Small plot change that would’ve solved the “power scale” problem

One of the biggest criticisms of the finale was that Homelander was unable to beat or escape Butcher and Ryan before Kimiko blasted him.

Simple plot change would have been a modified version of the virus that attacked V1 cells only. Wouldn’t be potent enough to kill but could have been an easy plot point to weaken Homelander making it more plausible he wasn’t able to easily win or escape. A V1 version of the virus would have made sense to avoid the genocide issue of the original virus and leave the other supes unaffected.

You can then have the same exact fight/ending. This also allows the virus plotline to have more impact.