Fans have been debating whether or not Homelander is strong enough to fight, let alone beat, Superman for years now. DC's latest event, DC K.O., has finally settled the score in DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1, a crossover issue that sends Superman to The Boys universe to do battle with Homelander. Unfortunately, with so little time dedicated to the actual battle, the final results are more than a little disappointing for both fans of The Boys and the Man of Steel.

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By Matthew Wilkinson

Superman is widely considered one of the most powerful characters in fiction, but since Homelander is directly based on the Man of Tomorrow, many fans of The Boys have believed an eventual fight between the two could go either way. DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 makes it very clear this is not the case and that these two super-powered characters are very much not on equal footing.

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DC K.O. Boss Battle #1 is the event's big crossover issue, pitting up the tournament's eight finalists against characters from other universes. Star Sapphire fights Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Batwoman fights Vampirella, Wonder Woman does battle with Red Sonja, Lex Luthor has a showdown with Samantha Strong, Black Lightning & Plastic Man team up to fight Mortal Kombat's Scorpion and Sub-Zero, The Joker has a tea party with Annabelle from The Conjuring franchise (yes, really), and Superman fights Homelander.

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By Raven Brunner

While all these battles and characters are now canon to the DC Universe, the fact DC K.O. Boss Battle #1 shoves seven fights into a single issue means that none of the action has time to breathe. Most of these fights are fights in name only, and while Superman vs Homelander gets a bit more focus than the rest of the cast, fans of both Superman and The Boys are in more a massive disappointment when they finally read through their hyped-up brawl.

Homelander Never Stood a Chance

Anyone who's ever picked up a Superman comic knew going into DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 that Homelander was realistically going to lose. Superman is one of the most overpowered characters in fiction, pulling off incredible feats that would make even Goku from Dragon Ball blush. The Superman vs Homelander debate was never truly about who was strongest or would win in a fight, but how well Homelander would do fighting the Man of Tomorrow.

Unfortunately for fans of The Boys, Homelander goes out like a chump. Homelander doesn't so much as hurt Superman in their fight, while Clark makes John bleed twice. Homelander's only impressive feat in the battle is blocking Superman's Heat Vision with his own, at least suggesting their two versions of the ability are on equal footing. From there, though, Superman uppercuts Homelander before the fight shortly ends.

It's perhaps for the best that the fight didn't go on any longer, as there was simply no way Homelander was going to gain the advantage – especially since Superman is presumably suppressing his full power so as not to instantly kill Homelander, whereas Homelander is fighting with killing intent. Like most fights in DC K.O., Superman vs Homelander is a massive disappointment, but at least it makes it very clear Superman is the stronger of the two.