Wu Yanzu

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Wu Yanzu (武延祖)
Alias(es)	Homelander; Azu; Anthony Starr
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Vought International; Starr Group; The Seven (founder and leader) 8 20 33
Occupation/Role	Former award-winning actor; superhero; media executive; leader of The Seven 1 11 33
Status	Alive
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Homelander template activated	1	Acquires super strength, Steel Body, super endurance, super speed, Heat Vision, X-Ray Vision, super hearing, and flight. His abilities scale with popularity; the Head Biological Field is weak and cannot be upgraded.
Popularity level increased	3	Reaches 150,124 popularity during the Battle of New York, increasing his strength and Heat Vision temperature.
Mass popularity enhancement	5	Reaches 2,215,232 popularity after ending the Chitauri invasion and rescuing abducted children; Steel Body, super speed, and Heat Vision receive further enhancement. He also obtains Homelander's exclusive uniform.
Rising to Fame	8	Holds 7,982,301 popularity. Steel Body reaches Planetary Level, Heat Vision reaches 4,000°C, and super speed reaches Mach 15.
Magical immunity	16	Draws the Superman Serum (Red Sorghum Edition), gaining 30 minutes of magical immunity.
Spider-Sense acquired	38	Gains Spider-Sense and 50,000 special popularity points after encouraging Peter Parker.
High-Martial Primal Tai Chi loaded	39	Gains grandmaster-level Tai Chi, improved close-quarters adaptability and strength control, and the mental-resistance passive Still Mind.

Background / History

Wu Yanzu was a three-time Golden Award-winning Best Actor whose reputation and assets were ruined by Liu Xingguang. After Liu was imprisoned and public opinion cleared his name, Wu prepared to return to the top of the entertainment industry. A meteor then struck and vaporized him; he awoke in Homelander's body during the Battle of New York. 1

A Super-Popular Superstar System informed him that his powers would increase with popularity. He immediately treated the invasion as a stage, making a conspicuous entrance, saving civilians, assisting the Avengers, defeating Loki, destroying the Chitauri mothership, and rescuing more than one hundred abducted children. The resulting global attention substantially strengthened his template. 1 3 4 5

S.H.I.E.L.D. later identified his body as that of Anthony Starr, a Columbia literature student presumed dead after a yacht sank in 2011. Wu improvised an origin story about experimentation, then assumed Anthony's identity, inheritance, personal fortune, and controlling interest in Starr Group. 6 7 8

He used Starr Group capital to establish Vought International Media, constructing a public image around Homelander through controlled heroic appearances, television, charity work, and his biographical film Homelander: Origins. 11 12 16 18

Appearance

Wu Yanzu inhabits the body of Anthony Starr/Homelander: a tall, muscular blond man with azure eyes and an exceptionally polished public image. 1 6

• Neatly combed blond hair and a “near-perfect” smile. 1
• Blue skintight superhero suit with golden eagle-shaped epaulets. 1
• Stars and Stripes cape; later receives an exclusive uniform that never wears out. 1 5
• Wears tailored suits when operating as Anthony Starr rather than Homelander. 19
• Uses a radar-resistant stealth flight suit for covert aerial operations. 21

Personality

Wu Yanzu is intensely ambitious, image-conscious, and addicted to recognition. Having been an actor in his previous life, he approaches heroism as both performance and business: he carefully stages rescues, controls media access, and treats public emotion as a resource that can be converted into power. 3 11 12 16

His public persona is warm, humble, and reassuring, but his private thoughts often reveal contempt, calculation, and a willingness to intimidate others. He coerces Jonah Jameson into favorable coverage, exploits tragedies for publicity, and manipulates Jessica Jones into accepting the identity of Queen Jones. 11 13 19 20

Despite this cynicism, he can display genuine patience and encouragement. He inspires Peter Parker to pursue heroism, mentors Jessica in combat, and recognizes the loneliness shared by people without families or stable homes. 38 43 46 47

Abilities & Skills

Homelander Template

Wu's base powers originate from the Homelander template and are strengthened by popularity. 1

• Superhuman strength and durability through Steel Body. 1 8
• Super endurance and high-speed flight. 1
• Super speed, documented at Mach 15 after the Battle of New York. 8
• Can survive attacks that generate temperatures around 3,000°C without injury. 21
• His weak Head Biological Field cannot be upgraded. 1

Heat Vision

Wu projects destructive crimson beams from his eyes, using them for combat, precision cutting, and intimidation. 1 15 22

• Reached 4,000°C by Chapter 8 and exceeded 5,000°C against Eric Savan. 8 22
• Cleared Chitauri soldiers while escaping the mothership with the abducted children. 4
• Permanently destroyed Kilgrave's vocal cords and surrounding throat tissue. 15
• Killed Eric Savan by splitting his head with Heat Vision. 22
• Can use fine beams to disable machinery without relying on brute force. 42

