Homelander has proven to be a terrifying menace on The Boys, and one of his favorite methods of punishment is the heat beams he fires from his eyes.

But there’s a common misconception fans have come across after a scene in The Boys spin-off Gen V. The Gen V Season 1 finale sees Homelander blast Marie with his heat beams. However, the episode ends with Marie shown to survive the blast, seemingly imprisoned by Vought.

It’s led to a misconception that Marie is outright powerful enough to withstand Homelander’s beams, and fans on The Boys’ subreddit are tired of it.

“Homelander can literally control his blast,” user Middle_Barracuda_872 said in a post. “Does the fan base watch this through TikTok or something????”

And he’s right. We’ve seen Homelander using his beams with varying strengths and intensities for years now. One of the earliest examples would be Season 2 when he used them to heat up a vial of frozen breast milk left behind by the late Madelyn Stillwell.

We often see him firing them at full intensity, such as when he killed a protestor who threatened Ryan in the Season 3 finale. But there are also moments where he shows restraint throughout the series, as well.

We see him using precise application in some situations, like heating up a gun or blasting through someone’s skull. We’ve also seen he has enough control to sweep them in an arc, such as when he sliced a plane in half in the series premiere.

And, of course, there’s the shocking moment in Season 4 when he fires a blast through a man’s genitals rather than slicing him completely in half. It’s a cruel moment, but it does again demonstrate just how much control Homelander has.

For the moment in question in Gen V, it’s obvious Homelander was aiming to disarm and capture Marie versus killing her outright. Given the applications of his powers we’ve seen thus far, it’s reasonable to assume he used a blast powerful enough to knock her out but not kill her.

Fans will find out more about the fate of Marie when Gen V Season 2 finally releases in 2025. While you wait, check out our ranking of every The Boys season and spin-off or read up on every Gen V cast member.

We’ve also got all the new movies coming to streaming this month and our ranking of the best superhero TV shows.