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| “ | The point is that you are under a misconception that we are a superhero company. We are not. What we are, really, is a pharmaceutical company. And you are not our most valuable asset. That would be our confidential formula for Compound V, which you, man-child that you are, released into the wild. | „ |
| ~ Stan Edgar shutting down Homelander about putting Stormfront in The Seven. |
| “ | I can't lash out like some raging, entitled maniac. That is a white man's luxury. | „ |
| ~ Stan Edgar defending his actions to Billy Butcher. |
| “ | Homelander: Oh God. You know something? I used to be intimidated by you. I did. And now I look at you. I’m just… I don’t know why. Truly, you’re not even pathetic. You’re just… nothing. Stan: Then why are you still here? Looking for my approval like I’m your daddy? And even if I were, what would there be to approve of? The company is yours, no one left to stand up to you. But I think you’ll come to sorely regret that. Homelander: And why is that? Stan: Because there’s no one left to cover for you either. Eventually, probably soon, the world will recognize you for the pitiful disappointment you are. You are not worthy of my respect. You are not a god. You are simply bad product. |
„ |
| ~ Stan Edgar berating Homelander for the last time before leaving Vought, and his most famous quote. |
Stanford "Stan" Edgar is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Frederick Vought) of the satirical superhero television franchise The Boys.
In his characterisation, he is the CEO of Vought International and the superior of its chairwoman Madelyn Stillwell as well as the adopted father of Victoria Neuman. It soon transpired that Stan is responsible for Compound V, which turns people into superhuman beings. After Stillwell's death, he decides to directly approach managing the company and their established superhero organization called The Seven; this in turn led to him coming into a dangerous conflict with their leader, Homelander.
He is portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito, who also played Gus Fring in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Sidney Glass in Once Upon a Time, Tom Neville in Revolution, The Dentist in Payday 2, Frank Dawson in Okja, Lex Luthor in Harley Quinn, Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, the Phantom Blot in the 2017 DuckTales reboot, Antón Castillo in Far Cry 6, Faraday in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Lambert in Abigail, Franklyn Cicero in Megalopolis and Sidewinder in Captain America: Brave New World.
A younger version of Stan Edgar was portrayed by Justiin Davis.
Personality[]
Stan Edgar is shown to be a rather calm and sophisticated person, never breaking his confidence, showing fear or anger, or even losing his cool. Even in the face of someone as psychotic and unpredictable as Homelander himself, Edgar will not show the slightest hint of fear and will even insult the former in his face and call him out on his flaws and insecurities simply to prove a point—something that actually manages to scare Homelander deeply. He is also very cynical and apathetic, not showing the slightest care about casualties and chaos caused by his company, and is merely worried about making profit and maintaining Vought's public image, showing himself to be very manipulative and cunning, even stating that true power is bending the world to one's will. Edgar is even willing to abuse his power and threaten people, as evident when he said he would kick Black Noir out of Payback if he even broke his "Silent Ninja" persona and expressed his true self. This in turn displayed the extent of his rather dismissive and calculative nature for a collectively callous figure such as himself. Plus he is also annoyed by incompetence and looks down on many people, such as the childish and arrogant Vought's heroes, and even desires to pass on his role as CEO to someone else so he would have to deal with their immaturity.
However, secretly, he is not as cold-hearted as he lets on, as he is shown to have a very close relationship with his adoptive daughter Victoria Neuman and his granddaughter Zoe, spending time with them as much as he can. When he adopted Victoria, he promised that he would always look out for her, no matter what. However, when Victoria’s blackmailed by Homelander into betraying him, he shows no ill will towards her and is, in fact, proud of her intelligence and compares it to his own.
Even when he is finally defeated by Homelander, loses control of Vought, and is arrested for his crimes, he remains confident and spiteful, saying that soon enough, the world will see Homelander for what he truly is: a bad product.
Biography[]
Not much is known about Stan Edgar's past. However, even as a young man in the 1980s, he had a substantial influence on Vought due to having approved Soldier Boy's P.S.A announcement script and even acting as the supervisor of Payback, which was Vought's premier superhero group at the time. He was also a close friend of Black Noir (although, it is implied he often ate almonds, despite Noir's nut allergy, as a way to reinforce his power over him).
In 1984, Edgar would later supervise Payback on a mission to Nicaragua to fight the Soviet Union, as the company wanted to prove to the government that Supes could work in the military again. While there, he informed Black Noir that Vought is planning on replacing Soldier Boy with his more powerful son, Homelander, and that Soldier Boy would need to be "removed." Ultimately, Payback would give Soldier Boy to the Russians and cover up his disappearance as a "death from a noble sacrifice," although Noir would end up gravely injured in the process.
