Season 5 of The Boys might as well be a no-holds-barred gore fest, given that the gloves are off after four seasons of calculated build-up. Now, Homelander has complete control of the United States of America, and The Boys have been captured by the devious supe. Only Annie and Butcher remain at large, with at least one of them plotting to spring her allies from Homenlander’s clutches.
While Annie January might be on her way to free her allies to take the fight to Homlander, Billy Butcher is charting out his course to fight and kill the Supe. Butcher currently has the Supe Virus, which he intends to pop Homelander off with. After witnessing Ryan kill Mallory, Butcher doesn’t believe that there can be an innocent Supe, and does not care about initiating a mass genocide in a bid to kill the man who wronged him.
Billy Butcher might be a victim of the very virus that he is carrying to kill Homelander
A theory on Reddit has been circulating about how Butcher is going to meet his end in The Boys, as it is all but officially confirmed that the character is going to kick it. While some speculate that he is going to go out swinging, a majority of the fandom is convinced that the character’s death is going to echo what has happened in the comics.
This would indicate that the character would find himself killed at the hands of Hughie if not one of his other allies. However, the nature of the specifics, the theory suggests, is going to be much more cathartic, playing into Hughie’s innocence, and showing how far gone off Butcher actually could be.
In the comics, Hughie killed Butcher in the end, to end his genocidal spree of killing Supes. Hughie is the sole survivor of the team, with Annie completely retiring from superheroing to live with Hughie.
As the theory suggests, Hughie could make a last-ditch effort to Butcher by curing his ailment, only to realize that the monster was Butcher all along, and not the virus in his head. This might prompt Hughie to execute Butcher, as he would show no signs of reigning himself in after Homelander is dead.
It would be quite the twist if Butcher survives in Season 5
Of all the things that are being speculated about The Boys, fans are certain about one thing: there is no way Karl Urban‘s Billy Butcher lives to see a happy ending of any kind. With Becca dead, his faith in Ryan utterly shattered, and his time limited thanks to his tumor, it all be expected that Billy Butcher is going all out against Homelander, to avenge his wife and rid the world of the superhero menace.
It is expected that Homlander, The Boys, or his cancer is going to kill him by the time the show ends. However, should Butcher survive the finale of the show (in stark contrast with the comic), the choice would be one of the greatest subversions in recent memory, one that might not receive the kind of backlash that a certain other show did for ‘subverting expectation’.
All episodes of The Boys Season 4 are streaming on Prime Video
