Did The Boys recreate Netanyahu's viral 'six-finger AI' video moment? Homelander actor Antony Starr reveals | Exclusive

Homelander actor Antony Starr talks to HT about the claims that a scene from The Boys' final season hints at Benjamin Netanyahu's viral ‘six-finger’ moment.

The Boys began as an irreverent show on superheroes, but over the course of five seasons, it has emerged as a sharp critique of everything from consumerism to immigration policies and racism. Many of the show’s scenes have had hints and subtle references to real-life events and people. And as the first two episodes of the final season dropped this week, many viewers pointed out the show may have included a not-so-subtle nod at a global event.

Many viewers felt that a scene in The Boys S5 referred to a viral moment with Israeli PM Netanyahu.

Minor spoilers for The Boys season 5 ahead!

Did The Boys recreate Netanyahu’s viral video moment?

In the opening episode of The Boys’ final season, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) manages to leak unseen footage of Homelander (Antony Starr) and Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) leaving passengers in a crashing aircraft to die, a sequence that took place in season 1. The leak of this footage to the world is meant to hurt Homelander’s credibility. However, the superpowered dictator denounces the video as AI, noting that a frame shows six fingers in his hand.

Eagle-eyed viewers connected this to a recently released video of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was discussed for allegedly being AI-generated. Netanyahu released the video in March amid talks of him having been killed in an Iranian airstrike. While the video was meant to assure the world that the Israeli leader was alive and well, many social media users pointed out that it showed several signs of being AI-generated, including one frame in which Netanyahu appears to have six fingers on one hand.

Antony Starr clears the air

We asked Homelander actor Antony Starr if this was deliberate, and he laughed before responding, “It's a crazy thing that these scripts are written two years in advance, so if there are any dovetails like that, it's pretty coincidental to a large part.”

However, Antony admitted that in the past, the writers - led by series creator Eric Kripke - had included several Easter eggs hinting at real events. Giving full credit for these hints to the writers, Antony added, “I wish it were me, but unfortunately, Eric writes the show. You'd have to talk to him about it. But it's been an interesting show in that respect.”

Earlier, Antony said that while many believe he bases Homelander on real people, the truth is he shies away from doing that. “If you base it exclusively on one person or two people, it becomes quite two-dimensional. And I never want to be that. So everything from my perspective has come from within me, and I'm trying to do what I can with the writing that's been provided to me. So it was really an exercise in serving the writing, and we were just lucky that the writing team is fantastic,” the actor told us.

All about The Boys

The final season of The Boys premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 8, with the first two episodes releasing. There will be a weekly release after this, continuing through the finale on May 20. The Boys season 5 also stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Karen Fukuhara, Colby Minifie, and Jensen Ackles.