Cody Rhodes: My AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam Gear Was Not Inspired By Homelander

Cody Rhodes is not a heel, and he’d retire before he turned. But that hasn’t stopped fans speculating that he is a heel unaware of his wrongdoings, with many comparing The American Nightmare to Homelander from comic book/TV show The Boys.

As seen at the recent AEW: Dynamite Grand Slam event, Rhodes came out for his match with Aleister Black bearing more than a striking resemblance to Homelander, but according to Rhodes on the My Mom’s Basement podcast, his gear was not inspired by the character:

“The Boys, which is a wonderful everything. If you're not reading or watching The Boys, it's outstanding. [My gear] isn't [inspired by the show]. I feel bad saying it isn't because everyone thought the initial cape that [Lead Seamstress/Designer] Ms. Sandra Gray had made was Homelander inspired, but really, I think it was a Colonial soldier is what inspired it. I never once, because of the fun reactions online, I never told her to deviate only because if people find that parallel and they like it, why not? There is a parallel in characters in terms of my goody two shoes nature not always sitting that great with wrestling fans. I can be the good guy, but they don't have to cheer me, they can do whatever they'd like," Rhodes said.

Part of the speculation behind this Homelander approach, was Rhodes’ over the top 22-foot long cape that he wore to the ring, although some fans may not have noticed it:

"The outfit she made for Grand Slam, it was a slight miss, and it's no one's fault, not hers for sure. The cape was 22 feet long and I thought it would be the coolest looking thing from an overhead shot and never once shot it overhead," he said. "This beautiful cape was draped on the LEDs and we have shoved it into the elevator I had come up and I was all monitoring how it flowed. There's only a few really bad photos of it on Twitter that looks like its superimposed. Yes, it was a 22-foot long cape. I'll try it again at another point and get a better shot of it. I thought for sure, 'I stood here long enough, they got it.’"

In The Boys, Homelander is a super hero in the mould of a Superman type - super human, nigh omnipotent - who is deeply sociopathic, and not aware or concerned that his actions cause immense misery for many people, whilst only concerned about his public perception.

After Cody's entrance at Grand Slam, Homelander was apparently trending on Twitter in response.

HT: Fightful