The comic source material for The Boys has a gloomy ending, and the Amazon Prime program could adapt it now that Billy Butcher is using Compound V. Billy Butcher’s character has evolved dramatically over the series, with substantial adjustments in personal purpose and character motivation. Butcher’s goals, which were initially driven by the desire to exterminate the Seven and punish Homelander for allegedly murdering his wife Becca, have since become substantially more nuanced. Despite being emotionally devastated when Ryan mistakenly 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s Becca, Butcher decides to protect the child by entrusting him to Grace Mallory and the CIA.

Though possible, it will certainly be a challenge for The Boys to adapt the source material’s ending. Despite the TV version coming closer to his on-page persona by also injecting himself with Compound V, Billy Butcher in Amazon’s The Boys is significantly different from the sociopath that graced the original comic book’s pages. Even in The Boys season 3 when Homelander recruits Ryan to his cause, Butcher clearly hasn’t given up on doing right by Becca and still trying to protect Ryan. These developments do not occur in the source material, and Butcher’s trajectory in the comics is entirely driven by revenge and a misplaced sense of restoring order by murdering thousands of Supes — ending with Butcher being a sociopath no different from the villains. Even though it’s already deviated wildly from the source narrative, The Boys doesn’t need to abandon this comic book ending entirely.

Butcher’s Motivations In The Show Are Different (But Could Take A Similar Journey)

Despite the show’s characterization of Billy Butcher, his highly destructive endgame comic book arc is still possible in the series. In The Boys season 3, Butcher takes Compound V to prepare for conflict with Homelander, which eventually leads him down the path of teaming up with Soldier Boy. This partnership ends when Soldier Boy shows no qualms about harming Ryan to take out Homelander, making Homelander and Butcher temporarily team up to protect the innocent boy. This is a stark contrast to Butcher as written by Garth Ennis. There’s little doubt the Butcher of The Boys comic would have no qualms about letting a child Supe die — especially the son of Homelander.

In the comics, Butcher decides to target millions of Compound V carriers by going after their gene pool with chemical weapons. Butcher also commits the unforgivable act of murdering his allies, including Mother’s Milk, Frenchie, and the Female (Kimiko in the series). Hughie has to turn on Butcher to prevent the murder of millions of innocent people. Such an ending could be possible but may prove disastrous for The Boys, as Butcher’s actions in The Boys comic are not in sync with his actions in the show. That said, as The Boys is planned out for 5 seasons, there’s plenty of room for Butcher to transform, and the foundations for his dark turn are already there.

How The Boys Can End Like The Comics

Butcher and Hughie taking Compound V already lines up a more evenly matched future conflict, just like in the comics where Compound V gives them both super strength and durability. Though they have different powers in the show, Hughie’s teleportation and Butcher’s Homelander-like powers only translate to a more interesting fight. Moreover, unlike in the comics, Hughie and Butcher’s powers are courtesy of Temp V, which is also slowly 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing them. Thie doesn’t stop Butcher from taking it though, and he almost tricks Hughie into continuing too. After Ryan picked Homelander instead of Butcher, and with Compound V slowly 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing him anyway, there’s plenty of narrative scope for Butcher to unravel completely, becoming more like the utter psychopath he is in The Boys comics.

In The Boys show, Hughie may not have a genocide to prevent (yet), but Butcher may still go after Starlight, as he’s made it clear that he’s going “scorched Earth” with Supe-smashing. Meanwhile, Ryan can serve as the stand-in for Black Noir’s demented Homelander-𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing presence in the comics, especially since Ryan seems to be walking down an even darker path than Butcher. Furthermore, it also looks like The Boys is following the President Homelander story arc in the comics, albeit with a Trump-like twist on the trajectory, which is another thing that could set Butcher off. Indeed, The Boys ending with Butcher’s death due to becoming a villain himself — like in the comics — gets more and more feasible with each major development in the series adaptation. Notably, in the comics, it’s revealed that Butcher manipulated Hughie into 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing him so Butcher wouldn’t have to answer for his crimes. Despite how differently Butcher is depicted in the show, this does sound like something he would do in The Boys on Amazon Prime, showing that the two versions of Billy Butcher are more aligned than first appears.