Stan would also later adopt a troubled young woman named Nadia with the power to explode organic material. Stan would take her under his wing as his daughter, rename her Victoria, and erase all of her previous records to keep the public unaware of her so they would not try to use her as leverage.
At some point prior to the series, he became the CEO of Vought and started using Compound V for other projects to make more profits. In 1999, he introduced Homelander to the public as the newest member of Vought's current premier superhero team, the Seven, but he made perfectly sure to keep Homelander in check in case he stepped out of line.
In 2019, at an event, Edgar approaches the company's chairwoman, Madelyn Stillwell, rewarding her for her good work. He thereafter tells Stillwell that she will become the President of the company once he has moved to "Belize," before then telling her to enjoy herself as he walks away. However, Edgar never got the chance to do this after Stillwell got murdered by Homelander.
Soon afterwards, due to Stillwell’s death, Edgar is forced to take a more active role in managing Vought and its superheroes. His first act is to make Stormfront a member of the Seven as a replacement for Translucent, which he decides to plan behind Homelander's back. He is later confronted by Homelander about hiring Stormfront without consulting with him. However, Stan simply responds by telling Homelander he doesn’t need his consent and goes on to nonchalantly insult him by calling him an “arrogant man-child” and saying that he isn’t as important as he thinks he is. He also even berates him for giving out Compound V to terrorists, leading to the creation of superterrorists (or "supervillains," as Homelander calls them). Edgar then demands Homelander leave his office, to which he reluctantly complies.
Edgar later holds a press conference after the existence of Compound V was leaked to the public. Stan denies any knowledge of it and claims to have done a “full investigation” on it. Stan is consulted by the companies lawyers, who tell him that because of the leak, not only are stock values crumbling, but criminal charges could be brought against him. Edgar states he doesn’t care and is more worried about the superterrorist Kenji Miyashiro, who was spotted off the Jersey shore. Edgar then orders the Seven to go and apprehend the terrorist. After Stormfront kills Kenji and 56 people living in the buildings nearby, he holds a press conference, denying knowledge of Compound V and claiming he will carry out a full investigation into it. He blames it on Madelyn Stillwell and vows to get to the bottom of it. He introduces Stormfront as the savior of the day, and the crowd goes wild in admiration.
After Black Noir finds Butcher (after he breached the safe house where Becca and Ryan are kept) and is about to kill Hughie, Butcher reveals that he has incriminating pictures of Ryan's existence, and if he or any of his friends die, these pictures will be sent to Ronan Farrell and expose Homelander as the rapist monster he is. Stan contacts him through Noir's phone, revealing that he saw the whole action unfold through a camera on Black Noir's suit, and questions the existence of these pictures. Butcher says he will have to play along and hope that they are not real. Stan makes his only offer: if he calls off Noir, the pictures will never see the light of day. Butcher agrees, and Stan orders Noir to retreat.
Stan is later seen talking with Alastair Adana at the Church of the Collective's headquarters and discussing the return of the Deep and A-Train (who, unknown to both, is listening to the conversation while hidden in a closet). He agrees to bring back the Deep but not A-Train since he has to "please Stormfront." When questioned about Adana, Edgar reveals that he is aware that Stormfront was one of the first followers of his grandfather, back when the Collective was in its early days. Adana neither confirms nor denies this, to which Stan says that the church's Internal Research Department knows very well about her past and why A-Train can't come back.
Butcher contacts Stan in order to find Ryan. They meet at an empty restaurant, where Stan is initially unwilling to help him. Butcher reminds him that Ryan is his only contingency against Homelander, and it won't work if he is raised by him and Stormfront. He states that Stormfront is good at getting people angry, and angry people are more willing to buy Compound V and increase stock value. Butcher reminds him of Stormfront's racist tendencies and that he can't really control her, which leads to one of the few times where he shows himself to be really annoyed and angry, but Stan simply puts that "he can't just rage out like an entitled maniac. That is a white man's luxury." Stan agrees to send a team to give Ryan's location in order for a security team to take him and Becca to a safe location, but Butcher refuses to let Becca go and tells him to find a new mother for the kid, and if Becca shows up begging to see Ryan one day, Stan should simply say that it is the only way to keep both safe from Homelander, and she will accept because a mother will do anything to protect her child. Stan agrees. Once Stormfront's past and ties to the Nazi Party are exposed, Stan leads a press conference, and she is blamed by the attack on Washington and informs that the release of Compound V to the Armed Forces has been put on indefinite hold.
