The Boys Season 5 Premiere Turns Iron Man's Best Line Into Something Bleak

Contains spoilers for "The Boys" Season 5, Episode 1 — "Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite"

This is one of the reasons why "The Boys" Season 5 has left all the critics stunned: While past seasons had to spin their wheels a bit to avoid any major character deaths, the final season leaves room for major players to finally bite the dust. And the Season 5 opener kicks things off with a huge death that also functions as an inversion of one of the most famous lines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At the end of "Fifteen Inches of Dynamite," Homelander (Antony Starr) has A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) cornered in the woods. Most folks face-to-face with the psychotic Homelander would be begging for their lives, but A-Train merely laughs and says, "Take away these powers, and what are you? Pathetic, weak, sniveling, f***ing loser." Homelander looks genuinely hurt at the comment right before snapping A-Train's neck, but the line should be familiar to Marvel fans.

It's similarly structured to a scene in the first "Avengers" movie, in which Captain America (Chris Evans) taunts Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). Cap famously says, "Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Tony Stark responds, "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." It's one of the most memorable Iron Man quotes in the MCU, showcasing how he doesn't need to prove himself to anyone and that he knows he's more than the Iron Man armor. But Homelander can't say the same about his abilities: Being all-powerful is literally all he has, which is why he snaps in the moment. 

There's one descriptor Tony forgot to mention in "The Avengers": hero. Iron Man gets a full circle moment at the end of "Avengers: Endgame," when he uses the Infinity Gauntlet to take out Thanos (Josh Brolin) and save Earth, sacrificing his own life in the process. It's true he's a genius, playboy, billionaire, and philanthropist, but he's also so much more. He's the guy willing to make the ultimate selfless call, proving Captain America wrong in more ways than one.

The same can't be said for Homelander. "Fifteen Inches of Dynamite" opens with the footage of Homelander allowing a plane full of people to die getting revealed to the world. And Homelander's immediate response is to prepare to laser everyone in the room. After being embarrassed, he shows what a pathetic, weak, sniveling loser he is by immediately wanting to kill everyone around him. 

It's not the first time "The Boys" has warped a classic Marvel line. The show has its own version of "With great power comes great responsibility," which Uncle Ben uttered to Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. In the episode "The Last Time to Look on This World of Lies," Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) says, "With great power comes the absolute certainty that you'll turn into a right c***." Both of these lines show how "The Boys" is a dark reflection on the very idea of superheroes. Someone with immense power can very easily become a virtuous symbol of hope — or a murderous psychopath.

"The Boys" Season 5, Episodes 1 and 2 are now available to watch on Prime Video.