Posted in: Amazon Studios, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: amazon, payback, preview, season 3, soldier boy, the boys

The Boys: Payback Team Photo; Ackles Teases Soldier Boy "Mission"

With the first three episodes of Amazon and Showrunner & EP Eric Kripke's The Boys currently streaming and receiving serious praise from critics and viewers alike (check out our review here), the streaming service was kind enough to release a promo image of the (in)famous Payback. Without wandering into spoiler territory, it's pretty safe to say that this was taken before things went to s**t in Nicaragua. That means we have Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) and Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) being joined by Gunpowder (Sean Patrick Flanery, Gattlin Griffith in flashback); Jack Doolan's Tommy TNT & Kristin Booth's Tessa TNT, the TNT Twins; Ryan Blakely's Mindstorm, Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell, Fritzy-Klevans Destine in flashback) and Joel Labelle's Swatto. Following that, Kripke & Ackles offer some more intel on why Ackles was perfect for Soldier Boy, and why Soldier Boy represents every bad aspect of masculinity during a recent interview.

Kripke on Why Ackles Was Perfect for Soldier Boy: "Jensen, he's the best. Obviously, I've worked with him for a minute and everything I throw at him, I know he can do. He can be charming. He can be funny. He can be scary. He can credibly do action. He can make you cry, and so I needed somebody who could do all those colors. Once Jensen was locked in, it [was] a relief for me, really, because I know him so well that I can write really confidently."

When Soldier Boy Returns, Ackles Teases That He Returns with a Mission: "Playing the oldest superhero on the scene with a bunch of new faces, essentially, it was… Just kind of keeping him on mission, on task. He's back, he's got vendetta, and he's got a list of people that he's checking off. So it was more of just watching him go through this physical journey, not necessarily an emotional journey."

For Kripke, Soldier Boy Personifies That "Marlboro Man Bullshit" Masculinity We've Seen in Real Life: "Soldier Boy to me is very symbolic of 60 plus years of what pop culture has defined as masculine and that macho John Wayne, Marlboro Man bullshit. His arc was presenting as that, but then revealing more and more what a sham that is and how nobody is like that and it never existed, and yet we've poisoned generation after generation of boys by telling them they somehow have to meet this impossible ideal," Kripke explained. "One of the reasons we had such a piece of shit president who thought it was more important to project vitality over compassion, the reason Putin is who he is. So much of it is because these people are trying to be macho instead of being human. So I wanted to give Soldier Boy that arc."

Vought used Memorial Day as an excuse to release a 1984 public service announcement from Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) urging kids to stay away from drugs as a way of "honoring" their original supe (and also boost his merchandising sales). Well, it didn't take long before Frenchie (Tomer Capon) would get his hands on the stuff that was left on the editing room floor… the stuff that paints a very real picture of Soldier Boy that Vought would never want to see the light of day. Until now…

For a look back at Soldier Boy living a diva "do as I say, not as I do" lifestyle, check out the leaked footage from that (in)famous PSA message:

Now here's a look back to the only version that Vought believed would ever see the light of day (clearly, they forgot who they were dealing with):

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