How Does Vought Control Homelander? (& Why Is He Afraid of Stan Edgar) (2023)

One of the things that we know inThe Boysis that Homelander is the most powerful man in the entire world. Nevertheless, he was still under the control of Vought International, which oversees the actions of The Seven through its CEO and president, Stan Edgar, who seemingly knows how to use all of the pieces that he has in front of him. So, how does Vought control Homelander, and why is he afraid of Stan Edgar?

Vought is able to control Homelander because it is the company that oversees the public image and relationship of Homelander, who craves being worshipped by the people. And Homelander is afraid of Stan Edgar because he is the only person in the world who is not afraid of him.

Season 3, episode 4 of The Boys proves that Stan Edgar is the most badass character in the entire series because he wasn’t even afraid of Homelander. In that regard, he maintained his cool and composed demeanor under the immense pressure he was under, as fans only learned to respect him more. That said, let’s look into how Vought is able to control Homelander.

How Does Vought Control Homelander?

The Boys is basically a series where themost powerful superheroesare corrupt, and it is up to The Boys to find a way to kill Homelander, who is the most corrupt of them all but is also the most powerful. In that regard, Homelander and the other superheroes are basically icons and celebrities to the general public but are actually some of the vilest people behind the scenes because of how they abuse their power and status in society.

Of course, we all know that Homelander is no doubt a lot more powerful than any of the supes in The Boys because his strength and powers are beyond imagination. But, for some reason, he has been under the supervision of Vought International, a conglomerate that manages the license of the superheroes and is also responsible for creating them through their pharmaceutical arm, which created Compound V.

Now, throughout the entire series, Homelander was basically allowed to do whatever he wanted, but he still ended up having to answer to Vought International and its CEO and president, Stan Edgar. Previously, it was Madelyn Stillwell who managed the company, but Edgar has since taken a more active role. But how does Vought even control Homelander?

It is important to take note that the supes are basically the product of Vought International because it was through the company that they were created. On top of that, the supes owe their exposure to the world and to the media to Vought because this is the company that manages them and controls their public image. In a sense, Vought is also in charge of marketing the supes.

The supes in The Boys are actually egotistical in nature because they are not superheroes for the sake of their love for justice and peace. Instead, they do it because they love the attention and popularity that they get while being under the employment of Vought. And the biggest glutton for the adoration of the people is none other than the most powerful superhero himself.

In that regard, Vought is able to keep Homelander in line because of the fact that this company is responsible for making sure that the public sees him in a good light. Vought has always managed all of the supes and uses the numbers and statistics that they get from the people to gauge what the supes should and should not do.

This means that Homelander isn’t necessarily controlled by Vought but was actually allowing himself to work under Vought because he knew that the best way for him to gain the adoration of the people was to work with this company.

But things have been steadily changing because Homelander realized that his power over the people was greater than what Vought thought it was after his approval rating improved when he ranted in front of the world during his birthday special. That was when he realized that he probably didn’t need Vought at all.

Why is Homelander Afraid Of Stan Edgar?

Throughout the entire series, Homelander was never afraid of anyone. Even though he was working under Vought, he wasn’t afraid of Madelyn Stillwell, who he even killed when he found out the truth about himself. And he only became more brazen when he found out that his pull over the people was actually more powerful than everyone thought it was.

Nevertheless, the only person he could never seem to crack was Stan Edgar, the CEO and president of Vought International. After Homelander realized how powerful he really was in terms of his popularity, especially after he made the people see the “real” version of himself, he began to act more brazenly to the point that he made Victoria Neuman turn on her adoptive father, Stan Edgar himself.

This happened when Neuman released a press statement indicting Edgar of corruption within Vought as Homelander threatened the congresswoman’s daughter’s safety. Neuman’s love for her daughter forced her to betray her own father figure as she chose to side with Homelander, albeit reluctantly.

After that, Stan Edgar was forced to take a leave of absence that took him out of the picture. But, when Homelander confronted him, he was shocked when he used his X-ray vision and enhanced hearing to learn that Edgar was as relaxed as ever because of his low heart rate of 80 over 60. Homelander’s surprise came at a time when he thought that Edgar was going to lose his cool because his life was falling apart after Neuman’s accusations against him.

Still, during that confrontation, Stan Edgar remained as cool and calculating as ever when he was right in front of the most powerful man in the world. Homelander could kill Edgar with his finger, but the CEO stared him down and even talked trash to him without stuttering.

So, in that sense, the only reason why Homelander is afraid or appears to be afraid of Stan Edgar is the fact that Stan Edgar is not afraid of him. Throughout the series, Homelander used his superior power to intimidate people into submission as he realized that he could do anything because people feared him. But when he met someone who didn’t fear him at all, he realized that the only advantage he had over Edgar was gone. And Edgar probably didn’t care whether or not Homelander would kill him.

Back in episode 1 of season 3, Stan Edgar once told Starlight that real power is not strength but the ability to make people bend to your will. As such, because Homelander could never make Edgar bend to his will, the CEO was still in a position wherein he still had more power than the most powerful man in the world.

Why Isn’t Stan Edgar Afraid Of Homelander?

We said that Homelander doesn’t have any control over Stan Edgar and fears him because Stan Edgar isn’t afraid of him. But why isn’t a normal man like Stan Edgar afraid of the most powerful man in the entire world?

The reason why Edgar isn’t afraid of Homelander is that he sees him as a failed product. Back in episode 1 of season 3, Edgar told Defense Secretary Robert Singer that he wanted Vought to move on from babysitting supes to become a pharmaceutical and defense company because he saw the supes as failed products. In that regard, he simply looked at Homelander and all of the supes as products instead of actual people with real power.

Being in an elevated position in arguably the most powerful company in the world and having enough power to have the world bend at his will made Edgar see things from a more capitalistic point of view that allows him to see everything that he controls as products. That is why he wasn’t afraid of telling Homelander right to his face that he was a failed product.