The Boys’ bombshell twist explained by star Jeffrey Dean Morgan and creator Erik Kripke: ‘We didn’t want to save it for the end’
The Boys star Jeffrey Dean Morgan and series creator Erik Kripke opened up about the surprising twist revealed in episode 6 of season four.
The latest episode of the Prime superhero series revealed the true nature of the relationship between Morgan’s character Joe Kessler and Karl Urban’s character Butcher: [SPOILER ALERT] Kessler is long dead and the character seen on screen is one of Butcher’s hallucinations.
It turns out that Butcher didn’t save Kessler during their service in Afghanistan. Instead, he let him die. Now Kessler exists only as a delusion, a symptom of Butcher’s Temp V-induced brain tumor.
“We were always going to reveal it in Episode 6, but we didn’t want to save it for the end of the movie,” Kripke said. Variety on Friday.
‘Because now Kessler has this new role of literally being the devil on his shoulder, and really twisting the knife and saying really cruel things to Butcher that all happen to be true — which is always great when your villain can be a real truth-teller.’
The latest offering from the Prime superhero show revealed the true nature of the relationship between Morgan’s character Joe Kessler and Karl Urban’s character Butcher
Kripke also elaborated on his efforts to ensure his big reveal stood out from previous twists involving imaginary characters.
The episode six revelation comes during a fight between Butcher and Kessler over the ethical dilemma surrounding releasing a virus into the air.
As Butcher hesitates, influenced by the hallucination of his dead wife Becca, Kessler attacks the imaginary Becca, revealing that he too is an imaginary figure.
“I think every time someone turns out to be imaginary, the first draft is always like another character coming into the room and asking, ‘Who are you talking to?’” Kripke said.
‘I’m sure this was our first draft when it was first on the board. Hughie comes in and says, “Who are you talking to?” But we said, “Well, everyone’s done that, so can we do something else?”
“And Becca is this imaginary character. So what if the two imaginary characters just start yelling at each other? And that would be a new way to do that kind of revelation.”
Morgan, on the other hand, spoke about his experiences with Urban and expressed how much he enjoyed the chemistry between them on screen.
‘[Urban] and I were so in tune with each other, it didn’t matter who or what else was going on in the scene,” he told the outlet.
“We were always going to reveal it in Episode 6, but we didn’t want to save it for the end of the movie,” Eric Kripke told Variety (pictured June 4 in New York).
It turned out that Butcher had not saved Kessler during their service in Afghanistan, but instead had left him to die
Kripke also elaborated on his efforts to ensure his big reveal stood out from previous twists involving imaginary characters
The Amazon Prime Video series The Boys will end after its fifth season, the showrunner announced Tuesday; still from The Boys
“We had so much fun. There are very few moments when you walk onto a set and you immediately bond with someone.
‘In romance he’s supposed to be your soulmate, and Karl was like my f****** soulmate.
“And we knew right away that we had something really fun and special here and that we just had to have fun, play and enjoy it.”
With just two episodes left in season 4 of The Boys, fans have plenty to look forward to. A fifth and final season has already been confirmed, and spin-off series Gen V is also returning for a second season.