Eric Kripke is gearing up for the third season of his hit Amazon Prime series, The Boys, and is looking forward to shaking things up.
One of the significant changes is introducing a new character named Soldier Boy, played by Jensen Ackles. Ackles and Kripke previously worked together on Supernatural, and the casting came naturally, even if Ackles wasn’t what Kripke originally had in mind.
When asked about the upcoming third season, Eric Kripke shared this to Vanity Fair about the season and its newest character:
“Season 3 delves a lot more into the history of how we got here through this character of Soldier Boy. We were able to dig into both the history of the country and also really look at toxic masculinity, and masculine roles, and what a shishow that’s overall caused. This whole fucking, independent Marlboro man thing.”
Fans have loved the idea of Jensen Ackles in the role, but he wasn’t the first pick for Solider Boy. They were going for someone older, but a phone call changed all of that.
“We had written Soldier Boy long before I cast Jensen. The majority of the guys we were looking at for that part were actually quite older than Jensen. Because it’s a World War II hero,” says Kripke. “He happened to call me and we were just chatting and I’m like, ‘Well I’m prepping season 3 of the show, and I have this character Soldier Boy, and it was a real pain to cast, and I haven’t really found anyone. Hey, wait a minute, do you want to do it?’ I sent him the script, and he’s like, ‘Oh my God, I totally want to do this.'”
The Boys is fresh off a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards. There’s no word when the third season will arrive, but fans are hoping for early 2022.
Jensen Ackles joins newcomers Laurie Holden as Crimson Countess, Katia Winter (Blood & Treasure, Sleepy Hollow) as villain Little Nina, Sean Patrick Flanery (Dexter) as Gunpowder, Nick Wechsler (Revenge) as Blue Hawk, and Miles Gaston Villanueva (Law & Order: True Crime: —The Menendez Murders) as Supersonic.
Expected returnees include Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Tomer Capon, Laz Alonso, Karen Fukuhara, Antony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Erin Moriarty, Jessie Usher, Nathan Mitchell, Chace Crawford, Claudia Doumit, Colby Minifie, and Giancarlo Esposito.