Even as The Boys is coming to an end, Jensen Ackles is already hyping up the next spin-off in the franchise!
Some may find it a little ironic that The Boys is turning into a franchise. Most of the dark humor of the Prime Video hit is how it skewers superhero movies and parodies “cinematic universes.” The franchise already had Gen V, looking at a class of supes attending a school for the “gifted” that fell into chaos.
Next up is Vought Rising, a prequel set in the 1950s showing how the sinister corporation grew in power. It will star Jensen Ackles, reprising his role as Soldier Boy, the uber-violent and twisted ersatz Captain America of this world.
Speaking to Collider, Ackles teased the show and how it will give fans a much different Soldier Boy than the one they know.
“Listen, it's going to feel familiar, as far as the format of it all, because I think that's taking what really works with The Boys and trying to do something a little bit different with it, certainly as a period piece in the 1950s. But I'll speak personally. The Soldier Boy aspect of it is I'm used to playing and we're used to seeing Soldier Boy in modern times, but he is an, I like to say, analog man in a digital world, so he's a fish out of water with what we know of him now. Now we're getting to see him be relevant, getting to see him in his actual environment where he feels like this is where he belongs. He's the top dog. But you also get to see the experience as to why he ended up the way he did. We get to kind of peel back the layers of what truly happened in that time.”
This is an interesting direction for the character. Much of Soldier Boy’s presence in The Boys has played on his very politically incorrect views clashing with the 2020s mentality. Here, we see Soldier Boy no doubt living off his fame as a World War II hero (never mind most of that was fake) and bossing around the team that will become the Seven. That would shine more light on how Soldier Boy turns into the monster we know.
The show should have a good push, but how long can it go?
The Boys ending after five seasons seems a surprising move, given how successful it is. That seems to fit the storyline with a question of whether Vought Rising is intended as a limited series or more seasons.
Ackles clarified, “No, I think the intent is to do multiple seasons. When they pitched it, they were like, “Hey, we're thinking about doing this prequel thing, going back to the 1950s with Soldier Boy.” I don't think I let them finish the sentence before I was like, “Yes!” But I know that the intent is to have it be a multi-season show.”
It may be that the show won’t always focus on Soldier Boy, with future seasons expanding on the 1950s setting in this world. We can see more of Vought, their influence on American politics and culture, other characters who have only been mentioned and not shown, and maybe some new ones. One can only imagine how events like the Civil Rights Movement or Vietnam would have fallen out in this world to be fodder for future seasons.
It’s expected that Vought Rising amps up production as soon as The Boys ends to continue this world, and Ackles hints the show will have all the insanity fans have loved about The Boys in an era that’s more entertaining.