Prime Video has recast the role of Homelander for its newest project set in the world of The Boys, replacing Antony Starr with veteran voice actor Jake Green in the virtual reality release The Boys: Trigger Warning, Collider reported on October 16, 2026. The move marks the first time another performer has taken on the franchise's central villain since the series debuted in 2019.
Trigger Warning, an original story written to fit within the show's existing canon, arrived earlier this year on platforms including Meta Quest and PlayStation VR. Several original cast members returned for the project, among them Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy and Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk. Starr, who built Homelander into one of television's most recognized antagonists over five seasons, did not.
Who Is the New Homelander?
Jake Green is not a household name in the way Starr has become, but his resume is a serious one. According to Collider, Green's recent credits include Marvel's Wolverine, Young Jedi Adventures, and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Voice work of this kind demands a different discipline from on-camera performance; the actor carries the character entirely through tone, timing, and delivery.
For fans of the series, the recasting raises an obvious question: can anyone else sound like Homelander? Starr's performance mixed a false Americana warmth with a cold menace underneath, and much of the character's power came from that contrast. Green inherits a role that audiences know intimately, and the early reception of Trigger Warning will rest heavily on whether he can hold that line.
How the Franchise Reached This Point
The Boys first arrived on Prime Video in 2019, less than a year before the COVID-19 pandemic upended the entertainment industry. As Collider noted, few could have predicted the show's rise. Prime Video has released a new season almost every year since, a turnaround speed that is increasingly rare in modern streaming, where multi-year gaps between seasons have become the norm.
The fifth and final season aired earlier in 2026, drawing millions of weekly viewers eager to see how the long-running conflict between Butcher and Homelander would resolve. With the flagship series now concluded, Prime Video is turning to spin-offs to keep the property alive.
Not every attempt has succeeded. Gen V, the first spin-off, was canceled after a single season, and Collider reported that it remains unclear whether any of that show's characters will appear again within the franchise's universe. The studio has larger ambitions with Vought Rising, a prequel starring Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy and Aya Cash as Clara Vought, set years before her rise as Stormfront.
What Trigger Warning Means for the Franchise
The quiet release of Trigger Warning earlier this year went largely unnoticed by comparison with the show's television events. That is partly the nature of virtual reality, which still reaches a fraction of the audience that streaming does. But it also signals a shift in how franchises extend themselves: through games, side stories, and smaller releases rather than through a single flagship program.
There is something to be said for restraint here. A franchise that respects its own canon, as Trigger Warning reportedly does by fitting into the established story, treats its audience as adults who pay attention. The alternative, endless reboots and retcons, has cheapened more than one once-respected property. Prime Video's decision to build outward from a finished story rather than restart it suggests a measure of discipline that other studios would do well to copy.
Whether audiences follow the franchise into virtual reality is another matter. The audience that spent seven years watching Homelander on a television screen may not own a VR headset, and a recast in a game release is a modest gamble on their goodwill. Ackles and Alonso lending their names to the project gives it weight, but Starr's absence will be felt. He was, for most viewers, the reason the show worked.
A Franchise in Transition
The Boys now stands at the stage every successful series eventually reaches: the story is finished, but the business is not. The final season closed the book on Butcher and Homelander earlier this year, and the franchise's future rests on prequels, games, and spin-offs of uncertain fortune. Gen V's quick cancellation showed the risk. Vought Rising will show whether the property can carry a new lead cast in a new era.
All five seasons of The Boys remain available on Prime Video for viewers who want to revisit the original run.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who plays Homelander in The Boys: Trigger Warning?
Jake Green voices Homelander in the VR release, replacing Antony Starr, who played the character across all five television seasons.
What is The Boys: Trigger Warning?
It is an original virtual reality story set within the canon of The Boys, available on platforms including Meta Quest and PlayStation VR.
Is The Boys finished?
Yes. The fifth and final season streamed earlier in 2026, though Prime Video continues to develop spin-offs, including the prequel series Vought Rising.
Which original cast members returned for Trigger Warning?
Jensen Ackles reprised Soldier Boy and Laz Alonso reprised Mother's Milk, according to Collider.