It wouldn’t be The Boys if the show didn’t end its fourth and penultimate season in diabolically evil and explosive fashion. In doing so, the show set things up perfectly for its final season while introducing a potential new villain that could rank among its best as the story ends.

By the end of the season, several characters emerged as potentially more lethal than Homelander (Antony Starr), powerful in ways that both oppose and complement him. But the most exciting new villain is, ironically, the man who was deemed a vigilante hero through the first part of the series.

Billy Butcher Is on Track to Be The Boys’ Biggest Villain

Throughout the season, Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) fought the ill effects of taking Temp V24. From intense coughing to passing out and even hallucinating, he looked worse for wear through much of the show. He was seemingly not long for the world, set to perish within six months. He spent his time trying to find a way to leave behind a positive legacy and do right by Becca (Shantel VanSanten) by ensuring that Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) was taken care of before he was gone.

He fought his own internal demons, which manifested as the hallucination of his old war buddy Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), who kept telling him that he needed to take down Homelander as a priority. In fact, Kessler wanted Butcher to take down all Supes before it was too late, including Ryan, if he didn’t agree to help.

Despite several efforts to do just that, however, Butcher couldn’t focus his energy on anything but trying to get through to Ryan. That all culminated in one final moment when, out of options, he joined forces with Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) to try and convince Ryan to help them take down his father.

It didn’t go well and resulted in an angry and upset Ryan murdering Grace in front of Butcher. This was the last straw, and a shift in Butcher occurred. When he re-emerged, seemingly fit as a fiddle, he revealed in the most shocking way that he had taken Compound V, presumably to save his life, and turned into a Supe himself. With terrifying snake-like creatures emerging from his chest like octopus tentacles, he shocked The Boys when he murdered Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), who had, at the time, pledged her allegiance to them. She was fed up and wanted to switch sides and go on the run with her daughter.

Butcher’s snide smile when he was done with the murderous act was followed by the comment, “You’re all f**king welcome.” It proved he felt no remorse for what he had done in front of Victoria’s daughter, no less. It’s like Kessler has become Butcher’s Venom with full reign over his body and mind. Becca is long in the rearview mirror, as is any sympathy Butcher might have held for Ryan. Now, he’s out for blood.

While Butcher is still on the vigilante side, wanting justice for those who were wronged by Supes and Vought, he is clearly no longer part of The Boys. He’s doing his own thing, and he isn’t going to stop and listen to anything they have to say anymore. In this instance, Butcher could potentially be willing to take down his own friends alongside his enemies. Both Annie (Erin Moriarty) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) are Supes. If he has a death wish that includes sacrificing himself for the cause, he would also be sacrificing those close to him.

This makes Butcher one of the biggest villains in the show. He feels he has nothing to lose anymore, joining the very Supes he has loathed his entire life and spent the last several years trying to decimate. Anyone or anything that gets in his path of destruction is fair game, making Butcher as brutal and cruel as Homelander, if not more so. However, Butcher isn’t the only villain introduced or reinforced in the final episode of this season.

Sister Sage Is Playing With Power

While Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) was fired from The Seven, she returned to reveal to Homelander that everything she had planned had worked out exactly as she wanted. If he had just hung on a little longer, he would have seen that. She hands him the phone where Senator (now President) Calhoun (David Andrews) is calling to speak with him. President Calhoun is giving Homelander new power over the Supes with a directive that aligns exactly with what Homelander wanted. What’s more dangerous about Sister Sage is that she doesn’t have an agenda beyond seeing if she can pull off these plans. It’s fun and games for her, as she reveals to Homelander: she just wanted to know she could pull it off.

Having proven her worth to Homelander, he’d be unwise not to follow Sister Sage from now on. It’s believable that someone more intelligent than any other being who yearns to be challenged would jump at the chance to try and achieve the seemingly impossible as nothing more than the ultimate test of her intellect. However, she might have ulterior motives and is playing an extra-long game. Either way, she’s a force to be reckoned with.

