Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays Joe Kessler in the new season of The Boyz, and his first performance leaves him with more doubts than answers about his needs.
The wait for male fans is finally over with the arrival of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s character. The series tried to keep everything under wraps for a while, leading comic fans to do their own research. When the marketing material came out, it was clear that Morgan was siding with the US government.
Joe Kessler and his boys
In the first three episodes of Boys’ fourth season, Morgan’s character is revealed to be a CIA operative. He played Joe Kessler, a character that was drastically changed from the source material. From the very beginning, it’s clear that Joe Kessler will play a major role in Karl Urban’s mission as Billy Butcher.
Joe Kessler doesn’t exist in Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson’s comics. His character was Howard Kessler, a CIA liaison whom Butcher used for various jobs. Howard is an analyst with a wealth of valuable information and hacking skills, making him a valuable asset. However, as a person, Howard left much to be desired. Butcher had a perverted sexual behavior that he used to seduce him.
Butcher took advantage of Howard’s weaknesses and abused him physically and mentally many times. Howard, nicknamed “Monkey” by Butcher, was not a hero, although he was thought to be the head of the CIA. At one point, Boucher had to beat up a wheelchair athlete for sexually assaulting him. The series, however, has softened this feature.
Joe Kessler in the TV series
In the television adaptation, Joe Kessler is Butcher’s old war buddy. They performed many missions together for the CIA and some independent covert operations. This concerns the way Boyce obscures politics and war, suggesting that not all projects were officially approved. Butcher meets Joe when he and Mother Milk are called to the CIA after an assassination attempt on Victoria Neumann.
Robert Singer doesn’t want Victoria to live because he knows she has an alliance with Homeland. They fear that Victoria and Homelander will kill them and become the new president of fascist America. Butcher also has other problems, such as brain cancer from abusing TempV in his third session and a growing alcoholism.
Joe Kessler and his evil plans
In the three-part season four premiere, he made it clear that they needed to kill Joe Homeland. Butcher wants to find Ryan and turn him on his father. Joe believes that since no one is strong enough to kill the ruthless superhero, they must use the boy as a weapon.
But the butcher shop was torn apart. He meets Ryan and knows that he is a good boy, he used to protect his son from evil before. But Cold and Joe see this as a weakness and think they should have used a child soldier to take on Homelander. Joe was so confused that he admitted that if they couldn’t get Ryan on their side, they would have to kill him too. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s portrayal of Joe Kessler is chilling, reminiscent of his role as Negan on The Walking Dead.
Joe Kessler’s influence on Richter
Lucanda is at a crossroads, suffering from depression and alcoholism, and is having nightmares of Ryan’s mother, his dead wife, Becca. He promised the dying Becca that he would not allow his son to turn to evil, so his loss and failure are consuming him. Realizing Butcher’s situation, Joe urges him to act quickly. With only six months left due to cancer, they have to move fast.
Butcher finds himself deeply attached to Ryan, but he fears that the boy might be corrupted and become the next country man. This impulse, along with the parasite in his brain as a side effect of Temp V, makes Butcher an even bigger wild card. Viewers are excited to see how Joe will continue to use his old friend in the upcoming episodes.
The Boys Season 4 premieres Thursdays with new episodes on Prime Video.