A lot can happen in one year’s time, as Jensen Ackles has just discovered. The actor, who’s probably best known for his role as Dean Winchester on Supernatural, wrapped his run on that series after 15 seasons in September 2020. Exactly one year to the day after shooting his final episode on that series, Ackles wrapped filming for his next series role as Soldier Boy on The Boys. The coincidence did not go unnoticed as Ackles addresses it in a new Instagram video.
“Alright gang, fun fact for you,” Ackles says in the footage. “A year ago, today – Sept. 10, 2020 – was the last day on the set of Supernatural. Today – Sept. 10, 2021 – is the last day on the set of The Boys. Coincidence?” In the caption, the actor adds, “What is the universe trying to tell me?”
Not much has been revealed about the storylines that are to come in season 3 of The Boys, but we do know that Ackles will be front and center as Soldier Boy. Inspired by a character from the original comic books, Soldier Boy is a direct parody of Captain America. Because Ackles had previously auditioned for the role of Steve Rogers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, landing that role is another full circle moment for Ackles. It hasn’t been easy, as stepping into the role of a superhero also meant rigorous training for the actor.
In the comics, Soldier Boy is depicted as a bit of a bumbling coward who’s totally subservient to Homelander (Antony Starr). Some creative changes have been made with bringing him to the small screen, and he’s going to be much more dangerous with Ackles in the role. Showrunner and series creator Eric Kripke has teased that the character won’t be much like his comic book counterpart and may in fact prove to be a serious threat to Homelander.
“Season 3 delves a lot more into the history of how we got here through this character of Soldier Boy,” explained Kripke, per Vanity Fair. “We were able to dig into both the history of the country and also really look at toxic masculinity, and masculine roles, and what a s**t-show that’s overall caused. This whole f***ing, independent Marlboro man thing.”
“We had written Soldier Boy long before I cast Jensen,” added Kripke, explaining how the casting happened. “The majority of the guys we were looking at for that part were actually quite older than Jensen. Because it’s a World War II hero. But it’s so funny how these things sometimes happen. Jensen called me and I’m not on the show anymore but we keep in touch and text every so often.”
Kripke, who’s also teased that Soldier Boy isn’t a good guy at all, goes on to explain, “But he happened to call me and we were just chatting and I’m like well I’m prepping Season 3 of the show, and I have this character Soldier Boy, and it was a real pain in the to cast, and I haven’t really found anyone. Hey, wait a minute, do you want to do it? I sent him the script, and he’s like, oh my God, I totally want to do this. Less than a week later, he was cast. He just happened to call that day, is one of the big reasons he got that part.”
There’s a lot of excitement surrounding The Boys‘ return, especially with Ackles now a part of the cast. When he started filming for the new season, tens of thousands of fans banded together to wish him luck with the role. Unfortunately, a premiere date for season 3 hasn’t yet been announced, but it’s good to know that filming has been wrapped. For now, you can watch the first two seasons on Amazon Prime Video.