The Boys Season 4 is finally here and we were all excited to see the Joe Kessler character played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
As we all know Billy is sick because of the supe tumor inside his head. Homelander used the term “Black Mass covering his brain.”
Ever since Joe Kessler met Billy in the show during the CIA meeting scene fans are speculating that he is not real. Joe Kessler might be an alter ego or a hallucination. I am going to discuss this theory in this article.
Butcher has been hallucinating his deceased wife, Becca too in the latest season. It may be due to the brain tumor he got or the fact that he never really moved on and he has failed to fulfill his promise too. He promised Becca that he would protect Ryan from Homelander.
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Who is Joe Kessler?
Joe Kessler, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, is a key character in the new season of “The Boys.” When he first appears, it’s clear he knows Billy pretty well and Billy knows him too. Though the show hasn’t revealed their full backstory, we just know Billy and Joe are army buddies and now Joe works for the CIA.
During Butcher and Joe’s short conversation in episode 1, it seems Joe hates the supes as much as Billy does, he says:
The whole world is about to burn. We need someone like you, Billy. Before the Supes start roundin’ us up and dumpin’ us off in camps.
Is Joe Kessler a Hallucination?
A popular fan theory is that Joe Kessler might not be real. This theory came up because no other character has interacted with Kessler so far in the show and we have seen three episodes already.
Many fans on social media are discussing this theory. Some think Kessler represents Butcher’s alter ego who is evil and emotionless. This fits with the idea of an angel and devil on someone’s shoulders, with Becca as Butcher’s conscience and Kessler as his darker urges.
Kessler wants to train Ryan to become a weapon against Homelander. However, Butcher wants to protect Ryan from Homelander. Kessler then suggests it’s either he defeats homelander or we have to find a way to kill Ryan too.
Kessler gave Butcher a drug that can put even Ryan to sleep and he laced some biscuits with it. However, it didn’t come to that and Butcher decided to throw those biscuits away.
Whether real or not, he’s shown as a CIA officer with a shared past with Butcher. Kessler comes back into Butcher’s life when Butcher is at a low point, so we can’t really rule out this theory.
However, so far he looks pretty real to me as he is the one who provided Butcher with the drugs to put Ryan to sleep.
Final Words
We will definitely find out more about Joe in the upcoming episodes but he is similar to Billy in many ways. What do you think, is he real or not? Drop your theories in the comments below.
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