Summary
In the world ofThe Boys, Starlight’s powers seem to have unlimited potential. She was a timid addition and possibly the weakest member of The Seven in the show’s early seasons, but Starlight has come into her own throughout the series. As she’s become more collected and confident, her abilities have evolved,creating a deeper meaning for Starlight’s powersthat are more reflective of the person she is. At the end of season 3, Starlight unleashed an ability she didn’t know she had: flight. This showed the other supes (and the audience) that her power spectrum is anything but tapped.
With theupcoming release ofThe Boysseason 4,the series has the chance to dive even deeper into Starlight’s character and her power set. The show can explore not only her new-found flight ability but any other powers from the comics that haven’t been used in live action. Now that she’s fully up against some of the most powerful supes in the universe, like Soldier Boy and an even more unhinged Homelander, the full extent of her powers will be needed for even a chance at beating them and Vought once and for all.
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What Powers The Boys' Starlight Has
Starlight Draws Her Powers From Electricity
Starlight’s superhuman powers mostly come from her ability to absorb electricity from her surrounding areas, essentially using it to charge her power set. Thus far in the series, there has been no indication that there is a limit to how much electricity she can absorb or convert into herself, which broadly widens her potential of becoming one of the most powerful supes of all time. Her electricity absorption and manipulation contribute to her ability of photokinesis: the power to create concussive or blinding blasts of light energy from her hands. Using these powers also allows her to glow with bioluminescence.
Depending on the amount of electricity she siphons from a particular source,the power of her blasts can be strong enough to disrupt the most formidable supes, including Black Noir, Homelander, and Stormfront. Outside her energy power set, Starlight also exhibits superhuman strength, durability, and reflexes, which have allowed her to hold her own against more powerful enemies. Her durability held up strong against A-Train, Black Noir, Stormfront, and other supes who, at the time she fought them, were much more powerful.
Starlight also has superhuman healing, which has helped her heal from severe injuries in less than a day. She was stabbed with a diamond drill and shot with high-caliber bullets and healed quickly. In the comics, she shows off her superhuman hearing regularly, but in the show, it’s one of the few powers that hasn’t been explored.
How Starlight Got Her Powers In The Boys
Another Victim Of Compound V
When Annie January was just a child,her extremely religious mother and father decided to take Vought up on an offer to inject Anniewith a serum known as Compound V. Rather than telling Annie what they did, they made her believe her powers were a gift from God, exploiting their daughter in hopes of making her a religious icon. While her father felt guilty and left the family, her mother continued the lie, making Annie believe her powers came from divine intervention.
As a child, Annie’s powers would hurt when she used them. As she grew older and learned to control them, the pain stopped.
It wasn’t until much later, whenAnnie found out all supes' powers were caused by Compound V, that she confronted her mother about all the beauty contests and pageants she was forced to participate in. In fact, it was this betrayal that caused Annie to join up with The Boys in taking Vought and Homelander down. Unfortunately, the Christian events were also what brought her and Supersonic close together, which ended in him joining The Seven and being killed by Homelander.
Why Starlight Can Fly In The Boys Season 4
Her New Power Was Discovered In The Season 3 Finale
When Starlight discovers her new ability for flight at the end of season 3,she isn’t able to fly very long. Her ability to fly works similarly to Electro in the Marvel universe, so when the electricity runs out, so does her flight power. If Starlight’s able to fly for extended periods in season 4, she’ll either need to absorb incredible amounts of surrounding energy from a huge electrical source or have a device that produces the energy for her. It’s likely she’ll fly in short bursts of energy, rather than having a full-on flight ability, like Homelander.
How Powerful Starlight Is Compared To Other The Boys Heroes
She Gets Stronger With Each Season
While it’s proven that Starlight can easily dispatch regular humans,she’s struggled against some of the more powerful supes inThe Boysuniverse. As the seasons have continued, she’s gotten stronger and shown she can compete with the likes of A-Train, who she defeats in a one-on-one battle, and Stormfront, along with the help of Kimiko and Queen Maeve. However, it’s doubtful she would have been able to take Stormfront alone at the time. Starlight also threatens to use her powers on The Deep, who is a powerful supe in terms of strength and abilities but is a massive coward.
Starlight puts up a good fight against Black Noir, but against all-powerful supes like Homelander and Soldier Boy, she doesn’t really stand a chance. She’s routinely been threatened by Homelander to the point of tears and going into hiding. She’s also expressed regularly throughout the series that Homelander terrifies her, and he shows no intimidation from her at any point. Starlight’s biggest weakness comes from her heart. When Homelander routinely threatens to obliterate the people that she loves or cares about, she buckles under his intimidation, allowing him to win the confrontation.
However, just because Starlight isn’t at the power level of Homelander or Soldier Boy yet doesn’t mean she can’t get there. At this point in the series,Starlight’s powers seem to have no boundsas long as there’s an electrical source around, so in the right environment or circumstances, she may even become stronger than either. Season 4 ofThe Boyscould unlock Starlight’s potential more and help her even the playing field for Hughie, Butcher, and The Boys. At the very least, she could use her powers to take out the weaker and more detestable characters, like The Deep.
The Boys
Cast
The Boys is a gritty and subversive take on the superhero genre, focusing on a group of vigilantes who confront powerful superheroes abusing their abilities, exploring themes of corruption and moral ambiguity in a world where heroes are not always what they seem.
