Warning: Spoilers for The Boys to follow.
It was already all the good news we could ever ask for when The Boys was renewed for a third season, so when we found out that the show’s most exciting new character, Soldier Boy, was going to be brought to life by Jensen Ackles, the buzz soared to unprecedented heights.
To say that Ackles was a smart casting choice would be undercutting too many nuances; not only is his diverse toolkit perfect for a character as multifaceted as Soldier Boy, but his reunion with showrunner Eric Kripke, who created Supernatural, the home of Ackles’ most famous role in Dean Winchester, guaranteed an effective chemistry that would get the most out of him.
We didn’t get to see much of Soldier Boy in the first two weeks of The Boys‘ return, but he finally got to bring his gravitas in episode five, and fans from all over, whose mouths have been absolutely watering in anticipation, are all too happy to declare that the wait has paid off.
It seemed as though everyone had a different reason to praise the character, whether it was his terrifying aura that dares to rival that of Homelander, or the more sympathetic side that Ackles carefully balanced in the wake of The Boys‘ gritty flavor.
It’s safe to say that everyone is sold on Soldier Boy, and we can only expect his role to expand as time goes on; a gracious blessing for us, a fear-inducing bind for our protagonists.
The Boys is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.