Will Soldier Boy Give Homelander a Run for His Money in 'The Boys' Season 3?

Is Jensen Ackles' character Soldier Boy going to be a good guy on The Boys Season 3? Jensen, who is best known for his role as Dean Winchester in Supernatural, will be a key part of Season 3 of Amazon Prime's Emmy-nominated satirical superhero series The Boys. The show is based on a comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. In the world of The Boys, superheroes — or "supes" — are real and revered by the public.

Only a vigilante group of misfits called "The Boys" know the truth. The supes of the world aren't heroic in the slightest, particularly the top group of supes known as "The Seven." If Captain America had a homicidal manipulative cousin, it would be Homelander (Antony Starr), the leader of The Seven. The Seven are really artificial heroes, manufactured by the extremely shady corporation Vought International.

Soldier Boy is described as the original superhero in Season 2 of The Boys. While Homelander could be Captain America's homicidal family member, Soldier Boy's character is essentially a more direct spoof of Captain America.

Given the track record of most of the supes on the show so far, we're guessing Soldier Boy will probably not be a good guy.

As The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke told TV Guide, "There's a history of Vought that we're starting to map out because Soldier Boy has been a mainstay of Vought for decades. He was like John Wayne there, and so as a result, we're writing the history of Vought and how all the characters weave in together."

In the comics, Soldier Boy leads a group of supes — Team Payback — which consists of him, the racist Nazi Stormfront (Aya Cash in Season 2), the Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden), Tek Knight, Swatto, and Eagle the Archer. The Crimson Countess will be a part of Season 3 as well. Stormfront's possible Season 3 return after being burnt to a crisp in the Season 2 finale has not been confirmed.

So what will Soldier Boy's purpose be in Season 3? In the comics there are several iterations of Soldier Boy. One Soldier Boy is truly the first supe, having fought in WWII. A more cowardly iteration of Soldier Boy so desperately wants to join The Seven that he agrees to do sexual favors for Homelander in exchange for a spot on the team. Eric Kripke confirmed on Twitter that that particular Soldier Boy/Homelander interaction won't occur in Season 3.

So based on that confirmation and Kripke describing Jensen's Soldier Boy as a "John Wayne" figure, it looks like Season 3 will be going with the true first iteration of the Soldier Boy character from the comics, as opposed to the more cowardly present-day Soldier Boy. Does that mean that Soldier Boy can make Homelander quake in his boots? We'll have to wait and see when Season 3 drops on Amazon Prime.

Given that Season 3 of The Boys just wrapped filming this September, fans of the series probably won't be getting another season until next year. It'd be great if Season 3 was available to stream before 2021 ends, but if it takes longer for Eric Kripke and the production company to edit the show to deliver a better story, then Season 3 will definitely be worth the wait. But currently, there is no confirmed release date for Season 3 yet.

Stream Seasons 1 and 2 of The Boys on Amazon Prime.