BY RUSSELL MURRAY/OCT. 20, 2023 1:30 PM EST
When “Supernatural” alum Jensen Ackles first revealed to Entertainment Weekly that his “The Boys” character, Soldier Boy, would reappear in “Gen V,” fans predicted that the spin-off series would have to get creative to justify his return. Nobody predicted they would get this creative.
Despite our theories that the infamous “Rapture” singer would make a cameo a la Captain America in “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Gen V” Season 1, Episode 6 brings Soldier Boy back as a memory-construct residing in the subconscious of tactile mind-warper Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips). After her constant “pushing” renders her catatonic, she unwittingly drags the friends she’s reluctantly betrayed all season into her volatile mind.
A thunderous burst-blood-vessel brings Soldier Boy into play, seemingly representing Cate’s raw romantic feelings (he reveals Cate actually does love Chance Perdomo’s Andre Anderson) and the imaginary Soldier Boy she pretended was her boyfriend throughout puberty. While his cameo is sure to delight anyone excited to hear Ackles deliver some of the grossest lines “Gen V” has to offer, it may disappoint those hoping his inclusion in the spin-off would shed some light on his fate in “The Boys” Season 4.
Will Jensen Ackles return as Soldier Boy for The Boys Season 4?
Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy isn’t the first “The Boys” big bad to be left in limbo at the end of a season finale. Stormfront (the ageless Nazi love interest for Antony Starr’s Homelander, played by Aya Cash) survives her charring at the hands of Ryan Butcher (Cameron Crovetti), only to die by suicide at the beginning of Season 3. “The Boys” has never shied away from trimming its fat in horrifying ways, and with Soldier Boy’s debut imminent, there really wasn’t room for Stormfront and Homelander’s disgusting romance to continue.
Now, it’s Soldier Boy himself who faces potential trimming, as Season 4 will introduce more new characters than ever — all of whom will need space to develop. From Seven newcomers Firecracker (Valorie Curry) and Sister Sage (Susan Heyward) to Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s suited mystery man (rumored to be a play on CIA analyst Joe “The Monkey” Kessler from the comics), it seems a foregone conclusion Soldier Boy will receive significantly less screen time in “The Boys” Season 4 — if he shows up at all.
That said, storing Soldier Boy’s unconscious body in a Winter Soldier-like cryo-chamber may allow the showrunners to keep him on ice without deciding on the character’s ultimate fate. Even if he doesn’t return next season, fans have surely not seen the last of Soldier Boy.