With superhero culture taking over the world, The Boys effectively depicts an ideal spoof of the superhuman world, demonstrating a reality where superheroes are the absolute scum of the earth and work for their own selfish interests rather than everyone’s benefit. The first season was incredible, and the subsequent season proceeded with this pattern in reverberating style.
The Boys has been appreciated by fans all over the globe for its interesting setting, a memorable cast of characters, and spectacular action sequences. One of the most fan-favorite character from The Boys is Billy Butcher, played spectacularly by Karl Urban. Fans can hardly wait to perceive how his character advances after the occasions of Season 2. This character is so complex that there are still ten things about him that most people don’t know about.
1) He’s An Analogue Of The Punisher
Billy is a unique character and if you could not figure it out by now, his inspiration is actually from a character that is pretty popular and goes by the name The Punisher, which seems pretty obvious in hindsight as both of them have a very violent approach to their problems and stand for a rather warped stance on justice.
2) He Cusses Just As Much In The Comics, If Not More
One thing that is common between Billy’s character in the comics, the books, and on the TV is the fact that he cusses way too much. This is probably the only thing that the TV and comic version of Butcher have in common.
3) He Injected Himself With Compound V In The Comics
In both the comics and the Boys TV show, Compound V is utilized to transform normal people into superheroes, conflicting the idea that superheroes are naturally born.
However, in the comics, we see something that fans would love to see in the TV version. The Boys injected themselves with Compound V to stand on equal ground against The Seven. This would make the TV version entertaining, but chances are that such an event won’t come to pass.
4) His Hate Of Superheroes Is Quite Extreme In The Comics
Butcher definitely hates Supes in the TV show and in the comic books as well. But in the TV version, he decides to take care of Ryan (if the finale of Season 2 is to be believed) which makes him quite opposite of what he is in the comics.
Butcher is an outright insane person in the comics, venturing to such an extreme as to finishing the whole Seven and afterward gradually murdering off all the individuals with even a trace of Compound V in their veins which is something that the remainder of The Boys naturally can’t help contradicting.
5) Both Karl Urban And Antony Starr (Homelander) Are From New Zealand
Karl Urban pulled off a convincing English accent, which makes it hard to believe that he actually hails from New Zealand. In fact, he shares his home country with another member of the cast — Antony Starr, the actor who plays as the Homelander.
6) His Angry, Self-Destructive Personality Is Due To His Broken Childhood
Butcher did not exactly have the best childhood. In fact, he had a horrible one, with his father abusing him and his younger brother to the point where his brother even took his own life. This traumatizing childhood has led to his angry, self-destructive personality.
He went off the rails at times, to the point where the people around him end up questioning his motives, sanity, and everything else along the same lines.
7) He May Be Suffering From A Borderline Personality Disorder
A number of times we could see the swift shift in his personality i.e. either taking rageful rash decisions or having sudden changes of heart. It’s easy to see why this might be the case, we’ve already discussed his rough upbringing, but then there’s also the horrible thing that happened to his wife as well.
8) Hughie Is Just Like His Deceased Younger Brother
One interesting fact about Hughie was revealed in Season 2 was that he looks and acts just like his younger brother, which was mentioned by Billy’s aunt.
This explains why Butcher is so protective of Hughie, and the clear anguish present on his face when Hughie comes out with a nigh-fatal move after an encounter with a test patient for Compound V makes this brotherly affection all the more apparent.
9) There’s Some Easy-To-Miss Symbolism When He Meets Hughie For The First Time
One thing that many viewers failed to notice in the first episode was the seemingly innocuous footage that plays in the background when Butcher meets Hughie for the first time, this was cleverly added by the director of the show. When Billy introduces himself, footage of a growling lion can be seen in the background. The fact that the lion is a dominating animal that forces his will onto others and stalks his prey in a vicious manner is somewhat similar to Billy’s personality.
Another interesting thing to take into account is the fact that the lion is the national animal of Britain, subtly hinting towards Butcher’s nationality as well.
10) He Used To Serve In The S.A.S. Special Forces
It appears to be that there is a clarification for why Billy is such a proficient warrior and marksman — he’s a former member of the S.A.S. Special Forces in the British Army.
This serves as a sufficient explanation for these skills, which are certainly required when tackling people as powerful as The Seven and Vought.
Source: ScreenRant
