Fans finally understand why Soldier Boy is making a disruptive return in Season 5
Jensen Ackles will reprise his role as Soldier Boy in The Boys Season 5. Showrunner Eric Kripke said they decided to bring back the antagonist because there was a potential storyline to explore.
Ackles made his debut as Soldier Boy in The Boys Season 3. Soldier Boy named Benjamin was considered America’s first superhero who was experimented on and given Compound V while serving the US Army during the Second World War. He led Payback, a team of supes, including Crimson Countess, Gunpowder, Swatto, Mindstorm, Black Noir and the TNT Twins. However, his team betrayed him due to his aggressive behavior toward them, and he was handed to the Russians, who conducted dozens of agonizing experiments on him over the next three decades. Soldier Boy will return in The Boys Season 5 and fans will see more of him with his son, Homelander.
Kripke spoke about the show at San Diego Comic-Con and explained what motivated them to bring back Ackles’ character in the final season. According to him, they wanted to highlight his relationship with his child. Kripke explained to Gameradar+, “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’s return to the show is not surprising because the character is still alive. Also, Kripke seemingly teased about his comeback after the third season. In a previous interview with Entertainment Weekly, the writer and TV producer said he could not imagine the show ending without another sighting of Soldier Boy. Kripke told EW, “The old TV adage is like, never kill anyone unless you really, really have to. Never close a door, open a window. We’ll all have to wait and see, but I can’t imagine the series ending without Soldier Boy making another appearance.” He also teased about a potential partnership between the father and son with a dysfunctional relationship by noting that Soldier Boy could “switch sides.”
He said:
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.
Viewers got a glimpse of the father and son’s strained relationship in Season 3. The Boys found Soldier Boy when they were on a mission in Russia and woke him up. He developed new powers, including generating explosive radiation when he was overwhelmed. They agreed that the Boys would help Soldier Boy find the other members of Payback if he killed Homelander. Soldier Boy, Homelander, and Billy Butcher fought, but all of them survived, and later on, Homelander learned that Soldier Boy was his biological dad. Soldier Boy and Homelander had a confrontation at the Vought Tower, with the former telling the latter he was a disappointment. Soldier Boy went on a rampage and fell out of the window with Queen Maeve and exploded. However, he survived, but his unconscious body was put back into a regulated coma and locked away. He made a brief appearance in Season 4’s post-credits, still unconscious in his cryosleep chamber, with Homelander getting emotional after learning his father was still alive.
The Soldier Boy played a huge role in Season 3 and his brief appearance in the fourth season left many disappointed because they expected to see more of him. Thus, the decision to bring him back in the final season is just right — it will appease disappointed fans and Kripke was right that there was more to explore in his relationship with his son. Homelander is an important character in the whole series and he has serious issues with his lack of relationship with his dad, so Soldier Boy’s appearance could probably help him address some personal issues. Also, they might bury the hatchet and work together due to their common enemy — Butcher. It will be heartwarming to see a reconciliation between a father and son if they indeed work together, and it’s exciting to see if their relationship will make them better supes.
The Boys Season 5 is expected to premiere in 2026.
