Soldierboy

Mere weeks after Prime Video’s hit superhero series completed its fourth season, the show just got a major update from the creator. During an interview with Total Film, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke spoke about Soldier Boy’s (Jensen Ackles) return in the fifth and final season. Soldier Boy was teased in a mid-credit scene after Season 4, where Homelander (Antony Starr) goes into a Vought lab to find him on ice, still alive. He was a critical character in Season 3 and even made a small cameo in the spin-off series, Gen V, but was entirely absent from Season 4 until that small cameo. Kripke talked to Total Film about Soldier Boy’s return, and what the writing team thinks his motives will be in the final season of The Boys:

“Soldier Boy is really driven to kill Butcher after Butcher betrayed him in Season 3. So he’s just an excellent antagonist, to switch sides and basically, you know, to be with the supes.”

The supes already have the most powerful character in the universe in Homelander, so to think about his father, Soldier Boy, joining forces with him after he already has The White House on his side is terrifying. Butcher may have his own set of powers now, although it’s a bit unclear exactly how strong he is, but it’s unlikely he could hold his own in a fight against both Homelander and Soldier Boy. Butcher did manage to take down Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) in the Season 4 finale, using his new tentacle powers to rip her in half after succumbing to the dark side brought out by Joe Kessler (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Identifying and deconstructing power levels can be tricky in The Boys, but Butcher will almost certainly need someone else on his side with some serious muscle to achieve his ultimate goal of killing all supes.

‘The Boys’ Season 5 Will Further Explore Soldier Boy’s and Homelander’s Relationship

Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy talking to Antony Starr as Homelander in a scene from The Boys

Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) and Hughie (Jack Quaid) in front of trees looking ahead in 'The Boys.'

The reveal that Soldier Boy was actually Homelander’s father came late in the season, meaning there was little time to explore that connection between the two in Season 3. However, now that the audience and characters are both well aware of that relationship, Kripke promises that Season 5 will dive into it and explore the intricacies of this awful father-son duo:

“You know, what we realized was we really hadn’t explored the father-son relationship much between Homelander and Soldier Boy. There’s a lot of material there, how Soldier Boy feels about Homelander, how Homelander feels about his dad, so we really wanted to dig into that relationship.”

Soldier Boy certainly wasn’t a model father for Homelander, and Homelander has been anything but a thoughtful dad to his son Ryan. Soldier Boy even tried to attack his grandson (Homelander’s son) which will almost certainly be something this group has to work through in Season 5. The Boys may have taken a major character off the board in Season 4 by removing Victoria Neuman, but the return of Soldier Boy sets the stage for an epic conclusion sure to be riddled with bloodshed. Season 5 will also not be the last fans see Soldier Boy, as he has a spin-off confirmed to be in the works titled Vought Rising.

The Boys Season 5 does not have an official release date, but it will be the final season of the series. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates and stream the first four seasons of The Boys only on Prime Video.