Karl Urban pouring booze a cup in The Boys season 4
The Boys creator Eric Kripke clarifies the cause of Butcher’s (Karl Urban) hallucinations in season 4. After three popular seasons, the hit Prime Video series returned for a fourth outing last month, continuing Butcher’s violent quest for vengeance against Homelander (Antony Starr) and Vought. A major plot point in The Boys season 4 is Butcher’s hallucinations following his brain tumor diagnosis, and episode 6 features the big reveal that Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has been a figment of his imagination throughout the season, just as Becca (Shantel VanSanten) has been.

In a recent interview with TV Insider, Kripke clears up questions about Butcher’s hallucinations in The Boys season 4, namely whether they’re a result of his brain tumor or of the Compound-V he injected in an attempt to cure himself. According to the creator, Kessler and Becca’s appearances are purely due to Butcher’s cancer. Check out Kripke’s comment below:

How Will Butcher’s Hallucinations Affect The Rest Of The Boys Season 4?

Butcher Is Torn Between Two Paths

Butcher (Karl Urban) watches Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) talk to Becca (Shantel VanSanten) in The Boys season 4

In The Boys season 4, episode 6, it’s made clear that Kessler and Becca represent different sides of Butcher. While Kessler is ruthless and willing to unleash a virus that kills thousands of supes all across the globe, Becca is more compassionate and reasonable, suggesting that killing Homelander isn’t worth the genocide it would cause. This inner struggle has really been a core part of Butcher’s character throughout the show thus far, though he does continually defer to his darker instincts.

Now that Butcher knows Kessler is just a figment of his imagination, it’s possible that he will push back against him more. That being said, The Boys is setting Homelander up to become an even darker figure after the reveal in episode 6 that he, Sister Sage (Sarah Heyward), and Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) plan to assassinate President Bob Singer (Jim Beaver). It’s entirely possible that, to Butcher, supe genocide will begin to look like a more attractive option if Homelander and his companions essentially take over at the highest levels of government.

If Butcher does die from his cancer, it likely won’t happen until The Boys season 5, which is confirmed to be the show’s last, but there’s still room for him to deteriorate further in season 4. As Butcher becomes physically weaker and more ill, Becca and Kessler could appear to him more often and further affect how to appears to those around him. It’s unclear how Butcher’s story on The Boys will wrap up, but it certainly seems like things will get worse for him before they get better.

New episodes of The Boys season 4 release on Thursdays on Prime Video.