A year later, in 2022, Stan wants things at Vought to change—he no longer wants it to be all about the Supes, who require a lot of "handling," but rather about what Vought could do for the military with new technology such as V-24. He is starting to make moves to handle these changes. Stan also announces that he's thrilled about the Federal Bureau of Superhuman Affairs involvement at Vought, overseen by Victoria Neuman. It's revealed that Stan adopted Victoria Neuman, formally known as Nadia, and raised her. They still have a close relationship, and Stan often watches her daughter.
At Vought, Stan decides to make Starlight co-captain with Homelander because of her wholesome appearance; he desires to improve the company's reputation due to Homelander's dwindling popularity.
To teach Homelander a lesson, Stan asks Victoria to make an announcement about how Homelander can't get away with anything. He suggests the FBSA slap a few fines on Homelander and Vought to make an example out of him. However, when the time for the press conference comes, Victoria instead announces that Homelander has come forward as a whistleblower for crimes committed by the CEO of Vought, Stan Edgar. Stan is shocked and takes off his glasses. He is forced to take a temporary leave of absence from Vought, to the pleasure of Homelander, who points out that such a development could easily turn permanent. Stan, however, tells Homelander that with him gone, there will be no one left to cover up his actions, and the world will see Homelander for what he truly is: a disappointment, a failure, and a bad product.
Later, Vought officially announced that it would be severing its ties with Stan Edgar, supposedly appalled by his actions and praising Homelander for his bravery. Vought also announced that it would be conducting a thorough investigation into his actions.
The Boys had learned of the existence of the virus created by Indira Shetty and that it was in Victoria's hands. Realizing they couldn't stop her on their own, Butcher and Mother's Milk visited Stan in prison with the promise of getting him exonerated. Stan however held no animosity towards Victoria and saw no reason to help Butcher. This quickly changed upon learning that Victoria injected Compound V into her daughter Zoe. Adding to the promise that he would get full custody of Zoe, Stan willingly agreed to help Butcher.
Stan directed the Boys to his farm, which he correctly deduced was the location of Neuman's lab to experiment on the virus. The property appeared abandoned. The group followed the stairs to the laboratory beneath the farmhouse, but the walls and floor were painted with blood that indicated a struggle and attempted escape. Within the lab, they found that most of the cages were empty, and there was no Compound V, V24, or the virus to be discovered. They are ambushed by Neuman and her security detail, who threatens them unless they return the lead researcher, Dr. Sameer Shah. She is, however, convinced when they explain they hadn't done anything, and only recently arrived themselves.
Stan and Neuman have a tense reunion, but before she can accuse him of betrayal, he pointed out that she should know how it felt, considering she did it to him. The Boys, Stan, and Neuman agree to search the property for survivors. They locate mutilated scientists in the hen house, the cause of which is revealed when a chicken burst through one of the guard's backs and out his chest, revealing the poultry had been somehow dosed by Compound V. When one of the chickens jumped at Stan, he is saved when Neuman popped the bird's head, revealing she shared some of his sentimentality in regards to their father-daughter relationship.
The group escaped the chickens, locking them inside their shed, thus they continue exploring for survivors, if not the virus, too. Stan condemned Neuman for injecting his granddaughter, Zoe, with V, going on to note that she had endangered the girl by doing it; however, Neuman argued that she did it to protect Zoe, and accused Stan of forcing her to hide her supe status out of his own shame, which he doesn't dispute, though appeared to disagree to an extent.
The group are shocked by an attack from flying vampire sheep, which brutally devour the last of Neuman's security detail. They take shelter inside a barn, where Dr. Sameer Shah is discovered alive, as the sole survivor, with the former second last dead nearby due to lethal wounds. Neuman affectionately embraced Shah, which made the Boys realised that the scientist is Zoe's father; Stan sardonically noted that Shah was once his employee in R&D, until deflowering Neuman, which Stan bluntly labels as disrespect, but Neuman countered with the facts that she was 20 at the time, already far from a virgin, and she initiated the relationship, anyway.
Shah revealed that a V-infused hamster broke out of containment, freeing the other test animals, and breaking Compound V vials, polluting the ground water with V, hence causing the outbreak of supe farm animals. Shah also revealed that he has a syringe with the last dose of the supe-killing virus; through prodding, he clarified that it isn't airborne, with the infection only spread through bodily fluids, while the rest understand that the virus is still far too weak to take down Homelander. The group debate what to do with the remaining virus, with some arguing to infect the dead body, toss it out to be consumed by the vampire sheep, thus killing them, while others argue the virus is too important to waste and necessary to refine a stronger strain, so they should just rush pass the vampire sheep. Eventually, they agree to infect the corpse to kill off the deadly sheep.
