Prime Video
Since debuting in 2019, The Boys has been one of the biggest shows on television and one of, if not the most popular series ever created by Prime Video. That success is in no small part thanks to the steadying presence of actor Karl Urban, who anchors the series as the anti-heroic Billy Butcher.
Speaking to BroBible’s Post Credit Podcast ahead of the release of his new pirate movie The Bluff — hitting Prime Video on February 25 — and the premiere of The Boys’ fifth and final season in April, the veteran New Zealand actor detailed how attached he’s become to both the character and the crew over the years, and how that level connection makes the entire endeavor feel very important to him.
The Boys star Karl Urban details his feelings about the upcoming final season and saying goodbye to the character of Billy Butcher
ERIC ITALIANO, BROBIBLE: I want to shift to The Boys, which I imagine changed your career to some extent given how culturally iconic it’s become. I assume you feel quite tied to Butcher.
KARL URBAN: Absolutely. He’s been part of my life since 2018. When you live with a character that long — and go on that journey with so many talented people who become like family — it becomes deeply important. I’m incredibly proud of it, and I’m excited for audiences to see the final season.
BROBIBLE: He started as a catalyst for revenge. Now he’s dying, isolated, arguably becoming the very thing he hates. At what point did you realize you weren’t playing a hero, but a cautionary tale?
KARL URBAN: There’s no black and white in The Boys. Characters move into questionable territory. The show defines heroism as struggling to hold onto your humanity in extreme adversity.
In Butcher’s case, he’s turned himself into a monster to defeat a monster. As an actor, I need to find a positive ideology to anchor him — to understand why he’s doing what he’s doing — so those darker decisions land with conviction.
BROBIBLE: Do you think is this ultimately the story of a man sacrificing himself for something larger, or a man consumed by vengeance?
KARL URBAN: Initially, it was a revenge agenda against Homelander. But as seasons progressed, it had to become bigger than that — existential. It shifted toward ensuring what happened to him and his wife never happens to anyone else. He believes these super-powered individuals shouldn’t exist — that there should be a reset. That broader purpose became important.
Alongside Urban, his latest film The Bluff also stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Safia Oakley-Green, Vedanten Naidoo, Temuera Morrison with Ismael Cruz Cordova. You can check out the official synopsis and trailer for The Bluff ahead of its streaming debut on Prime Video on Wednesday, February 25, below.
“When her tranquil life on a remote island is shattered by the return of her vengeful former captain, a skilled ex-pirate (Chopra Jonas) must confront her bloody past and unleash her deadly talents to save her family from a siege led by the ruthless Captain Connor (Urban).”