Underrated series with impressive Rotten Tomatoes score is very x-rated but you may not have heard of it

Before Antony Starr took up the Homelander mantle in The Boys, he appeared as another bloodthirsty character in a show fans are calling the ‘most underrated TV series ever’.

Way back in 1995, Antony, now 48, made his television debut portraying Mesas in an episode of the New Zealand fantasy series Xena: Warrior Princess.

After working on a slew of Australian projects such as police drama Rush and 2012’s Tricky Business, he was eventually cast as the main antagonist in the brutal Amazon Prime series, The Boys.

But while many people know him for his award-winning portrayal of Homelander, others will be more familiar with the University of Auckland alumnus’ criminal character, John ‘Lucas Hood’ Smith.

Antony Starr leads the beloved four season show (Cinemax)

Back in 2013, Antony stepped out for the first time as a recently paroled master thief fleeing to a small fictional town in Pennsylvania.

During the four-season show, viewers learned that the protagonist had previously been incarnated for stealing $15 million in diamonds on behalf of a Ukrainian mob boss called Igor ‘Mr Rabbit’ Rabitov (played by Ben Cross).

After serving time, he returned to win back his former lover, Anastasia (Ivana Miličević), who assumed a new identity during his incarnation and had been keeping the jewels safe from her father, Rabbit.

However, while the ex-con assumed the identity of the town’s murdered sheriff, he struggled with his criminal past before eventually coming into conflict with the local kingpin, Kai Proctor (Ulrich Thomsen).

If you have no idea what we’re talking about, then check out the first trailer for Banshee below:

Banshee was created by Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler for Cinemax and was broadcast between January 2013 and May 2016.

As well as Antony, the show stars Broadway actor Hoon Lee as computer hacker Job, The Wire’s Frankie Faison and Matt Servitto of Sopranos fame.

Fans and critics alike are obsessed with Banshee, with the former giving it an average 92 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Meanwhile, the 38-episode project has earned a solid 90 percent on the Tomatometer.

As Banshee is available to stream on Sky Go and Now TV in the UK, fans have been rediscovering the X-rate gem and have been taking to social media to sing its praises.

One fan wrote that Banshee was 'a little gem' (Cinemax)

“Banshee is the most underrated TV series ever,” typed one Twitter user.

A second said: “If you only know Antony Starr as Homelander, do yourself a favour and watch the series Banshee. Four seasons of near perfect television!!”

Someone else added: "Banshee. One of the best series I ever watched."

A fourth social media user commented: “Banshee is a fire little gem. Anthony Starr pre Homelander.”

And a final viewer penned: “I [am] currently watching Banshee to understand the psychological structure of Antony Starr and I understand why he plays such a good villain in Homelander.”

Stream all episodes of Banshee on Now TV and Sky Go now.