While it takes until nightfall, the sheep begin to devour the infected body, so the group ran in an attempt to reach their vehicles. One of the sheep blocked them, but it began to violently vomit, revealing its skin was covered with boils indicative of the virus, and it abruptly died. The remainder of the vampire sheep plummet from the sky, hitting the ground dead due to absorbing the virus through consumption. Under the chaos, it appeared as though Shah had vanished.
A biohazard crew arrived to remove the infected cadavers, as well as remove the blood and gore of dead scientists, and contain other V-infused creatures. One of the crew revealed Shah's dismembered leg to Neuman, and apologised for the loss. Since the Boys couldn't collect a sample of the virus, they renege on their deal of a Presidential pardon to Stan, thereby he is taken into custody by a prison transport.
On the road, Stan's escorts' heads suddenly explode, revealing the handiwork of his adopted daughter, Neuman; she showed an expression of strained concern for Stan, seeming to indicate she would be taking him herself, so he wouldn't be incarcerated again.
Quotes[]
| “ | Hey, don't go planning my retirement yet. Just saying, someone needs to run this sh*tshow when I move to Belize. Enjoy yourself, Madelyn. | „ |
| ~ Stan to Madelyn Stillwell. |
| “ | Stan Edgar: Well, let me remind you. You slipped Compound V to terrorists all over the globe to get you and your cronies into national defense. But maybe at the cost of destroying the whole company. Homelander: I don't think I appreciate your tone, sir. Not much at all. Stan Edgar: And I don't appreciate that the FDA now knows about Compound V, or that it's only a matter of time before the public finds out. While you're preening at the Golden Globes we're busy, running around like maniacs, trying to clean up the mess you made. I don't have to consult you about Stormfront or anything else. Now... I believe you have a premiere of Tek Knight Lives to go to? |
„ |
| ~ Edgar chastising Homelander. |
| “ | One hasbeen back is.... redemption. Two is weakness. | „ |
| ~ Edgar negotiating possible returns of the Deep and A-Train into the Seven |
| “ | Stormfront's good at making people angry. Angry people want Compound V. Compound V raises our stock price. Look, I'd have preferred that V remain a secret, but we play with the cards we're dealt. It's not ruthless, it's prices per share. That's all. | „ |
| ~ Edgar rationalising his enabling of a racist supe as merely capitalist strategy, rather than amoral exploitation. |
| “ | Butcher: So, it's just business then, eh? Stan Edgar: When, Mr. Butcher, in history has it ever been about anything different? |
„ |
| ~ Butcher challenging Edgar's morally bankrupt methodology, which he countered as merely a consistent fact of humanity |
| “ | It should be a serious company. A defense and pharmaceutical company. Not a daycare dealing with spoiled children and dead prostitutes. | „ |
| ~ Edgar confiding to Presidential candidate Robert Singer about his contempt for Vought-International needing to cater and cover for degenerate, violent Superhumans |
| “ | Real power... isn't this (gestures hand pushing). It's the ability to bend the world to your will. You would decide what The Seven do. What causes they support. Full authority to fill the team's empty slots. I'm offering you real power. | „ |
| ~ Stan Edgar explains what true power is to Starlight. |
| “ | If there was one thing I taught her, it was to play all sides. She's more like me than I ever imagined. | „ |
| ~ Stan Edgar expressing pride for his adopted daughter, Victoria Neuman, which also fills Homelander with envy. |
| “ | What good would that do? Where would it even go... but to the bottomless gaping pit of insecurity you call a soul. | „ |
| ~ Edgar's derisive retort to Homelander's desire for respect. |
| “ | Stan Edgar; Victoria, you're looking well. Victoria Neuman: You think I wouldn't know the minute you and your ankle monitor stepped out of that prison? |
„ |
| ~ Stan Edgar's tense reunion with his adopted daughter, and him underlining her hypocrisy in being upset at his betrayal by helping the Boys |
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Ironically, much of Stan's role, personality, and character seem to be in line with and inspired by James Stillwell, the comic book version of Madelyn Stillwell. Both men were calm and cold and were in charge of much of the Seven's gruesome acts.
- There are, however, several key differences between the two, with the biggest being that Edgar was capable of genuinely caring about people (such as his adoptive daughter and granddaughter), and had genuine standards (namely against rape and racism) however Stillwell was an irredeemable monster who only cared about himself and the success of the company.
- In the comics, Stan does not appear physically and is only referred to as Mr. Edgar. He dies early on due to a heart attack, and it is revealed that James Stillwell was actually the one controlling the company from the shadows but never took the position of CEO to avoid being a part of the public eye.
External Link[]
- Stan Edgar on the Boys Wiki.
