' And it's just true."
Homelander will likely be even more ruthless now that the mask has slipped and his followers don't seem to care, and he also has a potentially game-changing ally in Ryan... unless Billy Butcher can make amends and get Becca's son back on his side.
"Ryan is a really important piece of the story because he's half Becca, half Homelander. If Butcher can figure out how to get his shit together and get the kid back, that could be the single best weapon they have against Homelander. But vice versa. If Homelander wins the kid over, that's apocalyptic because then there's two Homelanders. It's like a child drama with apocalyptic stakes. It's like Kramer vs. Kramer meets Avengers: Endgame. So that will be a really rich story moving forward."
Did you pick up on the Trump comparisons at the time? Drop us a comment down below.
Season 4 of The Boys just recently wrapped production, so it'll probably be a while before we see a trailer, but you can check out some behind-the-scenes photos here.