This The Boys’ Character Could Have a Very Different Fate as a Supe

Is Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) a Supe? This question has been looming over the show ever since the puzzling fight scene between him and Ezekiel (Shaun Benson) in the current fourth season of The Boys. If he is, which evidence suggests, this could mean he has a very different fate than what was presumed at the end of Season 3 and to date in Season 4, which is certain death.

There’s a lot to unpack and theorize about regarding what will happen to Butcher and how his story will come to a close. And it all hinges on Compound V.

The Boys

Release Date

July 26, 2019

Seasons

4

Where Billy Butcher Is Now in The Boys

In his desperation to take down Homelander (Antony Starr) in Season 3 (and the previous seasons leading up to this), Butcher teamed up with Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) to get his hands on something called Temp V. It’s a form of Compound V that is said to give anyone who takes it temporary superpowers. It only lasts up to 24 hours, presents powers differently in everyone, and has serious side effects. But these warnings are no match for Butcher’s desire to put everything on the line to accomplish his mission.

When Starlight (Erin Moriarty) learns that taking Temp V, also known as V24, doesn’t just cause unpleasant side effects but also brain lesions, she warns Butcher. He might be OK if he stops taking it, but if he takes anywhere from three to five doses, it’s almost certainly lethal. Butcher, once again, doesn’t listen and takes the serum again and again to get closer to his goal. He has now developed multiple brain tumors and has about 18 months to live.

By the beginning of Season 4, Butcher is down to about six months to live. His primary mission has shifted from killing Homelander to taking down all Supes and ensuring Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) is in good hands before he’s gone. But this task proved more difficult than he anticipated.

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Not only is Butcher on bad terms with The Boys, but Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso) outright fires him when he reveals that he took Temp V and is living on borrowed time. He is also suffering from increasingly debilitating side effects, including a hacking cough, dizzy spells, and intense pain. He has passed out on multiple occasions. When Homelander comes face-to-face with Butcher at an event, he doesn’t even consider killing him. With his X-ray vision, Homelander can see the tumors working their way through Butcher’s brain and knows it’s only a matter of time before he perishes anyway.

Still, Butcher persists, both in spite of and because of hallucinations of his wife Becca (Shantel VanSanten), pleading with him to protect her son. He seems willing to fight to the bitter end. The question is whether Butcher’s end is actually coming soon or if the vicious vigilante has a secret up his sleeve.

The Hints That Butcher Could Be a Supe

As mentioned, Butcher finds himself face-to-face with hypocritical Christian Supe Ezekiel in his trailer outside of Firecracker’s (Valorie Curry) Truthbomb live show. At first, it seems as though Ezekiel has the upper hand (literally) as he extends his arm, thanks to his elasticity superpower, to take down Butcher. But Butcher uses quick thinking to grab a liquid nitrogen extinguisher and freezes the appendage then cuts it off.

Ezekiel uses the arm he has left to wrap it around Butcher’s throat and strangle him. It seems like light’s out for Butcher, but when he suddenly comes to, Butcher sees a bloody mess of guts, body parts, and intestines covering the entire space. Ezekiel is dead. The only possibility is that another vigilante Supe came in while Butcher was losing oxygen, killed Ezekiel, and left. Or, more likely, Butcher himself did this damage with the power he possesses, of which he doesn’t even realize the magnitude.

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This ties together later in the episode when Butcher sees Hughie (Jack Quaid) getting Compound V from A-Train (Jessie T. Usher). When Hughie tells Butcher why he’s getting it, Butcher warns him about “unintended consequences.” Butcher reveals he took Compound V himself four months prior in hopes that it would cure him, the same way Hughie hopes it would cure his father Hughie Sr. (Simon Pegg). But Butcher claims that it only made his decline worse.

The most intriguing thing about this scene is how adamant Butcher is that Hughie doesn’t give Compound V to his father. It’s strange since Butcher has always been the risk-taker of the group. After Hughie walks away determined to go through with his plan anyway, Butcher looks over at his hallucination of Becca and asks her what on Earth just happened with Ezekiel.

Will Billy Butcher Survive in The Boys?

With The Boys confirmed to be ending after its fifth season, fans can’t imagine the show without Butcher. Having him take Compound V would seemingly be the only logical way to keep him alive. But the harrowing results of Hughie Sr. being dosed with the charged-up serum suggest that things might not be so easy.

After being dosed with Compound V by Hughie’s mother, Daphne (Rosemarie DeWitt), Hughie Sr. opens his eyes from his brain-dead coma. He is seemingly fine, but then things start to get strange. He’s unsure of who his ex and his son are. He seems lost in the past, not believing Hughie is who he says he is because his son is just a child.

He frantically speeds through walls, right through patients and others in the hospitals. Lost and confused, he is also filled with rage one moment, then tearing up with bewilderment the next. Fearing for their lives, Hughie and his mother try their best to subdue Hughie Sr. He has moments of recognition, but most importantly, he can’t control what his body is doing.

Eventually, he is sadly killed as it’s clear Hughie Sr. is not the same person he was. It’s unclear if this is because he was already brain-dead when he took Compound V or if it’s a side effect of taking it when already suffering from a terminal illness or ailment like Butcher is. If the latter, that could mean Butcher has powers but doesn’t necessarily have complete control of them.

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This would explain how he managed to pulverize Ezekiel yet not recall anything about it. It may also explain why Butcher is still suffering from debilitating side effects from Temp V even though he has admitted to taking Compound V. What’s puzzling about this is that the same was done for Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) when she was suffering from terrible, potentially life-threatening or at least altering injuries.

Despite being happy to have lost her powers due to Soldier Boy’s (Jensen Ackles) blast in Season 3, she agrees to allow Frenchie (Tomer Capone) to re-inject Compound V into her system. Her powers previously included regeneration, which could explain why she maintains full control of them, unlike Hughie Sr. and potentially Butcher, too.

Based on Hughie Sr.’s reaction, it could also mean Compound V has an uncontrollable effect when taken only while suffering from a brain injury, something both Hughie Sr. and Butcher have in common. Whatever the case, fans expect that Butcher won’t perish as expected and that Compound V may have saved him. What he becomes because of it, however, and how much it extends his life, is a completely different question. Stream episodes of The Boys on Prime Video.