By the time season 4 of The Boys ends, Billy Butcher’s all-consuming hatred of Supes has manifested itself physically. His cancerous brain tumor is a metaphor for his rage, and that tumor now has superpowers. Ironically, the thing that’s killing him is also making him stronger.
The manifestation of Butcher’s rage
The one desire that’s been Butcher’s fuel since before the series began was getting revenge. After Homelander’s rapes his wife Becca, setting off a chain of events that ultimately leads to her death, Butcher dedicates his life to burning Vought to the ground.
To say that Butcher’s obsession is destroying him is an understatement. The TV series decides to take it up a notch by saying “let’s turn his obsession into a sentient brain tumor that gives him tentacles and manifests as a hallucination encouraging him to commit genocide.” Because subtlety has never been this show’s strong suit.
Creator Eric Kripke confirmed that the cancer and Butcher’s dark side have “metastasized into the same thing.” His hate and anger have “fed this side of him.” The tumor isn’t a consequence of his vendetta. It is the vendetta. What makes it worse is that cancer has been enhanced by Compound V. His body is literally producing the thing he despises most.
Joe Kessler is Butcher’s personal devil
Joe Kessler shows up in season 4 as a manifestation of Butcher’s darker impulses, brought about by his V-enhanced brain tumor. He’s not a ghost or a symptom of PTSD. He’s cancer with a personality, whispering genocide into Butcher’s ear while Becca’s memory begs him to resist.
Kripke frames this as the Duality that exists inside Butcher. Becca represents his compassion, while Kessler represents the monster lurking beneath. Every time Butcher prioritizes revenge over doing the right thing, he’s feeding the tumor. He’s choosing his vendetta over preserving what’s left of his humanity.
You either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain
The tragedy of Butcher’s arc has always been that fighting monsters turns you into one. Season 4 takes that idea and runs with it. His obsession with destroying Supes is described as “a kind of sickness,” but it’s not metaphorical. Thanks to the Compound V he took in an attempt to cure the tumor, the substance gave him superpowers.
He’s actually stronger now than he was when he took Temp V, with superhuman strength, near-invulnerability, tentacles that come out of his chest and a regenerative healing factor. Now he has the means to pursue his plan to kill every Supe on earth…including himself.
Butcher’s hatred has gotten so extreme that he no longer cares if he lives or dies, as long as they all go down with him. He’s become the thing he hates, and he’s fine with it. As long as he can take Homelander down with him.
What will The Boys do with Butcher?
The show has backed itself into a corner with Butcher, and it knows it. There’s no redemption arc that makes sense here. No last-minute heel realization that gives Butcher a chance to make amends.
But at the same time, Butcher is still an important character and probably the only person strong enough to defeat Homelander. Even if the Boys succeed in killing Homelander and preventing a Supe genocide, what are they going to do with their former teammate? What’s stopping Butcher from becoming an even bigger menace to society thanks to Kessler’s influence?
That’s the thing about obsession. Eventually, it kills you. The only question is how many people you take down with you.
