The Cristiano Ronaldo/Homelander parallels continue after the soccer star’s explosive revelations in an interview with British television personality Piers Morgan. Ronaldo didn’t hold back on criticism of Manchester United, and fans can’t help but see The Boys‘ Homelander with every new boastful remark.
“They are the same person,” one Twitter user claimed, comparing a photo of Ronaldo and Morgan with the moment Homelander visited the Cameron Coleman show in episode five of the third season of Amazon Prime’s The Boys.
In The Boys scene, Homelander deflects criticism of his erratic behavior by blaming mainstream media and the rich and powerful people who control it for spreading lies about him. The character is essentially a satire of narcissistic celebrities whose bloated egos keep them from seeing the error of their ways.
Similarly, in the Piers Morgan interview, Ronaldo blamed Manchester United’s manager and outdated facilities for his outburst back in the Summer, when he angrily left the pitch in the middle of a match and proceeded to boycott training sessions, accusing the club of disrespecting him.
The opinion was split between those who believed the five-time Ballon D’or winner was in the right and those who agreed with the club manager’s decision not to play him. Fans of both the sport and the Amazon Prime show couldn’t help but see resemblances between Homelander’s crowd of blind supporters and those who were still cheering Ronaldo on after all he had done. A deepfake of Ronaldo’s face over a scene from The Boys‘ season finale has been their go-to meme since.
Although the comparison between the character and the sportsman is exaggerated, given the fact Ronaldo hasn’t done anything even close to the atrocities committed by Homelander, the Portuguese player does have a reputation for acting selfish both on and off the pitch. Some believe he would not have gotten as far as he has in his career if he wasn’t so tenaciously confident in his abilities, however.
Ronaldo’s future at Manchester United is uncertain as he gears up to play an incredibly decisive World Cup in Qatar for the Portugal National Team. As for Homelander, fans are excited to see the character evolve into a full-fledged evil villain when The Boys returns for its fourth season soon.