Supernatural alum Jensen Ackles has some choice words for the supe known as Soldier Boy, who he is slated to play in the upcoming third season of Prime Video's superhero satire The Boys.
Ackles discussed Soldier Boy during his recent appearance on Smallville alum Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, describing the character as a "jackass." "He's a grandpa. He's from the '40s. He fought in World War II, and he's just this curmudgeon, bigoted asshole," Ackles elaborated. "He doesn't age, so he's this 40-year-old superhero who's really 80 years old or 90 years old."
The actor continued. "There's just so much material there... He's [got] a taste for people who were of his era." Ackles went on to discuss the thick beard he grew in order to play Soldier Boy, as well as its relevance to the story. "They find me and I've been essentially in captivity for a while," he said. "And so, when they do, I'm bearded and I look like [I'm from the movie] Cast Away, but then they clean me up and I get my superhero outfit back on and I go to town."
In the original comic book series The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, Soldier Boy is depicted as an innocent supe who is subservient to Homelander (played in Prime Video's adaptation by Antony Starr). However, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke -- who Ackles previously worked with on Supernatural -- stated in an interview with Variety back in 2020 that the live-action version of Soldier Boy is even more abrasive than the chauvinistic leader of The Seven, describing him as "Homelander before Homelander."
"I think anyone expecting Jensen to show up and be a good guy, they will be disappointed," Kripke said. "As we're writing him in this, we're getting to really talk about the history of Vought because he's like John Wayne: He's one of these guys that's been around for decades of Vought history. And he was Homelander before Homelander, so he's from a different era, but he's got the ego and the ambition -- it just comes across in a different way because he's from a different time."
The Boys Season 3 premieres June 3 on Prime Video.
Source: Inside of You, via Enterainment Weekly