Artist Greg Hopwood revealed on Twitter his concept art for Soldier Boy, the Captain America parody that’ll be brought to life by Supernatural’s star Jensen Ackles on the third season of The Boys.
We’ve already got a peek at Ackles wearing Soldier Boy’s uniform, which’s really faithful to Hopwood’s concept art. Nevertheless, Hopwood’s version of the hero is a lot different from his comic book counterpart, as the red-white-and-blue was replaced with military green. The series uniform is also closer to combat armor, while in the comics Soldier Boy uses tight shorts. It’s easy to understand the changes, however.
First of all, as the series will add Soldier Boy as one of the main characters, the hero’s design needs to be taken seriously by the viewers, while the comic book Soldier Boy is just a coward that’s mostly made fun of. In the comics, the Soldier Boy uniform is also a lot closer to Captain America’s and this kind of direct comparison is something the TV show tries to avoid. The Boys also needs to stand by itself, instead of only being seen as a parody.
We still don’t know how Soldier Boy will be introduced in the TV show, but in the original comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the hero is always eager to join The Seven. His goals are never achieved, partly because Soldier Boy is not as degenerated as Homelander (Antony Starr). Soldier Boy never curses, likes to follow rules, and even refuses to abuse his power for sex; definitely not someone Homelander could trust.
The contrast between the two heroes will be particularly interesting to see if Season 3 really adapts the “Herogasm” storyline, as teased by showrunner Eric Kripke. In the storyline, Vough’s heroes are taken to a spa where they can spend the week using drugs and abusing sex workers, a twisted company vacation offered to feed the ego of the supers.
The first two seasons of The Boys are available right now on Amazon Prime Video. There’s still no release date for season 3 but you can expect to read all about it here at Collider. Check Ackles' Soldier Boy concept art below.