Posted in: Amazon Studios, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: amazon, Jensen Ackles, prime video, soldier boy, the boys

The Boys Season 4: Jensen Ackles Soldier Boy Post Just Christmas Wish?

Maybe it's just wishful thinking on our part, but it sure does feel like we keep hearing more and more about Jensen Ackles's Soldier Boy as production on the fourth season of Amazon and Showrunner & EP Eric Kripke's The Boys rolls along. In some ways, it's understandable because of how Soldier Boy was left alive (but on ice) at the end of the third season. And we've already gone on record to make the case as to why Soldier Boy would be the perfect counter for Congresswoman & VP Candidate Victoria "Vic" Neuman (Claudia Doumit) to have against Butcher (Karl Urban) & his crew and Homelander (Antony Starr). Plus, as beloved as Ackles is for his run on Supernatural with Jared Padalecki, he gained a whole new level of appreciation for his acting prowess by the time the season ended. So when Ackles takes to Instagram to post a video of his on-screen counterpart with a caption talking about how donning the costume again is his Christmas wish? Well, let's just say that it gets the fires of fans' dumpster fires of speculation raging about a fourth-season appearance.

"Love these peeps. Can't wait to throw the suit back on. That's my Christmas wish," wrote Ackles in the post's caption. Again, there are two ways to look at that. On one hand, Ackles could really be hoping for a Soldier Boy return, but there's nothing in motion. On the other hand, Ackles could be having a little fun teasing the fans, and then Kripke confirms on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day that Ackles is returning (maybe with a behind-the-scenes image from filming).

The Boys Season 3: A Look at Soldier Boy's Journey

And speaking of the third season, here's a look back at Soldier Boy's battles alongside & against Butcher (Karl Urban), Homelander (Antony Starr), Hughie (Jack Quaid), and Annie/Starlight (Erin Moriarty). Following that, we have the animated backstory on what went down between Soldier Boy and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell):

And from Vought International, we have a scene from the film Red Thunder, a look at Soldier Boy's Solid Gold appearance, and a look back at a PSA from 1982 (along with some "interesting" deleted footage):

And in this edition of Superhero Club, DC comic writer Stephanie Williams offers a rundown of Soldier Boy's Season 3 run and how he compares & contrasts with his comic book counterpart:

And then, the streaming service decided to compile all of Ackles' best moments while in full-on Soldier Boy during the third season (and ahead of his fourth season appearance if keeping our fingers crossed is worth a damn):

In the following video, we hear from Ackles, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Laz Alonso, and others about the character's impact. So for a look behind the scenes with Ackles and the rest of the cast as they do a deep dive into who Soldier Boy is and what makes him tick (and what ticks him off), check out the following featurette released earlier today:

The Boys Showrunner/EP Eric Kripke Discusses Season 4 & Beyond

In July, Kripke covered a ton of topics in his interview with Variety (check out the complete interview with a ton of other details here), with highlights focused on Butcher (Urban), Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), Starlight (Erin Moriarty), Soldier Boy (Ackles), and Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell):

So Should We Be Expecting Ryan to Go "Brightburn"? "Ryan is a really important piece of the story because he's half Becca, half Homelander. If Butcher can figure out how to get his shit together and get the kid back, that could be the single best weapon they have against Homelander. But vice versa. If Homelander wins the kid over, that's apocalyptic because then there's two Homelanders. It's like a child drama with apocalyptic stakes. It's like 'Kramer vs. Kramer' meets 'Avengers: Endgame.' So that will be a really rich story moving forward."

How Will Butcher React to Knowing He's on a "Crazy Ticking Clock"? "He's got so much to do that he hasn't done. And everything that he's tried to do up to this point has exploded in the most horrible way. What we find fascinating about the question we're asking about Butcher is, is he self-aware enough to realize that he's causing his own misfortune? Is he self-aware enough to actually see if he can change? Those are some of the interesting conversations we're starting to have for Season 4."

Maeve's Leaving Will Make Things Tougher for Starlight… at Least Until She Returns? "I don't think 'The Boys' will end without Maeve showing up again… We needed a way to sort of gracefully get Maeve out of the show, let her head for the exit. Obviously, we didn't want to kill her and fall into the tropes of gay characters and bisexual characters in shows getting killed. We wanted to do the opposite of that and send her off and give her a happy ending with Elena. The best way to do that was, well, take away her powers, and she's not useful in the fight anymore. And we did that because Annie can't really grow into her own until all the characters that are around to protect her are gone. It was important for her next step for her mentor characters and her protector characters to go away. And so it's only up to Annie. There's no one left but Annie. So what is she going to do?"

Black Noir Is Dead! Long Live Black Noir! "Without spoiling anything, I will just say this: When you have a silent character in a mask, he's reasonably easy to recast… If you notice in the flashbacks of this season, it was a different actor [Fritzy-Klevans Destine], and perhaps the reason we did that is so that if we were to recast Noir, we could recast him with Nathan [Mitchell, the original Black Noir actor].

Just Because Soldier Boy's on Ice Doesn't Mean He Can't Return… Right? "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."

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