The Boys Season 4 brought a number of ongoing Season 3 plotlines to a head, but did we get a glimpse of Soldier Boy once more?
Soldier Boy, played by Supernatural alum Jensen Ackles, was the original Vought superhero and Homelander‘s biological father. However, he was also morally bankrupt and incredibly violent, which led to him being imprisoned in a Russian lab for decades.
Fans loved the sense of parody Soldier Boy brought to the superhero TV show, as he was portrayed as a Captain America pastiche, in many ways the antithesis of the character’s MCU portrayal.
While The Boys Season 3 seemed to put a button on Soldier Boy’s story, the show is known for its big surprises. So, did Solider Boy have a role to play in The Boys Season 4?
Soldier Boy returned… sort of
Solider Boy pops up in a post-credits sting in The Boys Season 4 finale, but he’s still unconscious.
The Boys Season 4 finale was full of shocks and twists, from Butcher being a supe to Homelander finally making good on his promise to Make America Super Again.
But, once the dust had settled on the ending of the episode, we were treated to a small but significant extra scene. The post-credits scene sees Homelander called to the facility where Soldier Boy had been kept dormant, and now he has a decision to make regarding his father.
The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke spoke openly about the potential for a Soldier Boy return after the Season 3 finale, stressing that bringing him back before the show’s finale felt essential.
“The old TV adage is like, never kill anyone unless you really, really have to. Never close a door, open a window,” Kripke told Entertainment Weekly in 2022. “We’ll all have to wait and see, but I can’t imagine the series ending without Soldier Boy making another appearance.”
Ackles himself has spoken positively about the experience as Soldier Boy and has been keen to return, even surprising fans with a cameo in Gen V Season 1.
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What happened to Soldier Boy at the end of Season 3?
Solider Boy was put back into a cryosleep at the end of The Boys Season 3.
Rescued by The Boys, it’s revealed that years of experimentation have given Solider Boy a massive chest laser that can eradicate Compound V from a Supe’s system. He becomes the show’s deadliest weapon and puts Homelander on the defensive for the first time ever.
The season ended with Soldier Boy, Homelander, Queen Maeve, and Butcher in a massive fight at Vought Tower. When Soldier Boy attempts to turn his chest laser on The Boys, Maeve seemingly sacrifices herself to tackle him out of the tower.
In the final moments of the season, it’s revealed Maeve survived but has lost her powers. Soldier Boy, meanwhile, is incapacitated and imprisoned by Grace Mallory, kept in a comatose state, while the world is led to believe Soldier Boy had been brainwashed by Russians.
With Soldier Boy still alive, the door is wide open for him to make a grand return.
What will happen in Season 5?
Homelander will likely awaken Soldier Boy from his cryosleep and try to recruit him to his totalitarian regime.
It’s a risk, of course. Soldier Boy likes to do things his own way, and he and his son have come to blows before. Still, there’s every chance the rogue supe will be a fan of the terror state Homelander has built in his absence, and will relish the opportunity to rule with an iron fist as father and son.
We’ll have to wait for The Boys Season 5 to see how this one plays out. Until then, check out all The Boys Season 4 theories and read up on all the new Supes in The Boys. Or, if you’re feeling really dark, here’s our ranking of all the deaths in The Boys Season 4.
