One thing fans have been waiting for in The Boys has been the arrival of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character. The series tried to keep everything under wraps for some time, pushing fans of the comics to do some sleuthing. From the marketing material released, it was clear he was on the U.S. government’s side.

In the first three episodes of The Boys Season 4, Morgan’s character is revealed to be a CIA operative. He’s playing Joe Kessler, a character who is heavily tweaked from the source material. It’s clear from Joe Kessler’s debut in The Boys Season 4 that he will have a very important role to play in the mission that Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher is undertaking.

Who Is Howard Kessler in The Boys’ Comics?

Joe doesn’t actually exist in the comics from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. His character was actually Howard Kessler. Howard was a CIA contact that Butcher used for different jobs. As an analyst, he had a lot of important information. He could hack when Billy needed digital intrusions, making him a valuable asset. But as a man, Howard left a lot to be desired. He often pleasured himself on the job and even had a fetish for a paraplegic, which weirded Butcher out.

Butcher was often found abusing him physically and mentally. He knew Howard was a sexual deviant, so he used it to his advantage. He even called Howard “Monkey” after a job where a pair of monkeys assaulted the analyst. Howard wasn’t a hero despite him being touted as a possible CIA head. Butcher had to beat him up one time for almost sexually assaulting an athlete in a wheelchair. It led to Butcher using his dog, Terror, to inflict this punishment on Howard, proving how lurid The Boys could be.

Howard fits Ennis’ brand of dark comedy and illustrates how much of a sadist Butcher is, as long as he gets results and a chance to torture colleagues like Howard. While the latter remains one of The Boys’ most controversial characters, Butcher’s treatment of him is still deemed too over-the-top, offensive and contentious. By contrast, The Boys Season 4 doesn’t turn Kessler into a divisive person. The live-action series tweaks Joe in a way that creates the familiar face Butcher initially needs at his side, but makes him less reprehensible.

Who Is Joe Kessler In the Boys’ TV Series?

Joe is an old war buddy who ran many missions with Butcher. They did jobs for the CIA, as well as covert operations which they saw fit to handle independently. This plays into how The Boys loves to obscure politics and war, implying not all projects were sanctioned on the books. Butcher meets Joe when he and Mother’s Milk are called into the CIA. Butcher’s crew is chided for messing up the new directive: to kill Victoria Neuman.

Robert Singer doesn’t want Victoria (his Vice-President elect) to live because he knows she has an alliance with Antony Starr’s Homelander. He can tell they will kill him and have her rise up as the new President of a fascist America. Butcher, however, has many other problems. He has brain cancer from abusing Temp V (a spin on Compound V) in Season 3. He has also been drinking heavily.

After botching a hit on Victoria, the CIA chief, Grace Mallory, wants Butcher removed from the team. Even Milk deems him a liability. As Butcher sits in the lobby, he encounters Joe, who offers a much-needed boost. Joe reminds Butcher how they went after enemies mercilessly back in the day, and he wants this Butcher back. He even jokes about how weak Butcher has gotten. The fact Butcher lets it slide says he respects Joe a lot. It turns out, Joe also has reverence for Butcher, as the latter saved him once on a low-probability mission. As such, Joe is indebted to him.

Joe knows his friend is struggling, but he warns that there are dark days ahead. America is on the cusp of a civil war. People are cheering Homelander and his right-wing Vought International, even after the villain killed a protestor in public. Joe confesses that he does feel like the time is coming where Homelander’s “supes” movement will round them up, drop them into internment camps, or worse, execute them. This harrowing thought of genocide leaves Butcher worried, especially because he trusts Joe’s judgment and predictions.

The Boys’ Joe Kessler Has Sinister Plans For Ryan

In the three-episode premiere from showrunner Eric Kripke, Joe makes it clear they need to assassinate Homelander. He wants Butcher to find Ryan and turn him against his father. They must weaponize the child, because no one else is strong enough to murder the tyrannical superhero. Season 3 saw Butcher try to use Homelander’s father, Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), but that hit fell apart. Soldier Boy was no better than Homelander, and Butcher didn’t want to become a monster in front of Ryan.

Joe sees this as weakness. He thinks Butcher should have used Soldier Boy to end Homelander. Joe is paranoid to the point he admits that if they can’t bring Ryan to their side, he ought to be killed as well. Dean Morgan is cold, calculating and cutthroat as Joe Kesseler, nodding to his character, Negan, from The Walking Dead franchise. As harsh as it is, it’s military strategy that comes with some degree of logic. These individuals are instruments of death and destruction. It’s either the good guys have their own mini-Homelander or they kill both.

Butcher wants to hold onto hope, however. He knows Ryan is a good kid after protecting him from the villain for a bit. Mallory also took care of Ryan in the past and came off like a grandmother. Butcher is uncertain how she would react to this plan. That said, he does entertain the idea a bit, all because he is desperate and Joe makes a lot of sense.

The Boys’ Joe Kessler Is Fracturing Butcher’s Mind Even Further

Butcher is between a rock and a hard place, and it’s not getting any better. His depression and drinking are increasing. Not to mention, he is hallucinating Ryan’s mother, i.e. his dead wife, Becca. Butcher’s war with Homelander led to her being killed, so he tried to do right by the boy. He promised a dying Becca he wouldn’t let the child become evil, so this guilt and failure are gnawing at his psyche. This nods to Homelander often imagining his alpha self bullying him on how to become an apex predator.

Homelander remains strong amid these hallucinations, but Butcher is caving. Joe senses that withering, which is why he is pushing to use Butcher in the present. With Butcher’s cancer giving him six months to live, they must act quickly. It leads to Butcher making contact with Ryan on a couple of occasions. They bond, play games and reminisce about better times. But the fact Ryan likes some of the wealth at Vought, his being the heir of this empire messes with Butcher’s mind.

He knows there is a possibility Ryan could be corrupted to become the next Homelander. Butcher can’t afford to gamble or else it will be too late. Ultimately, as Butcher embarks on this dark journey, he has something else to worry about. A parasite is moving around inside his brain, and it’s another side effect of the drug he took. With his mind fraying, this makes Butcher an even bigger wildcard, leaving viewers curious to see how Joe keeps manipulating his comrade in the coming weeks.

The Boys Season 4 debuts new episodes Thursdays on Prime Video.