The Boys: Who is Joe Kessler? Butcher’s Alter Ego Explained?
Presented in the premiere episode of The Boys Season 4, Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) meets Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) in the CIA offices. The two share a military past, but Butcher even saved Kessler’s life on a failed mission during the war. However, this backstory did not happen as the premiere suggests. Kessler appears throughout the series as an apologist for violence who encourages Butcher’s worst excesses to continue his quest for revenge against Homelander (Antony Starr), even if it means sacrificing his humanity.
During their first meeting, Kessler tells Butcher that the world needs someone like him: a man with balls, willing to do whatever it takes. He even pressures him to kidnap Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), even against the will of the child. For Kessler, The Boys team is “a fucking joke” and celebrates Sameer’s amputation (Omid Abtahi) in episode 5. Kessler appeals to Butcher’s most sadistic tendencies, but it’s not exactly what it seems.
The Boys: Who is Joe Kessler? Is Joe Kessler a Butcher Hallucination?
Episode 6 of Season 4 of The Boys confirms that Joe Kessler is a vision of Butcher, representing his internal conflict. Becca (Shantel VanSanten) is a manifestation of Butcher’s broken psyche. But if Becca pushes him toward compassion and seeks his humanity, Kessler symbolizes his darker side, expressing all the things Butcher feels deep within. Butcher’s regrets also play a big role in his hallucinations: Becca and Kessler are representations of his guilt. Becca serves as a reminder that she was wrong about Ryan, and she is the part of her brain that wants to fix her relationship with the boy; Kessler talks about Butcher’s guilt on a general level, not only because of the way he lost his friend but also about his failures in The Boys‘ fight against Vought.
Joe Kessler doesn’t exist, but he was a person close to Butcher. They were friends during the war, but Butcher never saved him. The story that Kessler tells in The Boys Season 4 Episode 1 is self-deception, something Butcher wishes had happened. The ending of episode 6 reveals that Kessler never left the Panjshir Valley. “You never took me out. You let me die”. Butcher doesn’t remember the fact that the brain tumor caused by Compound V is altering his mind. Becca and Joe Kessler are two influential figures in his life, and both represent very different parts of his personality. If Becca is your motivation and awareness throughout The Boys, Kessler symbolizes Butcher’s guilt. His friend’s death is likely to be a heavy psychological burden, so it makes sense that he would be the face of the darkest emotions in his mind: Joe Kessler is his own Tyler Durden.
Kessler never interacts with any character other than Butcher. It appears mainly when Butcher is alone. During conversations with Sameer, the scientist never looks or responds. Butcher is the only other person in the room.
“We were always going to reveal it in episode 6; we would rather not save it for the season 4 finale,” the showrunner of The Boys, Eric Kripke, said. “Because now Kessler has this new role of literally being the devil on his shoulder, and he’s twisting the knife and saying really cruel things to Butcher that turn out to be true, which is always great when your villain can be a real truth.”
“I think every time someone turns out to be imaginary, the first draft is always like another character walking into the room and saying, ‘Who are you talking to?'” Kripke explained. “So I’m sure that was our first draft when I was originally at the table; Hughie comes in and says, ‘Who are you talking to?’ But we said: ‘Well, everyone has done that; can we do it?’ Something different?’ And Becca is this imaginary character. And what happens if the two imaginary characters start yelling at each other? And that would be a new way to make that kind of revelation.”
The Boys: What Kessler’s Turn Means for the Future of the Series?
In addition to revealing the truth about Joe Kessler, episode 6 of The Boys Season 4 alludes to the death of Ezekiel (Shaun Benson) in episode 4. Butcher passes out while Ezekiel strangles him; when he wakes up, the Supe’s blood and body parts are scattered throughout the Firecracker trailer (Valorie Curry).
Kessler tells Butcher, “I killed Ezekiel for you”, and states that he is “inside” Butcher, suggesting that Butcher is a Supe and that his powers are connected to the part of his brain that sees Kessler. Maybe you can only access them when you accept your darker side.
Kessler’s turn in The Boys Season 4 will have a significant impact on the series finale. Butcher believes he is going to die from the brain tumor caused by Compound V, but his dark side is likely still keeping him alive.
If Kessler is connected to Butcher’s superpower, The Boys, he could be preparing the character for a comic book-like ending: Butcher becomes a villain in the source material, causing a genocide through a biological weapon. The series brings him closer to this epilogue, with Kessler orgasming at the thought of wearing the Godolkin Virus to eradicate all Supes from the planet.
