The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke explains why Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) is returning in a prominent role for the series’ final season. It was announced at The Boys‘ San Diego Comic-Con panel that Ackles would be promoted to a series regular in season 5. This comes after Soldier Boy was absent from all of season 4 until the finale’s mid-credits scene, when his biological son, Homelander, learned from President Calhoun where the supe’s body was stored.

While speaking with GamesRadar, Kripke explained that it is because of Soldier Boy’s relationship with Homelander (Antony Starr) and because of his unresolved business with Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) that he wanted the character to return in a major way for season 5. Butcher and Soldier Boy worked together in season 3 to take down Homelander, only for Butcher to go back on their deal in order to protect Ryan (Cameron Crovetti). Check out Kripke’s explanation below:

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, and so we really wanted to dig into that relationship.

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.

Soldier Boy’s Motives Are Confirmed For Season 5

He won’t be working with Butcher this time.

Despite being united in their mission to kill Butcher, there is still hope of Soldier Boy being the answer to defeating Homelander.

The last time Soldier Boy was conscious, he was fighting both Homelander and Butcher. Even though he has issues with both of them, Kripke’s comments confirm that Soldier Boy’s focus will be on killing Butcher, which will undoubtedly delight Homelander. Soldier Boy will likely join Homelander’s army of supes and be happy to unleash his rage against the world, although he may be surprised to discover that Butcher now has tentacles that can tear people apart, as he did with Victoria Neuman.

While Soldier Boy and Homelander will be aligned on killing Butcher, there is still the matter of their complex relationship. They only discovered their relationship at the end of season 3 and did not get much time to explore it before Soldier Boy proceeded to fight his son. Homelander will surely still crave his father’s approval and still want the superpowered paternal figure he never had, but it remains to be seen if Soldier Boy can move past seeing Homelander as pathetic and resenting him for becoming the face of Vought.

Despite being united in their mission to kill Butcher, there is still hope of Soldier Boy being the answer to defeating Homelander. He is capable of radiating energy blasts that can eliminate a supe’s powers, as he did with Kimiko and Maeve in season 3, and could possibly do the same thing to his son. Homelander losing his powers at the hands of his father and having to be a regular human could be even more satisfying than having him outright killed by Butcher in The Boys season 5.