Karl Urban's Contribution To The Boys Included Making Billy Butcher A Matrix Fan

For a show so focused on the insane actions of immoral superheroes, you'd think a regular guy like Billy Butcher might have some trouble shining in "The Boys." But as played by Karl Urban — to borrow one of the character's favorite adjectives — he's absolutely diabolical. Deceptively charismatic, blissfully flawed, and with a tragic backstory to boot, Butcher is a lot of things all at once throughout the comics and show.

For anyone else that might've been a challenge but Urban is as mesmerizing when he's fiddling with ideas on how to kill supes as he is heart-wrenching when suffering through dreams of his wife. He's also the perfect conduit for Butcher's particular brand of dark humor and his habit for hilariously convoluted pep talks — like his use of the Spice Girls as an analogy for keeping his team together. But Urban has also added to the character via his own suggestions to showrunner Eric Kripke.

Another classic Butcher motivational moment is his attempted use of "The Matrix" to ignite a fire under Hughie to convince him to bug Vought during his visit to get an apology from A-Train. During a breakdown of his most iconic characters with GQ, Urban revealed he came up with the idea. "The fantastic thing about working on 'The Boys,' it's a very collaborative process. If you come up with an idea that has some merit, you pitch it to Kripke, he's fantastic," the actor said. "He plays 'best idea wins.'"

Urban had a pretty good feeling about his idea because to him, everything about Hughie stepping into Vought tower with The Seven felt like crossing the same "threshold" as Alice down the rabbit hole. Which of course reminded him of "The Matrix." Turns out Kripke liked the idea enough because it's the cut they ended up using for the show — though it probably helped that Urban played it up a little.

The actor also revealed that one of the funniest aspects of the scene actually happened by accident as well. Urban continued: 

"I stuffed it up! The story, I got the pills confused, which was an absolute accident in the moment. It just ended up being comedy genius, which is, it's very Butcher."

Very Butcher indeed. After his impassioned and dramatic speech to Hughie, his inability to remember which pill is red or blue checks all the boxes for the character. Not only does it continue his penchant for ridiculous speeches but it also highlights his willingness to bullsh*t to high heaven to persuade people to do what he needs them to do. It's just another reminder of how spot-on the casting was for "The Boys."