Decoding the Ending of The Boys Season 4 Premiere: Unraveling Billy Butcher’s Inner Turmoil
Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for The Boys Season 4 currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
The fourth season of the satirical superhero television series The Boys premiered on Amazon Prime Video this weekend after a two-year-long wait. Amid several fan speculations regarding the series ending, showrunner Eric Kripke hinted at what is happening inside the head of Billy Butcher at the end of the latest season.
Based on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s comic book of the same name, The Boys revolves around the titular group of vigilantes as they clash against the Supes, those with superpowers who misuse them including the Seven led by Homelander and Vought’s premiere superhero team. Led by Mother’s Milk, the Boys comprises Butcher and Hughie Campbell, among other team members. Find out what is going on inside the Butcher’s head in the season 4 premiere, especially after the announcement that season 5 is going to be its finale.
Billy Butcher is terminally ill after consuming Compound V
In the third season of The Boys, Butcher and Hughie begin to consume a Compound V variant called V24 which allows them to have temporary superpowers that help protect themselves in ways like never before. However, Butcher ends up exceeding the recommended maximum dose and develops a brain tumor as a side effect.
However, that’s not all there is to excess Temp V’s side effects. In an interview with Variety, Kripke has hinted there’s yet to be revealed regarding its side effects on Butcher.
The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke hints there’s more to Temp V’s side effects
Regarding Butcher’s overdosing, Eric said, “We established at the end of Season 3 that the amount of Temp V he was shooting in his veins was going to kill him. And sure enough, it is.” While even the comic does not have any information regarding its side effects, as per Eric, there is something alive that appears to move inside Butcher which is beyond the doctor’s diagnosis.
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“But ultimately, V is a mysterious and insidious drug, and it does really screwed up things to you. And it’s just starting to hint that there’s more going on inside of Butcher than maybe the doctors have found,” he said.
The Boys animated spin-off series has clues to what might be inside Billy Butcher’s head
Premiered in March 2022, the animated anthology spin-off series The Boys Presents: Diabolical seems to have a clue about what Eric has hinted. The series features a woman named Sun-Hee who has pancreatic cancer and also consumes Compound V and develops temporary superpowers. But, as the compound affects her cancerous cells, and ends up developing a sentient tumor. Before Sun-Hee utilizes her talents to fight the tumor, it continues to grow and use its tentacles to bring havoc. To her, the tumor is a separate creature that eventually separates from her body.
However, Butcher and Sun-Hee’s tumors and the serums they utilize are completely different. But, there’s a slight possibility that the tentacle-like moving in Butcher’s temple may also get a living tumor with superpowers. Undoubtedly, there’s always a possibility that this sentient tumor would be in line with The Boys’ bizarre and unsettling creations, and it might not be able to break free from Butcher as easily as it did from Sun-Hee.
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