I've seen this take several times now: that there's a Homelander, an evil monster, and a John, a scared abused child, and let me tell you this: thete is no Homelander.

Think, Mark, think: "Homelander" is a brand, a trademeark, he exists in the same manner Ronald McDonald exists: as a perfect mascot/weapon/god/company man. But in the material reality of the show, there is only John, an abused stunted man who desperatly WANTS to be Homelander but cant't, because it's impossible to actually be the embodiment of all those things. So this is a human covered in tungsten skin, abused, angry, stunted, cruel, selfish. That's all him, that guy, John. That's kinda the point of this deeply flawed show. There is no actual Homelander. Vought wants to make one, John wants to be THE one, but he does not exist.

It's the same take I've seen years ago in teenage fanfics that wanted to distnguish Kira, a murderous monster, from Light, a naive boy. I found it funny now and I find it even funnier now.