Do we like Karl Urban?
Our score: 8 out of 10. Nothing harmful turned up, he's on record against abuse and the dangers of right-wing ideology, and he has put time into children's charities.
Karl Urban is a Wellington-born actor who spent the 1990s on New Zealand telly before Hollywood came calling. The big breaks were Éomer in The Lord of the Rings, Bones McCoy in the rebooted Star Trek films, and the title role in Dredd. Since 2019 he has been Billy Butcher in The Boys, where he is also a producer.
Nothing in the court or scandal department turned up. No lawsuits, no convictions and no allegations against him came up in the searches. The closest thing to a stoush was in 2023, when he posted that a fan was being a “toxic fan” online and told them to pull their head in or be called out. That's a bloke defending his corner, not a scandal.
On the harm test, he looks clean. In 2017 he said he felt for the women who were victims of Harvey Weinstein, who stands accused by many women, and wrote that he hoped Weinstein would get what he deserved. Around The Boys he has said the show is “a very timely reminder of the dangers of Right wing ideology”. We found no remarks from him about trans people, vaccines or climate, in either direction.
He also hasn't got a recent run of dodgy company to answer for. His recent work is a mix of Prime Video's The Boys, the Mortal Kombat sequel and the pirate film The Bluff, none of it tied to the culture-war studios we watch for. We didn't find producer details for every project, so that's what we could confirm rather than a full audit.
The latest bit of noise is gentle. In May 2026, a day before The Boys finale, he replied to an Instagram user criticising the final season, mocking their handle and crediting showrunner Eric Kripke for the writing. Some fans took it as him agreeing with the complaints. Either way, it's banter, not harm.
The good stuff is real. He's been a KidsCan ambassador in New Zealand, and the cast-backed Omaze campaign for Star Trek Beyond raised $160,000 for the charity at his nomination. In 2022 he became a UNICEF Aotearoa New Zealand ambassador, with a focus on children in conflict, including Ukraine.