"Homelander, not so much"—Antony Starr explains how his G20 villain is different from The Boys character
G20 is the latest action thriller film released by Prime Video on April 10, 2025. It features Antony Starr as the antagonist, Edward Rutledge, who stages a terrorist attack on the annual G20 summit held in South Africa to destabilize the world economy.
Starr gained widespread prominence with his role as John Gillman/Homelander in the Prime Video series The Boys, which premiered in July 2019. Homelander is the narcissistic leader of the superhero team, The Seven.
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly on April 10, 2025, the 49-year-old star reflected on the differences between The Boys' Homelander and G20's Edward Rutledge. He said:
"Bad guys don’t know that they’re bad. These characters are doing what they're doing because they believe it's the best thing to do. Not many people walk around doing things because they think it's the wrong thing. They don't think we're doing the right thing ... Homelander, not so much, but this character in this movie has a pretty compelling case."
Antony Starr plays the primary antagonist in G20
G20 focuses on a hostage situation at the annual economic summit held in South Africa's Cape Town. Edward Rutledge, a soldier from the Australian Special Forces, attacks the summit and captures several world leaders with the aim to destabilize the world economy.
After Rutledge and his mercenaries take over the hotel, the American President, Danielle Sutton (Viola Davis), fights against the terrorists to rescue the world leaders to safety. As a former army veteran herself, Sutton leads the rescue mission with help from her Secret Service Agent, Manny Ruiz (Ramón Rodríguez).
Rutledge creates a deepfake video of the world leaders and manipulates people into investing in cryptocurrency. His move drives up the value of his own wallet, which was worth $70 million before the attack. However, he uses a deepfake video of Sutton to increase its value to $150 billion, while completely collapsing the American economy.
Rutledge plans his escape in a helicopter by holding Sutton's daughter, Serena, at gunpoint. But, the American President chases him down and throws him off the helicopter, leading to his death.
G20 is directed by Patricia Riggen and produced by Andrew Lazar, Viola Davis, and Julius Tennon. Logan Miller and Noah Miller have written the film's plot and contributed to its screenplay alongside Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss. In addition to Davis and Starr, the movie features Anthony Anderson, Ramón Rodríguez, Sabrina Impacciatore, Marsai Martin, and Elizabeth Marvel, among others.
Rutledge vs. Homelander: Who would win?
In the same interview with EW, Antony Starr shared that the two famous villains, Homelander and Rutledge, would make a "terrible duo" together. Speaking on who would have the upper hand, Starr shared that Rutledge would be able to manipulate Homelander easily.
"Rutledge, I think he's smart enough that he would grease Homelander up and know how to manipulate him. He would be like— do you remember in Lord of the Rings, Gríma Wormtongue, that got in the king's ear? He was just whispering, like, magic in his ear. It’d be like that. I think he would be like a little snake in Homelander’s ear — wrapped around his arm, whispering in his ear."
Viewers can watch G20 exclusively on Prime Video.
