Antony Starr's Banshee Deserved To Be As Big As The Rookie

Credit: Jan Thijs / ©Amazon / Courtesy Everett Collection Published Aug 16, 2026, 7:00 AM EDT Arielle Port started as a TV producer, developing content for Netflix (Firefly Lane, Brazen) and Hallmark (The Santa Stakeout, A Christmas Treasure) before transitioning into entertainment journalism. Her love of story went from interest to lifelong passion while at The University of Pennsylvania, where she fell in with a student-run web series, Classless TV, and it was a gateway drug. Arielle Port has been a Writer for Screen Rant since August 2024. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and more importantly, her cat, Boseman. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Anthony Starr's best role before Homelander deserved just as much success as The Rookie, which has become one of ABC’s biggest and most enduring dramas. The procedural has grown into a franchise, spawning the one-season spinoff The Rookie: Feds and another Rookie spinoff series currently in development centered on the FBI’s oldest rookie. Nathan Fillion stars in The Rookie as John Nolan, a man in his 40s who starts over by joining the LAPD and becomes the department’s oldest rookie. The series blends a traditional network police procedural with workplace comedy, romance, serialized villains, and increasingly heightened action, allowing its relatively grounded premise to evolve into something much bigger and more ambitious. With season 9 on the way, The Rookie has already become one of ABC’s longest-running current dramas. However, as beloved as The Rookie is, there was a far smaller but much grittier crime drama on Cinemax between 2013 and 2016 that could have been, and deserved to be, just as big. Banshee combined a pulpy crime thriller with brutal action, complicated romance, and an increasingly sprawling criminal underworld. The Boys’ Antony Starr starred as Lucas Hood, an ex-con who assumes the identity of a murdered small-town sheriff. Banshee was a record-setting hit for Cinemax, but never quite broke into the mainstream. Banshee Was Criminally Overlooked Upon Release Banshee’s success within the relatively small Cinemax ecosystem never translated into the mainstream attention the show deserved. Critical reception also improved dramatically as Banshee found its identity, climbing from 67% on Rotten Tomatoes for season 1 to 94% for season 2 and perfect 100% scores for seasons 3 and 4. Audiences were even more enthusiastic, and Banshee gradually developed the kind of passionate following that helped it endure as a cult favorite long after its finale. The biggest obstacle was arguably its home. Cinemax was a relatively niche premium cable network, and Banshee premiered in 2013, before streaming could routinely give underseen shows a chance to dramatically expand their audiences. The series was also extremely violent and sexually explicit, which became its calling card but inevitably limited its potential as a broad four-quadrant hit. Banshee also arrived in an extraordinarily competitive era for television. Some of the best prestige TV shows of all time, including Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Justified, Sons of Anarchy, and numerous other acclaimed dramas, were competing for viewers and cultural attention. Banshee didn't even have the benefit of a recognizable star to help it break through. Antony Starr was largely unknown to American audiences when Banshee premiered, years before his performance as Homelander in The Boys made him internationally recognizable. Banshee is currently available to stream on HBO Max. Ultimately, Banshee was big for Cinemax, with season 2’s finale setting viewership records, but Cinemax wasn't big enough for Banshee. Constrained by Cinemax’s limited reach, Banshee was loved by those who watched it but remains frustratingly obscure despite being one of the best crime dramas of the 2010s. How Banshee Set Up Antony Starr As An Ideal Homelander Credit: MovieStillsDB Banshee now feels like an extended audition for Antony Starr’s role as Homelander, even though Lucas Hood and The Boys’ most terrifying Supe are almost moral opposites. Banshee demonstrated Starr’s ability to make extreme violence feel like an extension of his character rather than simply part of the action. As Hood, Starr could switch almost instantly from calm and charismatic to frighteningly brutal. Starr made Hood feel dangerous from the moment he walked into the room, even before throwing a punch. The Boys takes