SPOILER ALERT: This story accommodates spoilers from Episode 6 of “The Boys” Season 4, at present streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video.
Welp! In the event you had been amongst “The Boys” followers who guessed that CIA agent Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) was a figment of Butcher’s (Karl Urban) V-induced-brain-tumor’s creativeness, give your self a spherical of applause and a frothy glass of milk as your prize after Thursday’s Episode 6 reveal.
However for those who didn’t see this diabolical twist coming, we will’t blame you. “The Boys” showrunner Eric Kripke and his writers’ room determined to deal with the I-See-Useless-Folks twist just a little otherwise than the trope has usually been employed in media: Kessler’s half in Season 4 turns into even extra essential now that you understand he’s Butcher’s Tyler Durden main into the finale in simply two extra episodes.
“We had been at all times going to disclose it in Episode 6 — we didn’t need to put it aside for the top of the film,” Kripke advised Selection. “As a result of now Kessler has this new function to be actually the satan on his shoulder, and actually be twisting the knife and saying actually merciless issues to Butcher that each one occur to be completely true — which is at all times nice when your villain generally is a actual truth-teller.”
The reveal in query occurs on the finish of the jam-packed episode, as Butcher is having a battle with Kessler in regards to the moral dilemma of unleashing an airborne model of the deadly supe virus. Kessler is absolutely in favor of this, whereas Butcher is hesitant to do it due to the voice of motive embodied by his lifeless spouse Becca (Shantel VanSanten), whom he’s additionally been hallucinating all season. And as Becca is attempting to maintain Butcher on the correct path, Kessler turns to her and tells her to close it — making it clear that Kessler is an imaginary good friend himself.
“I feel each time that somebody seems to be imaginary, the primary draft is at all times like one other character walks into the room and says, ‘Who’re you speaking to?’” Kripke mentioned. “So I’m positive that was our first draft when it was initially up on the board, Hughie walks in and he’s like, ‘Who’re you speaking to?’ However we mentioned, ‘Properly, everybody’s accomplished that, so can we do one thing totally different?’ And Becca is that this imaginary character. So what if the 2 imaginary characters simply begin yelling at one another? And that will be a brand new means to try this form of reveal.”
Morgan remembers how shortly that reveal was shot, and the way “locked into one another” he and City had been on the day.
“I feel we shot that and one other scene in someday — the scene the place Kessler offers the large speech sitting down on the crates, they usually’re speaking. We shot each these in the identical day,” Morgan mentioned. “I keep in mind it was like a six-page scene. And I’ve performed this sport earlier than — I performed lifeless Denny [on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’], so I knew some tips, which form of got here in fucking helpful.
“However actually, him and I had been so locked into one another, it didn’t fucking matter who else or no matter was occurring within the scene,” Morgan continued. “We had been having a lot enjoyable. There’s only a few occasions that you simply stroll on a set and also you instantly bond with anyone. In romance, it might be your soulmate, and Karl was like my fucking soulmate. And instantly we knew that we had one thing actually enjoyable and particular right here and let’s simply have enjoyable and play and revel in it.”
As a result of Morgan is among the many alums of the Kripke-created “Supernatural,” followers have been clamoring for him to hitch the forged for a number of seasons now, and received much more demanding after Jensen Ackles performed Soldier Boy in Season 3. However Morgan has been fairly booked up lately along with his longtime function as Negan Smith in AMC’s “Strolling Useless” franchise, so it took an act of “The Boys” God Kripke to make Morgan’s function as Kessler occur.
“There was an overlap of like 4 months the place I used to be capturing my new present ‘Strolling Useless: Useless Metropolis,’ so I missed filming the primary 4 or 5 episodes, and so after I wrapped my present, I ran over there and the administrators got here again from these episodes and after which we went to work, which is admittedly uncommon,” Morgan mentioned. “I really feel actually fortunate that they allowed that to occur, since you’re not in a position to lock a present — the administrators won’t be obtainable. There’s all kinds of fucking points with that. And the truth that Eric was like, ‘We’re gonna do it for you,’ it was the good factor on the earth.”
As for a way Morgan took the large Kessler twist when Kripke first revealed it to him….
“Whereas he’s telling me in regards to the half, I’m realizing there’s a past-tense swap taking place and I’m like, ‘What the fuck is he doing?’” Morgan mentioned. “After which he tells me the key — and I’m much more intrigued. However doesn’t matter, actually, finally, what was mentioned or the way it was pitched me. As a result of I used to be gonna do it.”
