‘The Boys’: Billy Butcher Is Not Australian; Here’s Why He Has the Accent

Arguably the most compelling character in the storyline of ‘The Boys’ is Billy Butcher, who is the main character of the series and is a man trying to find a way to kill a godlike being in the form of Homelander, who is the strongest supe in the entire world. Of course, Butcher is also very entertaining because he says some of the most outrageous things with an accent that fits his character incredibly well. But fans often mistake his accent for Australian even though he isn’t. So, why does Billy Butcher sound Australian?

Billy Butcher is actually British

There is no doubt that Billy Butcher of ‘The Boys’ has become one of the most popular fictional characters on television as fans love his role in a storyline where he is looking to kill a deranged supe who happens to be the strongest creature on the entire planet. But while his storyline is very intriguing and compelling, how he talks attracts the attention of many different fans.

But while American and probably Asian fans of ‘The Boys’ don’t mind Billy Butcher’s accent, the thing is that those who hail from the UK and even from Australia tend to notice that his accent can be quite different from what they are used to. Those from the UK believe that Butcher is Australian, whereas those from Australia would think he is trying to mash up different accents.

However, it is important to note that Billy Butcher was born and raised in the United Kingdom in both the comics and the live-action adaptation. He was the first child of British parents and was raised by an abusive father. This dysfunctional relationship led him to join the British Royal Marines and later the SAS, as he inherited his father’s penchant for being violent.

Shortly after his younger brother killed himself, Billy left the United Kingdom to go live in the United States, where he eventually fell in love with his wife. And it was during his time in the US that he got himself entangled with the affairs of the supes.

Of course, because he lives in the US, Butcher’s accent stands out, especially because he often speaks to Americans. And it seems that Butcher doesn’t have the conventional British accent, as he sounds like he has a cockney accent.

It makes sense for Butcher to have a cockney accent because those who are often in the lower and lower-middle classes of the UK tend to adopt cockney. After all, he didn’t grow up in a wealthy and happy family. And because he didn’t get to live an affluent life when he was still young, he was exposed to the lower and lower-middle class, who themselves have the same cockney accent that he has.

Nevertheless, those who watch the UK show actually thought he was meant to be Australian as he doesn’t sound like he has the conventional British-cockney way of speaking. And this is why some actually thought that he was Australian even though he was always supposed to be British.

Karl Urban is Kiwi

Of course, as mentioned, fans of ‘The Boys’ in the UK thought that Billy Butcher comes from Australia despite being born and raised in the UK in both the comics and the TV series. That’s because his accent isn’t what you usually hear in any part of the UK.

This can be quite forgivable because the actor playing Billy Butcher, Karl Urban, hails from New Zealand. Because New Zealanders and Kiwis are closely related to their counterparts in Australia regarding their history and geographical locations, it is understandable why some people would think that New Zealanders and Australians sound the same.

Then again, we know that Karl Urban knows that his character is supposed to be British even though he himself is from New Zealand. Urban is a good actor and can speak in a British accent. We’ve seen that in his role as Éomer in ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ where most characters speak using British accents. His British accent in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ was also spot-on.

But the difference here is that Billy Butcher wasn’t supposed to have the conventional British accent. Instead, he was supposed to have a British cockney accent that can be quite challenging for some people. That’s why fans have started calling his accent cockwi (a mashup of cockney and Kiwi) as his natural New Zealand accent tends to come out.

Still, fans must also consider that ‘The Boys’ was always supposed to be a parody. We’ve seen a lot of different parodies of superheroes from Marvel and DC having their own mashed-up versions in ‘The Boys.’ As such, the popular theory is that the showrunners actually told Urban to use his cockwi accent to add more parody elements to the storyline.

This means that Billy Butcher’s accent is also a creative choice for the showrunners as it adds more depth to Butcher’s nature as a character in a parody series. Karl Urban is far too talented to mess up a British cockney accent, and that’s why there’s a good chance that he mashed up cockney with his natural accent to give Butcher a unique appeal that we won’t be able to find in any other character in the world of fiction.

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