not to be that hoe but lowkey stand edgar's role is so downplayed by all sides of the boys' fandom. don't get me wrong i like him mainly because of giancarlo esposito but it's crazy how the fact that he's literally a guy who was approving vought's experiments on babies, created homelander and run the company of deeply deranged people is so widely ignored 💀💀 but the worst thing of it all is that he truly dgaf. his interactions with homelander are funny but when you really look at them it's a man being done with a child that was a direct product of the trauma he put them through
Ngl, this kinda really pisses me off. I enjoy the character too because of the actor but the way the fandom and the show itself handwaves away his involvement... hoo boy.
I actually find it pretty damn rich how Edgar repeatedly shames Homelander for being a "manchild seeking for approval". Like, bruh, that's on YOU!!! That's how you manufactured your product / raised your labrat! Vought didn't even consider Homelander a human, they raised him in a completely loveless environment to basically be a reflection of their corpo values which left him emotionally stunted. They gave him this god complex mindset, they taught him how human lives don't actually matter, that his only value is to just be better than anyone else and to get those approval ratings no matter what, they even weaponized his need for love and approval. They WANTED him to be needy. And then, after everything they did, Stan Edgar proceeds to call Homelander a "manchild seeking for approval" when that's exactly what they ingrained into him, exactly how they raised him. He only calls Homelander a "bad product" because he wasn't as docile/controllable as they wished. Because his neediness didn't manifest as blind obedience. Never mistake that statement to have anything to do with morale, they'd still call him a bad product if he was a goodie two-shoes who constantly let his sense of justice get in the way of profits.
And I wouldn't have a problem with that attitude... if the show actually called them out for it. Yet nobody of the main cast even learns of how Homelander came to be. (Minus those brief parallels between his and Butcher's upbringing in S2.) Don't even get me started how the end of the show is basically: "Homelander died and then all was well." Like... no. Did you completely forget what the show was even about? That shitty supes like Homelander are a symptom of a far bigger problem? But nah, in the end Stan Edgar regains his position and Vought continues their business as usual even though they were behind EVERY GODDAMN THING that went shit in the show. But whatever, just throw the most obvious bad fruits under the bus while doing nothing about the polluted garden.
Butcher was supposed to become a villain, his obsessive hatred for Homelander (and supes in general) was supposed to be the thing which made him nearly as bad as the target of his obsession. He endangered his friends multiple times, even wasted their efforts to get at Vought just because he wanted Homelander. Meanwhile Hughie was supposed to be someone who saw that not all supes are evil, that just getting revenge on A-train wouldn't solve anything. Yet in the end Butcher was the only one who understood the real fight, that just getting revenge on Homelander didn't solve the main issue, that as long as Vought is still standing it's just a matter of time someone becomes the next Homelander. Butcher is supposed to be a villain at this point, an obsessive shithead, yet he's the only one who seems to realize the true culprit. If you wanted him to have an ACTUAL villain arc, then the show should have ended with Vought destroyed but Butcher STILL wanting to slaughter every remaining supe. Yet you have him give this speech that is highlighting the real problem, then proceed to treat it like: "No actually you are wrong and just killing Homelander solved everything." Bro, wtf are you doing narrative???
Also, I kinda want to rant about how Homelander is the most emotional character in the show and the narrative and the fandom proceeds to constantly shame him for it while putting characters representing your usual emotionless toxic masculinity on a pedestal. Soldier boy being the prime example of this but also going back to Stan Edgar mocking him for the trauma he and his company caused. But that's a post of its' own.
And, since we who like villains as characters always seem to have to clarify this for some reason: I am not absolving Homelander. I'm fully aware he is one volatile pos who had to be put down. I can think that while also thinking he's the most tragic character in the show. I can also think the writing/narrative became dogshit and did him and others a disservice. (Though Antony Starr is so damn fun to watch he always remained my favorite.)
