The Boys: Stormfront and Homelander Aren’t The Only Supes Who Fly

Homelander and Stormfront aren’t the only Supes in The Boys with the power to fly. The Amazon Prime series follows the attempts of Billy Butcher and his crew, the titular “Boys,” to take down Vought, a powerful corporation that controls an arsenal of superheroes. Its “heroes” are revealed to be deeply problematic figures, despite their reputations as beloved American icons. This is best exemplified by Homelander and Stormfront — two of the most famous of Vought’s heroes who also happen to be murderers, bigots, and sociopaths.

The Boys introduced its superhero-laden world to audiences gradually, showing snippets of the various superhuman abilities in the premiere and showing how blurred the lines had become between fiction and fact: this is a version of the USA inhabited by celebrity superheroes who all work for the corporation Vought International. Viewers get a taste of how engrained in pop culture Vought’s heroes are in The Boys, with Homelander, Translucent and The Deep appearing in merchandising and even fictional movies based on their real-life personas.

The darkly-comic superhero series heavily implies that Homelander and Stormfront are the most gifted of Vought’s Supes, especially given their roles at Vought. In The Boys, The Seven are powerful superheroes who are considered the cream of Vought’s crop. As the leader of the celebrity crime-fighting team, Homelander considers himself Vought’s most useful, and therefore powerful, assets (although Stan Edgar disagrees on that point — arguing Compound V is far more useful to the company). Homelander’s season 2 arc involved a romance with Stormfront, who proved to be his (possible) equal in terms of abilities. Yet, hidden in the series premiere were figures in the background who share one of Homelander and Stormfront’s key powers: flight.

In the series premiere, Butcher takes Hughie into an underground sex club frequented by Vought’s Supes. There, Hughie realizes that the squeaky-clean image of these “heroes” in popular media is a fabrication perpetuated by Vought. Among the debauchery Hughie witnesses is a shot of several Supes intertwined, suspended in the air. These are clearly Supes with the power of flight — and they don’t appear to be either Homelander or Stormfront (the latter would not be introduced until season 2).

The Boys hasn’t fully explored the powers granted by Compound V — although it is clear that there are certain powersets, like how A-Train, Shockwave and Mister Marathon all have super-speed, or how telekinesis in various forms is a commonly-seen ability (and is also demonstrated in the secret club scene). The Boys has suggested that Homelander and Stormfront are special Supes, and that their ability to fly is part of their unusual gifts. So far, no other named characters are known to share this ability — but as the brief shot in the season 1 premiere indicates, such people are out there. What remains to be seen is what other powers, if any, these Supes possess. Perhaps viewers will learn the identity of one of these unknown Vought experiments in The Boys season 3.

About The Author

Sarah Bea Milner
(333 Articles Published)

Sarah Milner is the Weekend Lead Editor for Screen Rant’s Film/Television features (SR Originals) division. She is a writer, editor, and folk musician. She often watches movies — sometimes she reviews them too.

A graduate of Trent University, Sarah’s MA thesis examines Frankenstein adaptations and their relationship with popular culture. She has a fierce love of all things “spooky,” and a deep appreciation for classic cinema.

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