THE most recent episode of Amazon series The Boys surprised fans with a stunning revelation: that the recently-revived superhero Soldier Boy (played by Supernatural alum Jensen Ackles) was in fact the biological father of series villain Homelander (Anthony Starr).
In an interview with Variety following the episode’s release, Ackles admitted that even as a fan of the show, he had not seen that twist coming.
He explained: “I just kind of assumed that the only connection was the fact that they were contextualised in the same way, that Soldier Boy was the original Homelander and got in the way and they replaced him with a shinier, newer version of the same thing.
“But in no way, shape or form did I think that there was an actual bloodline connection. So it kind of threw me for a loop.”
As fans who read the original The Boys comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson know, Soldier Boy is not Homelander’s father in the source material, but instead a blindly loyal subordinate. There had been questions as to why his character was changed so much for the show, but following the twist, it has become obvious why showrunner Eric Kripke made the change.
In a separate interview, Kripke said: “I’m like, of course, because many of our main characters are dealing with issues of their parents and parenting ... Homelander should have to deal with his dad. So it all fell together.”
Now that the secret is out, Ackles was asked what that would mean for Soldier Boy going forward, as he has made a promise to The Boys’ Butcher to kill Homelander.
Ackles said: “The awkwardness of that realisation gets played out more in [the next episode]. We see that struggle that, not just Soldier Boy, but Homelander is having with that bomb-drop of information. Basically, Soldier Boy has some hard choices to figure out.”
This development should made for a fiery final episode of the season, which takes place on July 8.