that volatility much further with Homelander, whose powers and unpredictability mean the audience is constantly waiting for the friendly smile to disappear. The characters also share an interesting connection through their double identities. Hood is literally performing Lucas Hood, maintaining the public identity of a small-town sheriff while concealing the violent criminal underneath. Homelander is similarly always performing. His smiling, patriotic superhero persona is a carefully maintained public image that conceals an insecure, narcissistic monster, as Homelander's best quote in The Boys underlines: "No god. The only man in the sky is me." Vought International · Classified Which Member of The Boys Are You? “With great power comes the absolute certainty that you’ll turn into a right c***.” ⚡ Homelander America's Hero 🔨 Butcher The Boys' Leader ✨ Starlight The Real Hero 🎵 Hughie Just Some Guy 🌸 Kimiko The Female ENTER VOUGHT TOWER → 12345678 01 It’s Friday night and you’ve got no obligations. What’s your move? AStaying in, listening to music, avoiding anything that could go wrong BGoing somewhere I’ll be recognized — I need to be seen CDrinking at a dive bar, planning my next move against someone who wronged me DMeeting with people who actually want to make a difference — there’s always work to do EWatching a musical or dancing alone in my room — the quiet moments are mine ← BACKNEXT → 12345678 02 A Supe goes rogue in the middle of the city. Civilians are in danger. What do you do? ARun toward the danger — powers or not, someone has to help these people BFinally. This is what I’ve been preparing for. Time to put the plan into action CThis is MY city. I’ll handle it — and make sure the cameras are rolling DMove fast, move silent. Get the civilians out first, deal with the Supe second EI’m terrified, but I’m not leaving. Someone hand me something I can use ← BACKNEXT → 12345678 03 Someone you trusted has been working with the enemy. How do you react? ARage. Pure, white-hot rage. They’re going to pay for this BIt guts me. I trusted them. But I need to understand why before I react CBetrayal? No one betrays ME. They’ll regret the day they were born DIt hurts, but I can’t let it break me — there are bigger things at stake EI say nothing. But I remember. And when the time comes, they’ll know ← BACKNEXT → 12345678 04 How would the people closest to you honestly describe you? ASomeone who always tries to do the right thing, even when it’s hard BThe most powerful person in the room — and they’d better not forget it CQuiet, but absolutely not someone you want to cross DA bastard, probably. But a bastard who gets results ENervous, a little awkward, but surprisingly brave when it counts ← BACKNEXT → 12345678 05 You discover that a powerful institution has been covering up something horrific. What do you do? AExpose it. Go public. The truth is the most powerful weapon there is BBurn it to the ground. Scorched earth. No half-measures CGather evidence carefully — we need to do this the right way or they’ll bury it DDepends. Is it MY institution? If so, the cover-up continues. If not, I’ll weaponize it EFind the people responsible. Personally. No press conference needed ← BACKNEXT → 12345678 06 Vought offers you a deal: power, money, and protection — but you have to look the other way on something terrible. What do you do? ATake the deal. Power IS the point. Morality is for people who can’t afford ambition BRefuse. Loudly. And then figure out how to bring them down from outside CRefuse, but quietly — then start gathering evidence from the inside DTake the deal, use their resources, then double-cross them spectacularly EWalk away silently. I’ve been someone’s weapon before. Never again ← BACKNEXT → 12345678 07 After everything you’ve been through, how do you cope with the darkness? ABadly. Whiskey, grudges, and the promise of revenge keep me going BI lean on the people I love — they’re the only reason I haven’t completely lost it CI remind myself why I’m fighting. The anger becomes purpose DArt, music, expression — the things they could never take from me EI don’t cope. I dominate. If the darkness scares you, become the thing they fear ← BACKNEXT → 12345678 08 When the fight is finally over and Vought is gone, what matters most to you? AThat we did it the right way — that we didn’t become the thing we were fighting BPeace. Real peace. A life where I choose who I am, not what I was made to be CThat the truth came out and people finally know what was done to them DThat every last