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The Boys season 4 finale, which premiered on July 18, 2024, on Amazon Prime Video, saw Butcher finally embrace his dark side as he let Kessler take over him following Ryan killing Mallory. The finale focused on him going to the titular group and disturbing their meeting with Victoria Neuman and finally revealing that he has powers of his own as well.
Using his powers, Butcher killed Victoria Neuman in The Boys season 4 finale and taking the supe-killing virus with him. While it isn't the first time Butcher has had powers in the show, permanently being a supe himself brings his character closer to what he's in the comics.
Butcher in the comics has super strength, thanks to Compound-V. While the show has strayed away from the source material, it points towards the character getting closer to what his intentions are like in the comics.
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Butcher's superpowers in The Boys comics explained
In The Boys comics written by Garth Ennis, Butcher received his superpowers when he took a shot of Compound-V to level the playground and destroy the supes. It also prompted him to give members of his team like MM, The Frenchman, The Female and Hughie Compound-V so that they could have powers.
While in the show Butcher has some more flashy powers, the comic version of the character has always had pretty standard ones, like having superhuman strength and durability. He would have even been more powerful had he received Compound-V as a kid, but as he received it in adulthood, it just makes him mildly stronger.
However, it was enough for him to bash Black Noir's skull when he finally exacted his revenge on him for what he did to Becca. He has also taken on other supes head-on in The Boys comic, but his show counterpart has been quite different in this regard.
How does Butcher get his powers in The Boys show?
Butcher first got his powers in The Boys show when he started taking Temp-V, a strain of Compound-V that gives powers for 24 hours. It took place in season 3 and gave him super strength that was almost comparable to Homelander's, but it also gave him laser eyes which he used while battling other supes.
However, using Temp-V came at a major disadvantage, as his health started ruining. By the end of season 3, he was only given a few months to live, and in season 4 he revealed that to cure himself, he took Compound-V, but it only made his sickness worse.
It got bad to the point where Butcher started hallucinating Becca and his late brother-in-arms Joe Kessler as well.
In season 4, while battling Ezekiel, Butcher blacked out and woke up to finding the supes remains all over the walls. By the finale, it was revealed that it was Kessler who controlled his powers and gave him tentacles that came out of his body.
With Butcher now hell-bent on wanting to commit the supe-genocide, we can expect season 5 to be interesting. However, until then, they can check out The Boys season 4 on Amazon Prime Video.
