Eric Kripke talks real-world similarities between Antony Starr’s psychotic superhero and President Donald Trump.

The Boys showrunner finds Homelander and Trump’s ‘absurd and narcissistic’ parallels useful

Eric Kripke talks real-world similarities between Antony Starr's psychotic superhero and President Donald Trump.

By Sharareh Drury

and Nick Romano

Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in Vanity Fair, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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May 13, 2026 2:31 p.m. ET

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Homelander's golden statue on 'The Boys'. Credit:

- *The Boys *showrunner Eric Kripke finds similarities found between President Trump and Homelander (Antony Starr) have their advantages.

- A golden statue of Homelander from the fifth season of the superhero series has been compared to a Trump statue in Miami.

- Kripke says comparisons between the two are "something positive" by showing "how insane and absurd and narcissistic it is."

Eric Kripke, the showrunner of* The Boys*, says his satirical superhero series' parallels to our current political landscape are definitely surprising, but also potentially useful.

When the sixth episode of the fifth and final season of *The Boys *aired, a larger-than-life golden Homelander statue quickly drew attention for being eerily similar to President Donald Trump's golden statue that was erected on the grounds of his Trump National Doral Miami golf course on May 6.

Kripke tells ** he was drinking coffee at home when he first saw social media responses over the similarities, which quickly elicited a "what the f---?" response on his Instagram.

Bewilderment aside, Kripke shares how the unforeseen connection has its advantages.**

"My reaction to this one was actually something positive in that by the show pointing out how insane and absurd and narcissistic it is, people can very quickly have a meme or an image or something that they can put next to it to say, 'Look how ridiculous this is,'" Kripke says.

"And if it's helpful in that dialogue to point out the absurdity of it, as horrifying as it might be that it's happening in reality, but if we're able to help people point that out or maybe even help people, some people notice it in a way that maybe they wouldn't have, then that's a positive," he adds.

Golden 'Don Colossus' statue in Miami; 'The Boys' final season's golden Homelander statue.

Ben Jared/PGA TOUR via Getty;Amazon MGM Studios

Another unexpected correlation between *The Boys*' Homelander (played by Antony Starr) and Trump has been the tyrannical supe's God complex mirroring the president's "AI Jesus" controversy that erupted April 12. In the third episode of the fifth season, the leader of the Seven believes he is the new messiah after an "angel" version of Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue) appears to him in a hallucination.

Kripke admits Trump's AI Jesus surprised him more than any golden statue of the president could, noting, "Trump loves gold. He loves himself."

"To me, yes, the Trump statue is just tacky, but it isn't even about the statue," Kripke adds. "It was about, like, the evangelists encircling it, like, praying, that I just found so crazy. I forget who said it and I'm paraphrasing, but one of the quotes on social media was, 'If you have to say this isn't a golden calf, I sort of feel like you've lost the, is this a golden calf argument?'"

Antony Starr as Homelander on 'The Boys'.

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Despite the real-world comparisons between Homelander and Trump, Kripke emphasizes that Starr's goal has never been for his character to parody the president.

"I totally understand Ant's point of view. He's like, 'I'm not doing a caricature. I'm trying to create a character with a consistent internal life.' And I absolutely agree and respect that," Kripke says. "So we'll just work on purely internal logic and character motivation and we won't bring Trump into it all that much."

He continues, "I mean, the writers talked about it and we're reflecting things in the world, but when I get into it with Ant, like, we almost never talk about Trump, at least in the last couple seasons."

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If and when commonalities arise, Kripke quips, "that's not on us, that's just the world," before adding it says more about the viewer if they "look at this insanely insecure narcissist Homelander" and take that as a pro or a con. "Everyone's kinda telling on themselves," Kripke adds.**

The showrunner also makes a point to remind his audience that fascism symbolism exists both within and beyond our borders.

"We legitimately were looking at other societies that have gone through a fascist swing in history," Kripke says. "We weren't looking at Trump when we were coming up with a golden statue. I'm sure we were looking at, like, Saddam Hussein or something."**

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