Spoilers ahead for the Season 2 premiere of The Boys on Amazon Prime.
The Boys is finally back in action with new episodes, and it's already clear that the show didn't lose any of its edge over hiatus. To Hughie and the rest of the titular "Boys," Vought and the Supes are still the big bads who need to be stopped, but the premiere proved that Homelander is in trouble with Vought as well. Vought CEO Stan Edgar wasn't happy with Homelander going rogue and the reveal of Compound V to the world, and the result was a lecture that delivered The Boys' first mention of Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy.
Supernatural star Jensen Ackles had announced The Boys as his next big project following the end of his long-running CW series, and the move will reunite him with Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. Soldier Boy is a character from The Boys comics, but there were also multiple characters who went by that name, and a version of Soldier Boy had been around since World War II. Thanks to the first episode of Season 2, we have confirmation of what Kripke hinted when Ackles' casting was announced. Here's how it went down.
When Stan Edgar sat Homelander down for a lecture in his office, he told the Supe that Vought isn't a superhero company as much as a pharmaceutical company, and he brought Homelander in on the real history of founder Frederick Vought:
Got his doctorate from Munich. Ahead of his time in genetics. Such the rising young star that in ’39, Hitler appointed him chief physician at Dachau, where he enjoyed a ready supply of human subjects on which to test his earliest iterations of Compound V. Which we condemn in the strongest of possible terms. Early in ’44, he felt the winds change. Got spirited away to the Allies. When Oppenheimer was flailing with the bomb, Dr. Vought already had practical applications of Compound V tested in the field. Heroes like Soldier Boy killing Germans by the dozen. So Roosevelt pardoned him and he became as wonder bread American as Disney and Edison.
According to Stan Edgar in The Boys Season 2, Soldier Boy was turned into the first Supe for the Allies during World War II, and he was "killing Germans by the dozen." These comments back up Eric Kripke's statement that Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy will be "the very first Superhero" who brings "humor, pathos, and danger." Like how Homelander and Queen Maeve are clear takes on Superman and Wonder Woman, Soldier Boy is a Boys take on Captain America.
The confirmation that Jensen Ackles will play the Soldier Boy who was created in the 1940s raises some big questions about his role in Season 3. Did the early Compound V grant him the ability to never age, allowing him to join the action in the present? Or will he appear in flashbacks? Or is there some twist that fans can't even imagine until the end of Season 2 or beginning of Season 3?
Personally, I'm wondering if he'll have ties to Stormfront. In the comics, Stormfront is the first successful Compound V recipient, but for the Nazis rather than the Allies. The show has turned Stormfront into (seemingly, at least) a young woman, and it's looking like Soldier Boy might have gotten part of the Stormfront backstory. That said, it's possible that Soldier Boy and Stormfront are somehow going to be set as opposite sides of the same Supe coin, created around the same time to fight for opposite sides.
Aya Cash could always play a descendant of the first Nazi Stormfront, if not the same Stormfront from World War II. And hey, while I'm speculating, why not cast Jeffrey Dean Morgan in a story involving Soldier Boy somehow? Another Supernatural reunion would be fun, and Eric Kripke himself floated the idea of Morgan joining The Boys Season 3 earlier this year. It's not out of the question, and I doubt Jared Padalecki will have time to show up for the ultimate Supernatural reunion!
In all seriousness, The Boys could go in a wildly different direction with Soldier Boy than fans can possibly predict at this point, as well as with Stormfront. The show already took liberties in Season 2 by gender-flipping Stormfront, and Season 2 has only just begun. Personally, I'm hoping for some more information on Soldier Boy in the coming episodes, even if a cameo from Jensen Ackles doesn't happen. Eric Kripke did promise a "Jensen you've never seen before" in Season 3, and that's saying something for a guy whose previous show ran for 300+ episodes!
Jensen Ackles seems pretty excited about joining the show, based on his announcement that he would be playing Soldier Boy:
Short of The Boys delivering a cameo of Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy in Season 2, fans will presumably have to wait until Season 3 to see him in action. Fans will be able to see Ackles on the small screen sooner, however, thanks to the final episodes of Supernatural that will hit the airwaves starting in October. The final two episodes are in production now.
As for The Boys, you can find new episodes of Season 2 releasing on Amazon. While Season 1 released all eight episodes at once a la Netflix, Amazon is doing things differently for Season 2. The first three episodes released on Friday, September 4, and one episode will continue to release weekly. The finale will be available October 9, 2020.
The early renewal for Season 3 and news of Jensen Ackles' casting may come as some relief to fans come October 10, when the wait for new episodes begins again. The entertainment industry is still slowly opening up after the shutdowns this spring, so it's possible that production won't be able to begin in earnest for a while.
Only time will tell. For some current and upcoming viewing options on top of The Boys, be sure to check out our 2020 fall TV premiere schedule. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more coverage of The Boys Season 2, and be sure to weigh in our poll below about Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy!
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