Karl Urban, who has appeared in comic book movies Dredd and Thor: Ragnarok as well as a trilogy of Star Trek films, will play the role of Billy Butcher on Amazon’s adaptation of The Boys, Deadline reports.
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Per his official character description, Butcher is “mysterious, brutal and with a personal but secret agenda.” He approaches Hughie (co-lead Jack Quaid), claiming to be a shadowy government operative. Butcher capitalizes on Hughie’s rage over his girlfriend Robin’s accidental death at the hands of Superhero A-Train (Jesse T. Usher) and enlists Hughie as part of his plan to bring down the Superhero franchise.
The series, which ran first at DC and then Dynamite Entertainment, was by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It took place in a world where superheroes were commonplace, and their celebrity and the goodwill of the public insulated them from the consequences of super-battles that routinely ruined the lives of everyday folk.
In a world where superheroes have become corrupt and self-serving, and the titular Boys see themselves as serving humanity by keeping the super-powered maniacs in check.
The show’s super-team, The Seven, are a thinly-veiled Justice League stand-in, something made even more evident in the early days of The Boys when the comic came from DC’s WildStorm imprint.
Wee Hughie, the series’ point of view character, was designed with Simon Pegg in mind, and while Pegg loved the series and expressed interest in playing the role years ago, he would likely have been too old for the role by the time the show finally got greenlit.
Urban joins a cast that includes Suicide Squad‘s Karen Fukuhara as The Female, alongside Jack Quaid, Jesse T. Usher, Erin Moriarty, Anthony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Chace Crawford, and Nathan Mitchell.
Preacher creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will be directing, in addition to serving as executive producers alongside Supernatural‘s Eric Kripke, who was named showrunner.
The Boys has been in line for a TV adaptation for some time. Anchorman director Adam McKay first developed the comedy as a film in 2010. He shopped it around to various film studios but wasn’t able to make anything happen. Finally, eight years later, Amazon’s streaming service, also home to the superhero parody The Tick, has made a home for the series.
At this time, The Boys doesn’t have a release date, but Amazon has already given it a season-long commitment.
