Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV | Tagged: gen v, the boys, vought rising

The Boys Showrunner on Finale Impact on "Vought Rising," Gen V Future

The Boys' Eric Kripke discusses the finale, how it could impact "Vought Rising"/Soldier Boy and the Gen V cast moving forward, and more.

Published Wed, 20 May 2026 12:37:12 -0500

by Ray Flook

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While we're not going to be throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign, we do want to give you a quick heads-up that there will be some minor spoilers during our look at what The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke had to share about the future of the show's universe moving forward. During a Wednesday night screening event for the series finale, a teaser for The Boys: Vought Rising, starring Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash, was shown to those in attendance. You may have noticed that we didn't refer to it as a prequel series, even though it's been billed as such (and the teaser pretty much drove that home). That's one of the minor spoilers we'll be addressing below, along with more from Kripke on where things would've headed with Marie (Jaz Sinclair) and the Gen V crew if Season 3 became a reality, and how those characters and themes could still be in play moving forward.

As you already know, Homelander (Antony Starr) slapped a cheapshot chokehold on Ackles's Soldier Boy and threw him back into deep freeze during the show's penultimate episode. Well, Soldier Boy stayed there during the finale – and no, there wasn't an end credits scene (despite "leaks" claiming otherwise). But during the finale, we learned that Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) is being brought back as Vought's interim CEO to help right its wrongs – meaning that it would be safe to assume that Edgar now has custody of Soldier Boy. Does this mean that "Vought Rising" could be looking at more than just one timeline, that we're getting a look at Soldier Boy's past as some kind of prep for how Edgar may choose to use him in his new vision of Vought? When asked that question during an interview with Deadline Hollywood, Kripke offered an interesting, "No comment."

What Kripke elaborated on was that the finale was meant to be a thematic handoff to Gen V, with Marie meant to take over the spotlight from Annie (Erin Moriarty). "Had we done more 'Gen V,' we were very clearly signaling in the finale that the torch was being passed from Annie to Marie for the good supe you're following. I would love to find a way to continue that story. We're in the very embryonic stage of seeing if there are any ideas that we're really loving," Kripke shared with Variety.

Regarding how the finale fallout could fuel what's ahead, Kripke continued, "It's like all these loose nukes. You have Stan Edgar basically disavowing relationships with superheroes, and so these people who have been coddled and protected this whole time are now suddenly out in the wild. Who tries to be Jessica Jones, and who tries to be a super villain? It leads to some really fascinating places that I would love to see, and the hope was we were going to put the 'Gen V' kids in the middle of all that. But hopefully we still will, and we can bring some of those characters into some of these stories that we're talking about."

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