The Boys' Cast Reveals Which Movies Homelander & Butcher Love

Based on Garth Ennis’ comic book series, The Boys has been a solid ratings winner for Prime Video since its debut back in 2019. Now, in 2026, the show has entered its endgame with the current fifth season being its final outing. 

As sad as the thought of not seeing Hughie, Butcher and the rest of the team again is, we at JustWatch have found a way to prolong The Boys' adjacent watching. 

WATCH: The Boys Cast Reveals Which Movies Homelander and Butcher Would LOVE! #theboys #shorts - YouTube

During a red carpet event for the series, JustWatch picked the cast's minds to discover what each of them thought their onscreen character’s favourite movie would be and why. The answers were plentiful, and so why not get these titles onto your watchlist, ready to reminisce about these iconic characters once The Boys is over? 

Karl Urban And Anthony Starr Nail Their Characters’ Favourite Movies

Karl Urban kicked the answers off with an interesting choice for his The Boys character, Butcher, “Spice World. For sure. 100% Spice World. Because Butcher loves the Spice Girls.” Spice World might sound odd given Butcher’s cocky alpha male bravado, but Butcher is also very patriotic to his homeland of England, and what’s more British than Spice World? The movie, which stars the Spice Girls, is an unmitigated disaster and a true guilty pleasure. Given the chaos of Butcher’s own life, we can see him getting some pleasure out of the crazy project. 

After five seasons, Karl Urban isn’t the only The Boys cast member to have fully locked in with his on-screen alter-ego, with Anthony Starr also perfectly grasping what movie Homelander would love. The villain of The Boys to everyone but himself, for Starr, there is only one choice for Homelander’s favourite movie, “Taxi Driver. Because I think Homelander is the perpetual victim. He thinks he’s the hardest done by man in the world, and so did Travis Bickle.” Taxi Driver is an inspired choice, and we can see Homelander and Bickle being friends if they ever met in real life. 

Ellen Ripley Is Starlight’s Hero, Whilst Ashley Is Happy She Isn’t In Castaway 

When The Boys first started, Erin Moriarty’s character, Starlight, was an innocent, wide-eyed fangirl. The newest recruit of The Seven, Starlight, was overjoyed to join the hero team. Her joy was short-lived, though, as she quickly realised that the super team were far from heroic. Since then, she has made it her mission to overthrow the formidable Homelander and has gradually morphed into a strong and powerful warrior queen. 

Given Starlight’s trajectory from mild-mannered to brave fighter, it makes sense that her favourite film would include a strong female role model, and Erin Moriarty agreed, “I feel like it would be Aliens. Just because Ripley is such an iconic female lead and one of the strongest ones I think that we’ve had in cinematic history.”

Fellow female co-star, Colby Minifie, who plays Vought worker turned Vice President Ashley, approached her choice from a different angle. Rather than focusing on a film that inspired Ashley or reinforced her way of thinking, Minifie believes that Ashley’s approach to movies is to play the ‘well, it could be worse’ game. For Ashley – who, let's face it, has had a terrible run of luck on The Boys – a worse fate lies in Tom Hanks movie Cast Away. Minifie explained, “It was Cast Away because I think she thinks like, at least I’m not on that island alone. And also, I connect very deeply with Tom Hanks at this moment.” Given Homelander’s unstable temper, personally, I think a few months of peace and quiet on an island sounds like bliss, but to each their own.  

Apocalypse Now And Race Are The Top Picks For Soldier Boy and A-Train

The final duo that JustWatch were able to speak with was that of Jensen Ackles and Jessie T. Usher, who play Soldier Boy and A-Train on the show. Whereas some other cast members had to dig deeper for their characters' favourite movies, for Ackles and Usher, the answers were staring them in the face. First up, Jensen Ackles confirmed that Soldier Boy’s favourite movie would have to be Apocalypse Now. 

Considering that Soldier Boy himself went to war and he thrives in combat, that selection couldn’t be better, but Ackles puts it best, “I’m gonna go with Apocalypse Now. Because it is as demented and crazy a movie as he is, and I feel he would identify with it.”

Finally, Jessie T. Usher opted for the movie Race. As with Ackles' pick for Soldier Boy, Race is a perfect choice for speedster A-Train. Throughout The Boys, A-Train’s story arc has been intrinsically linked to his speed, the character struggling to maintain his position at the top and turning to drugs to enhance his performance. All the pressures of sporting life are covered in Race, and Jessie T. Usher agrees, “Did you guys see Race? I feel like A-Train, you know so much of his life is running, sport and aestheticism. I love that movie. I think A-Train would love that movie.”