Godolkin University Classes Are in Session

Cate (Maddie Phillips) and Sam (Asa Germann), the new leaders of Godolkin University School of Crimefighting who were featured in the spin-off series Gen V, could also crossover to become villains in this series. Both are seen in the final moments of the episode when Homelander’s plan to round up Starlight supporters and get them off the streets starts to come into play. They capture Frenchie (Tomer Capone) and Kimiko just as they are about to escape with fake passports. As Sam holds back Kimiko using seemingly very little effort, proving his tremendous strength, Cate whispers something in Frenchie’s ear, and he dutifully follows her.

It’s clear she has ordered Frenchie to do something, and given her powers of persuasion and mind control, he won’t have any capacity to resist. Thus, Frenchie could become an unintentional villain in Season 5. The scene also presents the opportunity for both characters to appear in the second season of Gen V, which has begun filming and will take place following the events of Season 4 of The Boys.

Ryan Is Becoming His Father’s Son

Let’s not forget about Ryan. He’s showing a subtle but slow decline. While bits of his old self remain, including his affinity for Butcher and standing out against song lyrics he didn’t agree with, he’s also starting to enjoy his power. In the scene when Homelander allows Ryan to order a staffer to slap around the director, for example, Ryan begins to have fun with the cruelty he has inflicted on another human being.

The more powerful he feels, the more like Homelander Ryan is becoming. Seeing what he did to the woman he calls Aunt Grace was devastating. It was a turning point that showed Ryan’s refusal to believe anything horrible about his father. With a heightened level of aggression, anger towards Butcher, and abilities he hasn’t even fully realized yet, Ryan wields tremendous power.

Soldier Boy Appears to Be Back in The Boys

The final post-credits scene reveals that Soldier Boy is still alive, asleep in a chamber to control his powers. The look on Homelander’s face when Calhoun reveals this to Homelander suggests that he is overjoyed. To him, he now has a full family, with both his father and his son. Will Homelander awaken Soldier Boy, and if so, what will the repercussions of that be? Soldier Boy seemingly holds no allegiance to Homelander or Ryan. He brings with him a path of destruction everywhere he goes. He’s also seemingly more powerful than both of them.

With regular superpowers like strength and durability, Soldier Boy is immune to most toxic substances, including Halothane gas, which is known to harm other Supes and Novichok. Considering he has lived since 1919 and hasn’t aged, he’s clearly impossible to kill.

But what’s most dangerous about Soldier Boy is that, because of years of exposure to radiation, he can generate radioactive beams of energy that can burn Compound V from someone’s bloodstream, effectively removing their powers and turning them back into normal humans. It happened with Kimiko and presumably Queen Maeve as well. Soldier Boy is the most powerful, most dangerous Supe. If released, he could prove to be a lethal villain for whomever he sets his sights on.

But what’s most dangerous about Soldier Boy is that, because of years of exposure to radiation, he can generate radioactive beams of energy that can burn Compound V from someone’s bloodstream, effectively removing their powers and turning them back into normal humans. It happened with Kimiko and presumably Queen Maeve as well. Soldier Boy is the most powerful, most dangerous Supe. If released, he could prove to be a lethal villain for whomever he sets his sights on.

The more powerful he feels, the more like Homelander Ryan is becoming. Seeing what he did to the woman he calls Aunt Grace was devastating. It was a turning point that showed Ryan’s refusal to believe anything horrible about his father. With a heightened level of aggression, anger towards Butcher, and abilities he hasn’t even fully realized yet, Ryan wields tremendous power.

Butcher’s snide smile when he was done with the murderous act was followed by the comment, “You’re all f**king welcome.” It proved he felt no remorse for what he had done in front of Victoria’s daughter, no less. It’s like Kessler has become Butcher’s Venom with full reign over his body and mind. Becca is long in the rearview mirror, as is any sympathy Butcher might have held for Ryan. Now, he’s out for blood.

While Butcher is still on the vigilante side, wanting justice for those who were wronged by Supes and Vought, he is clearly no longer part of The Boys. He’s doing his own thing, and he isn’t going to stop and listen to anything they have to say anymore. In this instance, Butcher could potentially be willing to take down his own friends alongside his enemies. Both Annie (Erin Moriarty) and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) are Supes. If he has a death wish that includes sacrificing himself for the cause, he would also be sacrificing those close to him.