Billy Butcher is one ofThe Boys' most unique characters - a deadly bruiser with a surprising soft spot for love. However, when original writer Garth Ennis conceived of Butcher, the character was named as a tribute to a totally different franchise that helped inspire the character. However, that’s not the only change Ennis made between his initial pitch and the eventual series -Butcher also started off with superpowersnothinglike his eventual TV abilities.
InThe Boys Omnibus, Ennis shares hisoriginal pitch to DC Comics, which includes several details which didn’t make it into the final version. Ennis notes that at this point, Butcher’s character had a different name,originally going by ‘Savage.‘It’s clear the character’s name was always meant to reference his brutal actions towards wayward Supes, but Ennis also intended the name as a nod to one of his inspirations.
Billy Butcher’s original ‘Savage’ name was a nod to the2000ADcomic character Bill Savage, who Ennis describes as,“an enjoyably psychopathic trucker-turned-guerilla in a Soviet-occupied future Britain.”
Created by Pat Mills, Bill Savage first appeared in 1977, acting as a resistance fighter against a fascist Russian government known as the Volgans. Hailing from East London, Savage is depicted with the same iconic accent asThe Boys’ Butcher, using excessive violence and practical thinking to win the day. A fan of2000AD(which actually features inThe Boyscomics as one of the ways Frenchie tries to help the Female give up her addiction to violence), Ennis writes that he still considers Savage"as Billy Butcher’s great-great-grandfather ten times removed, or whatever."
Ennis ultimately changed Butcher’s name because he considered the allusion too obvious, and writes that it was for the best, as2000ADbegan publishing newSavagestories shortly afterwards. However, he also admits the connection remains, and that he suspects other franchises like Avatar Press’Gravelstar heroes who are"Savage’s b*****d offspring.“Of course, as cool as it is to know Butcher’s lineage as a character,the biggest change revealed by Ennis is that the character originally had superpowers.
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The Boys Could Originally Deactivate Superpowers
Ennis Calls It “The Worst Idea in History”
While Butcher gains powers in the Amazon adaptation ofThe Boys, Ennis' original pitch was very different. In hisoriginal concept forThe Boys, he intended the team to be able to deactivate the powers of the Supes they hunted down, but only when the full team were in close proximity.Ennis calls it"the worst idea in history,“though he also notes that it’s a result of his early instinct thatThe Boysshould be about realistic, gritty violence,“the kind of violence that occurs outside bars at 2 am, where the victim is surrounded and overwhelmed by individuals intent on his destruction.”
Thankfully, Ennis decided against the team having a shared superpower before the series actually started, leading to the version ofThe Boysthat comic and TV fans know. And while fans did miss out on Butcher’s name connecting him to2000AD, Ennis' admission means that fans ofThe Boysstill know where Billy got his ruthless violence.
