Season 4 of The Boys opens with Billy Butcher in one hell of a pickle: he’s dying. So, how long does he have left, what caused this, and is there a cure?
The Boys has never been a superhero show about happy endings and rosy outlooks, but it’s been particularly cruel to Butcher. He started the series seemingly hunting Supes out of necessity, but they’ve slowly taken everything from him and pushed him over the edge.
Now, Butcher’s more unhinged than ever. And rather than just run down the clock, Butcher is hellbent on taking every Supe down with him.
The Boys Season 4 finale had a twist in the tail, though, and Butcher’s imminent death might not be quite as close as we first thought.
What’s wrong with Billy Butcher?
In The Boys Season 4, Billy Butcher is dying from a massive brain tumor that is the result of using Temp-V.
The temporary version of Compound V was introduced in The Boys Season 3 as a means of levelling the playing field, giving Butcher and Hughie powers on par with Homelander and the other Supes, but only for 24 hours.
But, Temp-V is unstable, and there’s a reason Vought never put it into production. It’s incredibly rough on the body, with Butcher and Hughie both going through withdrawal symptoms after using it.
It’s said in Season 3 that three to five doses of Temp-V are fatal to the user. Sure enough, after six doses, Butcher is told he has brain tumors that will ultimately end his life.
In Season 4, we saw Butcher coughing, passing out, and to put it simply, losing his mind. In one of The Boys Season 4’s most shocking moments, in Episode 6, it was revealed that Joe Kessler is a figment of Butcher’s imagination.
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How long does he have to live?
Butcher had about six months to live at the start of Season 4.
When he first learns of the tumors in Season 3, he’s told he has 12-18 months to live. When Season 4 begins and Homelander learns of the tumor, he comments that Butcher has about six months to live.
But, that timeline may have changed now in light of The Boys Season 4 ending.
A curse and a cure
While there is no medical cure for Butcher, it seems the tentacled tumor has well and truly taken on a life of its own and may be the key to keeping him alive now.
There were plenty of fan theories out there calling this one, but it seems Butcher is a Supe after all. He appears to have the ability to unleash his monstrous extra limbs at will, and he put them to good use to kill Victoria Neuman in the finale.
It remains to be seen just how long Butcher can stave off his demise, but for now at least, it looks like the tumor is actually keeping him alive. He even looked full of life when he rocked up to ruin the party for Hughie and the gang – funny what a murder spree can do to a man, isn’t it?
For more from the show, check out our ranking of The Boys seasons or look ahead to The Boys Season 5. You can also find the best new movies on streaming and the best new shows on streaming this month.
