Spoilers below for those who aren’t already caught up with The Boys via an Amazon Prime subscription, so be warned!
The Boys has seen a slew of cast members come and go over its four-season run thus far, with many of those cast exits happening because their characters were obliterated in one disgusting fashion or another. But that’s not exactly the case with Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy or Dominique McElligott’s Maeve. Even though both characters have been absent since the Season 3 ending, neither was irreversibly killed off, and both have been referenced in the back half of Season 4. So I’m curious whether one or both will make a big return, either in the upcoming finale or in the fifth and final season.
Let’s look at where things left off for Soldier Boy and Maeve, as well as what we’ve seen that could be pointing to their eventual returns to one of Amazon's best original series.
Why Soldier Boy's Return Seems Possible
In the first place, it's Jensen Ackles. And if you're going to have him in your show at one point, and it makes any sort of realistic sense to bring him back later, you do it. It's why Tracker got him as a guest star, and why the CBS drama is bringing him back in Season 2.
Second reason is just as easy to lay out: Soldier Boy rules as an on-screen character, even if his personality and viewpoints aren't exactly wonderful. He was still alive at the end of Season 3, though his catastrophic explosion had rendered him unconcious, allowing Grace Mallory the chance to get him back into hibernation mode without the public being aware.
The rest of this defense is tied to what the show itself, as well as its social media platforms, gave fans recently. In Episode 407, Kimiko is seen reading an old magazine that just so happens to have Soldier Boy plastered across the cover. For what it's worth, it's an issue of Vigor from Spring 2007, and offered a retrospective to a Vought-sponsored hero: "They don't make men like that anymore."
Perhaps more notably — or at the very least, more noticeably — Prime Video's YouTube page shared not just one, but two videos centering on Jensen Ackles' hero. First was a Season 3 clip titled "The Boys Search for Soldier Boy," which didn't seem too out of place among other throwback clips.
But then a few days later, the weekend ahead of the Season 4 finale, a video was uploaded titled "Jensen Ackles is THE Soldier Boy," which is essentially a highlight reel of the character's best lines, with all the curse words bleeped out. It's a pretty fun watch in and of itself, with his Gen V cameo also included, but would there be a good reason to make sure viewers remember exactly who Soldier Boy is before a possible return in the finale?
I guess the first two reasons listed above would also suffice to answer that. But I'm holding out hope. Soldier Hope. That doesn't really work, but still.
Why Maeve's Return Seems Possible
Admittedly, the justification for optimistically theorizing about a return from Dominique McElligott's Queen Maeve isn't nearly as strong as the argument for Soldier Boy, largely because Prime Video didn't add any supercuts showcasing the former Seven member's memorable moments. Such as taking down Soldier Boy and saving a bunch of people, even while injuring herself in the process.
But even though she did seemingly suffer a permanent eye injury, amidst other bodily harm, Maeve is still alive out there, and is hopefully living a happy life free from Vought's clutches as "Maggie" alongside her partner Elena. Though I guess I'm directly asking for her to disrupt that peace by wishing for her return on The Boys.
In any case, the big Episode 7 clue regarding Maeve came from Sister Sage, who threw down her Maeve-emblazoned journal after Homelander ejected her from The Seven. As the smartest person in the world, Sage may not attempt to get revenge on Homelander and others, believing there to be a target on her back at all times, so she could feasibly reach out to Maeve to get advice for how to live outside of Vought's influence.
Of course, if she does want revenge on Antony Starr's character, then reaching out to find Maeve could be her best bet in that case as well. It's not clear exactly how much Sage knows about the other two Supes' shared past, but it probably wouldn't take much for her to conclude that Maeve ended up siding against her Seven cohorts. Even less so if she goes to any of The Boys for assistance. Plus, that would probably be the only way she'd confirm that Maeve is still alive.
And even if none of the above were relevant, there's always this quote from Eric Kripke that he gave Variety at the time the Season 3 finale aired:
I don’t think The Boys will end without Maeve showing up again…
It's obviously possible he could hold off on bringing Maeve back until the final season, but I'm really hopeful that the character appearing on that journal is a foreshadowing wink. And not a wink just because Maeve only has one eye now.
The Boys' Season 4 finale streams on Thursday, July 18, only on Prime Video. Head to our 2024 TV schedule to see what other big shows are on the way soon.