one of them got what they deserved EOver? It’s never over. There’s always someone who needs to be reminded who’s in charge REVEAL MY CHARACTER → Vought Psychological Profile Complete Your Boys Alter Ego ⚡ Homelander “I can do whatever I want.” You crave control and validation in equal measure. On the surface, you project confidence and power — the kind that makes people either worship you or cower. But underneath? There’s a void that no amount of adoration can fill. You demand loyalty but struggle to give it. You’re at your most dangerous when you feel cornered, and at your most human when you realize that all the power in the world can’t make someone genuinely love you. You’re not the hero — you’re the cautionary tale.Narcissistic Terrifying Charismatic Unstable 🔨 Billy Butcher “I’m gonna f***in’ kill you all.” You’re a wrecking ball with a grudge, and God help anyone standing between you and your target. Your rage is legendary — but so is the pain that fuels it. You’d burn the world down for the people you love, and that’s both your greatest strength and your fatal flaw. You don’t play by the rules because the rules were written by the people you’re fighting against. Underneath all that bravado is someone who’s terrified of losing anyone else.Ruthless Driven Self-Destructive Loyal ✨ Starlight “I’m done being controlled.” You walked into a corrupt system believing you could change it from the inside — and against all odds, you might be right. You’ve been lied to, manipulated, and betrayed, but none of it broke your moral compass. You fight not because you enjoy it, but because someone has to stand up. You’re the kind of person who sees the worst in people and still chooses to believe in the best. That’s not naivety — that’s courage.Brave Principled Resilient Compassionate 🎵 Hughie Campbell “I don’t want to be a person who can just let things go.” You never asked for any of this. You were living a quiet life, and then the world showed you something so unjust that you couldn’t look away. You’re not the strongest or the loudest, but you have something most people lack: the stubborn refusal to accept that this is just how things are. You’re terrified most of the time, but you show up anyway. That’s not weakness — that’s the definition of bravery. You fumble, you doubt, but you never quit.Anxious Resourceful Moral Brave 🌸 Kimiko “You are my heart.” You’ve been through horrors that would destroy most people, and yet here you are — still fighting, still caring, still protecting the ones you love. You don’t need words to communicate what matters; your actions say everything. You’re a contradiction in the most beautiful way: capable of devastating violence, but driven by an overwhelming tenderness. The world tried to make you a weapon, but you chose to be a person. That choice is the bravest thing anyone can do.Lethal Gentle Protective Traumatized ↻ PLAY AGAIN Banshee also gave Starr opportunities to demonstrate that he could find vulnerability beneath a seemingly straightforward hypermasculine action hero. Hood is defined by violence, but Starr gradually reveals his loneliness, trauma, complicated relationship with Carrie, and uncertainty about his own identity after spending years pretending to be someone else. Homelander takes those psychological fractures somewhere much darker. Banshee also showcased the subtle facial acting that would become one of Starr’s greatest weapons in The Boys. Starr allows anger, jealousy, hurt, or calculation to briefly cross his face without saying a word. Banshee proved he could make an extraordinarily violent man sympathetic; The Boys uses many of those same abilities to make Homelander terrifying. Starr's transformation was also vocal. The New Zealand actor maintained a convincing American accent throughout Banshee, preparing him for Homelander’s more polished and performative all-American voice. Between Starr’s obvious star potential and the quality Banshee reached over its four seasons, it is a shame the series never found the wider audience it deserved. Banshee ultimately received less than half the run The Rookie is approaching and only a fraction of its mainstream recognition. Banshee Release Date 2013 - 2016-00-00 Showrunner Jonathan Tropper The Rookie 6/10 Release Date October 16, 2018 Network ABC, Hulu The Rookie follows John Nolan, a small-town man who embarks on a new career as an LAPD officer after a life-changing event. As the force's oldest rookie, Nolan faces skepticism from superiors who view his pursuit as a midlife crisis.