‘The Boys’ Season 2: Is Butcher’s Wife Becca Going to Die?
The Amazon Prime hit series The Boys recently returned for its second season amid critical and fan acclaim. The source material for the show is a popular graphic novel, but the show has diverged from that quite a lot already.
One element of the show that contrasts rather starkly from the comics is the fate of Billy Butcher’s wife, Becca. Let’s take a closer look at how the show and the comics differ regarding Becca and also answer the question of whether Becca will die in season two of The Boys.
Becca Butcher’s fate at the end of season one of ‘The Boys’
In The Boys, Billy Butcher is out for revenge against the seemingly perfect superhero (known as a “supe” in the show’s universe) Homelander. Butcher believes that Homelander raped his wife. Homelander claims the encounter was consensual.
Following the encounter, Becca learns she is pregnant. Homelander’s employer, the superhero company Vought, tells Homelander that Becca and the child died during childbirth.
Homelander eventually learns that the Vought executive he trusted, Madelyn Stillwell, lied to him and that Becca and the child have been in hiding since birth. After killing Stillwell, Homelander takes Billy to see Becca and the boy, named Ryan. Billy isn’t able to do anything about it, but he’s able to at least discover that his wife is alive.
What happened to Becca Butcher in ‘The Boys’ comics?
Fans of the comics and TV show may have noticed some major differences between the two. While the show stays close in the themes it covers as well as the tone, the actual plot developments vary greatly from what happens in the comics. One of the biggest examples is the fate of Becca.
According to Screen Rant, Becca does in fact die while giving birth to a child. That isn’t the only sick twist to her fate, however. Billy is there when she perishes, and the baby survives the ordeal as well. The baby shoots lasers from its eyes and in a fit of rage, Billy savagely end the super infant’s life.
Even for a show as dark as The Boys, it appeared as if that was a bridge too far. But it raises an interesting question: will the show’s version of Becca ultimately meet her demise this season?
Will Becca Butcher die in The Boys season two?
There are plenty of good reasons why Becca is still alive from a narrative perspective. For one, it gives Billy plenty of motivation to continue his quest to bring down supes.
It also adds another plot element to the show. Rather than serving as pieces on the show’s chessboard, Becca and her supe son have a chance to develop as characters.
So will she survive this season? Killing off Becca’s character would take Billy in a new, likely much darker direction. He’s already at the end of his rope, having recently discovered the wife he believed to be dead is now still out of his grasp.
Of course, it might also make the character much more one-dimensional, as he already has a justifiable vendetta against the evil Homelander.
But here’s why Becca dying in season two makes the most sense: because her son is still alive at the moment. The show has an opportunity to create a new redemption arc for Billy’s character through Ryan, the son of Becca and Homelander.
Right now, Billy wants to eliminate pretty much all supes. To Billy, Ryan serves as a reminder of the horrible violation Homelander committed against Becca. But he can also be his salvation.
Imagine a plotline for season three where Becca dies and Billy promises to fulfill her dying wish: that he take care of Ryan and ensure he’s raised right. It would give Billy a reason to find the good in some supes, raising the otherwise innocent Ryan. It would also flip the Billy/Homelander dynamic, as now Homelander would be after his son.
Becca may survive season two, but don’t bet on it. Her death could lead to even more interesting story developments for the show overall.
