Homelander's Airplane 'Rescue' Was Even More Terrible in Comics
In the TV series version, Homelander reassures the passengers on his way out of the plane (even if he has no intention of actually saving them, and arguably has practical reasons to decide he can't prevent this disaster). It's only when Queen Maeve resists that he threatens the passengers with death by heat vision, and admits they're being abandoned. The plane crashes, and everybody on board dies. But in a flashback scene from The Boys #21, not only is the plane crash more brutal, but it is also revealed to have taken place as part of the September 11th attacks in The Boys universe (leading to conspiracy theories about its true nature).
The rescue is a mess from the very beginning, with a young boy reassured that "We're gonna be OK," before getting sucked out the aircraft after Homelander rips the door open. In response to the passengers' pleas, he promptly yells at them to "shut up," making their eardrums burst with blood. As The Seven disagree with how to handle the situation, Homelander hits Queen Maeve and leaves. He attempts to strike the tail of the plane to try to level out its descent, but ends up destroying it, sending the aircraft crashing into the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Seven's Incompetency Was Proven By The Plane Debacle
The Seven's weakness and incompetence continues to shine, with the heroes soon realizing they have absolutely no idea how to fly the plane, save its passengers, or any other tangible strategy at all. To make matters worse, Mister Marathon, the first speedster with the Seven, is killed in the incident as he was decapitated while holding onto Homelander as he flew through the tail of the plane. Ultimately, The Seven failed to save the people on board, inadvertently crashed the plane, and got one of their own team members killed in the process. And they did it all on 9/11. It's as Dark as it gets.
It makes sense why The Boys television series made an effort to simplify the scene. Considering the show takes place in the modern day, there was no reason to make it happen on 9/11. And by choosing to send just Homelander and Queen Maeve on the mission, instead of the entire superteam, it introduced the completely messed up power dynamic between the duo. Homelander could have been a real hero, but instead, he ended up being a monster. The plane crash in both The Boys' comic and TV series remains one of the deadliest events in the entire series.
This Moment Proved The Seven Aren't Heroes
One of the important aspects of The Boys' world (despite not being focused on as much as one would think) is that the Supes aren't actually suited to save anyone. The TV series goes as far as confirming that the first time a hero saves someone, it's entirely rehearsed and pre-planned. For a group of Superheroes, they actually very rarely try to save everyone. Most of their heroics are either pre-planned and staged by Vought, or they're simply making public appearances and starring in movies. They don't actually go out and fight crime as one would expect of Superheroes, and the comic's airplane rescue fiasco perfectly demonstrated why.
When the Seven are deployed to stop a terrorist attack on New York, they end up making things significantly worse. Instead of preventing the attack and saving the passengers on board, it's actually their involvement that causes the crash and ensures everyone on board dies. This dark moment in the Comics perfectly summarizes the fact that The Seven aren't heroes at all.
