This ‘Gen V’ Billy Butcher Reference Suggests a Grim Future for ‘The Boys’

The ‘Gen V’ storyline may focus a lot on the storyline of the new characters introduced in this series, but we did see a few cameos from characters from ‘The Boys.’ Grace Mallory, who works alongside Billy Butcher in ‘The Boys,’ made reference to Butcher in her conversation with Dean Indira Shetty as she suggested that she shouldn’t allow her quest for vengeance to consume her because that was what happened to “a man who works for her.” So, what could this statement mean for Butcher in ‘The Boys?’

Shetty shared Butcher’s obsession with vengeance

If there’s one thing that we know about Billy Butcher in ‘The Boys,’ it’s that his sole purpose for trying to kill Homelander is to avenge what happened to his wife in the past when he thought that the powerful supe raped and killed her. While that wasn’t exactly true because Butcher’s wife was still alive, she still eventually died due to Homelander’s actions. This gave Butcher even more reason to kill Homelander as he went as far as taking Compound V to obtain superpowers that allowed him to fight Homelander on par.

The storyline of the universe of ‘The Boys’ continued in the events of ‘Gen V,’ which follows a new cast of characters with their own stories. While Butcher and the other characters from ‘The Boys’ aren’t part of this storyline, we did see a cameo appearance from Grace Mallory in episode 7 of ‘Gen V’ as she met up with Dean Indira Shetty, who wanted to work alongside her.

In this scene, Shetty told Mallory that she and her people over at the Woods were able to develop a virus that could kill supes. She wanted to perfect the virus so that it would become more contagious, allowing her to kill Homelander and all of the other supes worldwide. Mallory disagreed with her plan because this was genocide and a war crime.

Of course, the reason why Shetty wanted to kill Homelander was the fact that he was the one who brought down Transoceanic Flight 37 in secret. This flight carried Shetty’s family. But because she found out that Homelander brought the plane down, she now wanted to kill the powerful supe and take down all of the world’s supes because she thought they all had the same depraved mindsets that made them feel like they were superior to humans.

Mallory knew that Shetty was doing this for vengeance, and that was when she made reference to none other than Billy Butcher by saying:

“A man who works for me, one of your fellow countrymen, although I doubt you travel in the same circles, has this same rage. It’s so consumed him that there’s nothing left. Trust me, you don’t want to go down that path.”

Even though Mallory helped Butcher find a way to combat corrupt supes, the fact is that she still understood that Butcher was doing this for all of the wrong reasons and had become so consumed by his need to take revenge that there was no longer anything left of him. In short, she was using Butcher as a warning to Shetty as she didn’t want her to go down the same path that Butcher went down.

Shetty’s death could be an omen for Butcher

Of course, at the end of episode 7 of ‘Gen V,’ we saw that Shetty’s vengeance became Cate Dunlap’s tool to kill her. Shetty was so consumed by her need to take revenge on Homelander that she was willing to take all of the supes down, and that didn’t sit well with Cate. As such, Cate had no choice but to use her power to manipulate Shetty into killing herself.

We know that Billy Butcher is still very much alive in ‘The Boys’ even though he was on the verge of death after overdosing himself with a temporary version of Compound V. But Mallory’s statement regarding Butcher’s need for revenge could be grim for the character’s future.

In the comics, Billy Butcher successfully killed all of the supes responsible for raping his wife. However, he didn’t find satisfaction in achieving his goal, so he decided to use a chemical weapon that could kill everyone who had Compound V in their blood. He wanted to rid the world of supes, regardless of whether they were innocent.

Consumed by his vengeance, Butcher killed all of the members of the Boys, except for Hughie, who fought Butcher to the death. Hughie successfully killed Butcher, who smiled while dying, as his death allowed him to feel the satisfaction he sought.

So, based on what Mallory said about Butcher, there’s a strong chance that he would also go down the darkest path possible to achieve his goal of killing not only Homelander but all of the supes in the world. We know that Victoria Neuman now has the virus that Cardosa developed, and there’s a good chance that this virus would have a huge part to play in the future of ‘The Boys.’

If that’s the case, there’s a possibility that Butcher’s need for vengeance would force him down the road of no return, especially because vengeance is almost always a one-way street. If that happens, Butcher will likely share the same fate as Shetty in the sense that he would eventually die trying to kill all of the supes in the world.

Got something more to add? Let us know in the comments.