Butcher literally became a monster in season 4 episode 8 of The Boys. Image source: Amazon
Spoiler alert!
This article contains spoilers for the fourth season of The Boys.
Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is back, and suddenly he has shocking new powers. The fourth season of The Boys reveals that Butcher is no longer just a normal human, but a Supe himself with dangerous tentacles. But how did this come about and what do these powers mean for the future of the series?
Butcher’s deadly secret
Early in the fourth season of The Boys, there are hints that something is wrong with Butcher.
After he develops cancer in the third season due to an overdose of Temp V, it quickly becomes clear that there is more to his illness. In the fourth episode, a decisive moment occurs when Butcher tears the supreme preacher Ezekiel to pieces – but how exactly remains a secret for now.
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The final episode of the fourth season confirms what many suspected: Butcher’s cancerous tumors have developed into tentacle-like growths that can shoot out of his chest. And these are not only extremely grotesque, but also extremely deadly.
In a bloody showdown, he kills Victoria Neuman (Claudia Dumit) and threatens everyone else in the room. These new abilities are apparently the result of a mixture of the temporary Temp V and the permanent Compound V that Butcher secretly injected himself with.
At the end of the season, his powers seem to have him completely under control
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This suggests that Butcher is now a permanent Supe
who has his powers under control. But it remains to be seen whether he will retain his powers, especially when he turns to his human side, symbolized by his deceased love Becca.
What could happen in season 5?
With his new powers, Butcher is better equipped than ever to take on the most powerful Supes.
At the big showdown, he can easily kill Neuman while keeping her daughter Zoe (Olivia Morandin) as well as Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) in check. So it’s possible that he’s now on equal terms with Homelander (Antony Starr) and Soldier Boys (Jensen Ackles).
The big question, however, is: Will Butcher only fight against the evil
Supes fight around Homelander? Or will he turn against his own people? And what role does Homelander’s son Ryan, whom Butcher’s human side actually wants to protect, play?
The possibilities currently seem limitless: Butcher as the new final boss or as a hero who finally finds the good side but loses his powers and dies from his illness.
The only thing that is certain is that the fifth season of The Boys will have some explosive confrontations in store.
