Why does Billy Butcher hate Homelander in The Boys? Details explored

Amazon Prime Video brought us back to the world of The Boys last week when the show premiered its season 4 on June 13, 2024. Focusing on the titular group as they make another effort to defeat The Seven, the fourth season sees a dying Butcher go after Homelander for one final time in the name of vengeance and save his late wife's son Ryan from his grasp.

The rivalry between Homelander and Billy Butcher in The Boys has been a defining part of both - the show and the comics. In both the mediums, Butcher goes after Homelander for him allegedly murdering his wife, and it sets the anti-hero down a path of vengeance with every subsequent encounter with the supe fuelling his hate even more.

Note: There are some triggering references in this article. Reader discretion is advised.

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Butcher thinks Homelander is responsible for the disappearance of his wife in The Boys

Billy Butcher, played by Karl Urban in the Prime Video series The Boys, is the leader of the titular vigilante group. Carrying a deep hatred for the supes that inhabit the world, Butcher constantly does his best to get rid of them. However, his hatred of them is born out of the hatred that he carries for Homelander.

In the show, Butcher believes that Homelander is responsible for the disappearance of his wife as he se*ually assaulted her and also allegedly killed her. However, it was later revealed that after Homelander se*ually assaulted Becca, she got pregnant with his kid, Ryan, and was put into a witness protection program by Vought.

At the end of season 1, Homelander makes Butcher meet Becca, and he is shocked to find that she has been alive all these years and also has a son. However, during a confrontation at the end of season 2 between Homelander, Ryan, and Butcher, Becca ends up dying and makes Butcher promise her that he will take care of Ryan no matter what.

With Ryan then choosing to side with Homelander in season 3 as the supe manipulates the kid into joining him, Butcher's hatred for the leader of The Seven only grows more. In season 4, Butcher only has a few months to live given his abuse of Temp V prior, and the fans can expect to see him go to extreme lengths just to save Ryan.

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Why does Butcher hate Homelander in the comics?

In The Boys comic book series, Butcher's hate for Homelander stems from the same reason, but things play out quite differently. When vacationing in Florida with his wife Becky, they meet The Seven who were just nearby defeating a monster. The same night, Becky comes to her and Butcher's room upset which leads him to think that something might have gone wrong.

3 months later, Becky dies when a fetus that was growing inside her stomach shoots lasers out of its eyes, killing her. Butcher kills the fetus and then is soon informed by Grace Mallory that it was Homelander who se*ually assaulted his wife and was also the father of the fetus that was growing inside of her. This leads Butcher down a path of revenge with him eventually wanting to eradicate every supe in the world.

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With The Boys now airing its penultimate season, the beginning of the end has surely begun, and it's only a while before we get to see the final battle between Butcher and Homelander come into play. You can check out The Boys season 4 on Prime Video as a new episode drops every Thursday.