It’s time to salute Soldier Boy! Amazon Prime Video has released a first look at Jensen Ackles in his superhero suit ahead of Season 3 of “The Boys.”
Designed by Laura Jean “L.J.” Shannon and concept artist Greg Hopwood, the suit embodies military green worthy of, as Shannon puts it, “the original bad-ass.”
“Our goal was to highlight a bygone era of overt masculinity and grit. With that pedigree we dove headfirst into baking in an all-American quality grounded in a military soldier’s practicality with a heavy dose of old school cowboy swagger,” Shannon says. “We knew that the actor had to have Steve McQueen looks and chops with a John Wayne attitude — luckily Jensen Ackles embodies all of that.”
Ackles steps into the third season of the comic book-inspired drama as the original superhero, created by Compound V in the 1940s. He fought in World War II (killing German soldier by the dozen, it has been said) and then became the first super celebrity and a mainstay of American culture. In the comics, he was the leader of Payback, the second-strongest superhero team behind the Seven. (Though it should be noted he always wanted to join the Seven and mistakenly thought sleeping with Homelander was a test before being allowed to join.)
When it comes to Soldier Boy’s abilities, he is strong and agile, able to dodge bullets and blows equally easily. He also has a shield that he uses as a weapon, which has been incorporated into Ackles’ costume. (For a closer look at the shield, visit his Instagram.)
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“The Boys” series creator and showrunner Eric Kripke previously called Soldier Boy “mostly just kind of bumbling and subserviant to Homelander” and noted that as his writers’ room was working on bringing the new character into the fold of the show, they considered him “one of these guys that’s been around for decades of Vought history. And he was Homelander before Homelander, so he’s from a different era, but he’s got the ego and the ambition — it just comes across in a different way because he’s from a different time.”
In adapting the character for the screen, Kripke knew Solider Boy was a fan favorite. Casting proved no different, as Kripke previously worked with Ackles on the long-running demon-hunting broadcast drama “Supernatural.”
“When I cast Jensen as Soldier Boy, the first thing I said was, ‘I’m most excited for you, because of the amazing process you’ll go through with LJ, our Super Suit designer,'” Kripke says now. “It took six months but the experience surpassed Jensen’s expectations. L.J. has made a work of art that tips its hat to the WWII Soldier Boy from the comics, while taking it in a sleek new direction. And if you think the photos are cool, just wait till you see Jensen in action. It’s one of my very favorite suits. Also, now you can quit clogging my Twitter notifications with demands to see it.”