X-Ray Vision and Super Hearing

Wu can see through structures and monitor targets at long range. 1

• Located the Chitauri mothership's engines, command center, soldiers, and captive children. 4
• Scanned Anthony Starr's abandoned apartment from its fire escape. 8
• Tracked Air Force One through cloud cover. 21
• Used super hearing to read Peter Parker's heartbeat. 38

Mental Resistance

Wu possesses formidable resistance to mental manipulation. 15 39

• Kilgrave's pheromone-based commands had no effect on him. 15
• Still Mind, gained through High-Martial Primal Tai Chi, further improves mental resistance. 39

High-Martial Primal Tai Chi

Wu loaded a combat module granting theoretical and practical mastery of Tai Chi. It lets him regulate his enormous physical strength rather than relying solely on direct force. 39

• Redirects and neutralizes an opponent's force. 39 43
• Defeated Jessica in sparring while limiting himself to three tons of strength. 42 43
• Uses techniques including leverage, joint disruption, balance breaking, and “Cloud Hands.” 43
• Serves as Jessica Jones's combat instructor. 40 43

Spider-Sense

Wu gains Spider-Sense after meeting Peter Parker. 38

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Homelander exclusive uniform — System reward; never wears out. 1 5
• Origin-version uniform — Worn while filming Homelander: Origins. 18
• Stealth flight suit — Radar-resistant Vought suit used during the Air Force One operation. 21
• Power limiter wristband — Vought device that restricts his output and delivers an electrical punishment if he exceeds the set threshold. 42
• Compound V (System-Purified Version) — A vial that can grant random powers to ordinary people or strengthen superhumans without side effects; it provides negligible benefit to Wu himself. 39
• T-Vex / Vought Super Energy Drink — Wu develops T-Vex, then heavily dilutes it into a marketable energy drink while reserving the prospect of genuine doses as promotional prizes. 45

Relationships

• Anthony Starr — The presumed-dead identity and body Wu assumes after transmigration; Wu takes control of Anthony's inheritance, fortune, and Starr Group interest. 6 8
• Jessica Jones / Queen Jones — Recruited by Wu as The Seven's first member. He manages her public image, trains her in Tai Chi, and gives her a Brooklyn apartment; their relationship develops from coercive recruitment into uneasy trust and intimacy. 15 20 34 43 49
• Tony Stark — Rival and occasional ally. Wu saves Tony during the Extremis crisis, but their interactions are defined by mutual mockery, competition, and disagreement over control of superhumans. 11 25 26 48 49
• Steve Rogers — One of the Avengers most willing to judge Wu by his actions. Steve initially defends him before Fury and later accepts the image of Homelander presented in Homelander: Origins. 6 7 36
• Nick Fury — S.H.I.E.L.D. director who distrusts Wu's origin, public influence, and expanding organization. 6 7 40 49
• Ashley — Wu's chief assistant at Vought, responsible for executing media campaigns, managing logistics, and overseeing Jessica's public transformation. 18 20 21
• Peter Parker — Young admirer encouraged by Wu to become a hero; their meeting grants Wu Spider-Sense. 38
• President Matthew Ellis — Rescued by Wu during the Extremis crisis and left politically indebted to him. 25 26
• Jonah Jameson — Media critic whom Wu saves from a fall, humiliates, and coerces into running favorable coverage. 11
• Liu Xingguang — The former enemy who stole Wu's assets and smeared his reputation in his original life. 1

Story Role / Major Arcs

Battle of New York

Wu arrives as an unknown Superman-like figure, uses the invasion to gain popularity, humiliates Loki, rescues civilians and captive children, and destroys the Chitauri mothership. He introduces himself publicly as Homelander. 2 3 4 5

Anthony Starr and the Rise of Vought

After S.H.I.E.L.D. identifies the body as Anthony Starr, Wu adopts the identity, takes control of Starr Group, and builds Vought International Media to protect and monetize his hero brand. 6 8 11

The Seven

Wu recruits Jessica Jones as Queen Jones, subjects her to Vought's image training, and publicly establishes The Seven as a superhero team. The system's Popularity Group Module then links part of each member's popularity gains and losses to him. 15 20 33 34

Extremis Crisis

Wu arranges media coverage before intercepting Air Force One, kills Eric Savan, eliminates the remaining Extremis threat, rescues Tony Stark and President Ellis, and returns Ellis to the White House. 21 22 25 26

*Homelander: Origins* and Public Expansion

Wu stars in and promotes Homelander: Origins, using its heroic narrative to reinforce his public legitimacy. He expands The Seven's recruitment through the reality program Who Is the Next Superhero?, drawing more than 100,000 applicants shortly after applications open. 18 33 36 48

Notable Quotes

“You are the real heroes!” 5

“I am the sun.” 40

“I am the mask itself...” 46

Trivia

• Wu was a three-time Golden Award-winning Best Actor before transmigrating. 1
• His system converts popularity directly into power, making publicity both a practical resource and a personal obsession. 1 8
• He considers himself an actor rather than a true hero, even while deliberately cultivating a heroic image. 15
• He calls his strategy of using entertainment to identify and regulate superhumans “entertainment-based co-opting.” 49