Jensen Ackles is the captain now… or rather, the Captain America-esque figure known as Soldier Boy.
The Supernatural alum joins the world of The Boys in the show’s first off-the-rails teaser trailer for season 3. The footage, acting as a montage of wild moments we can look forward to come June, dropped as showrunner Eric Kripke and cast members assembled for a panel at the SXSW Film Festival this weekend. And there’s a lot to unpack.
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Let’s start with Soldier Boy. While season 2’s Stormfront (Aya Cash) was the first subject to get super powers from Compound V, Soldier Boy was the first to be packaged as a Vought International superhero. Operating in the era of World War II, he was off fighting Nazis in Germany and leading his own team of heroes known as Payback. (More on that team here.)
The footage shows clips of Soldier Boy in action with his signature shield, but the character isn’t caged to flashbacks. The final moments reveal a bearded Soldier Boy, and that’s because Ackles previously said his character has “been essentially in captivity for a while” before the Boys gang finds him in present day.
Also in the present is Crimson Countess, played by The Walking Dead veteran Laurie Holden. The Scarlet Witch-looking supe is now working at Vought Land where she’s seen flexing her powers for park-goers, but she was once a member of Payback. Kripke previously told EW that the writers are using the story of Soldier Boy and Payback to examine the history of supes in America as a way to comment on the political divisiveness in the present.
Prime Video/Youtube Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy jumps into action in ‘The Boys’ season 3.
The other big reveal is something Amazon teased earlier in the week: Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is getting super powers. Laser vision and super strength, actually. The leader of the Boys is spotted raging out with his new ability.
Other things we can glean from the footage:
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Hughie (Jack Quaid) does not seem to be having a great time in his new role in Congresswoman Neuman’s Federal Bureau of Supe Affairs.
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Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is still making people explode off in the shadows.
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Someone is trying to track down supes. A hand turns on a light that illuminates a cork board with photos of targets, including the supe name Europa and Soldier Boy. The latter is noted “missing.”
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A Train (Jessie Usher) gets a new uniform and pulls a Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad stunt by filming a commercial involving protestors for a canned drink called Turbo Rush.
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Starlight’s ex-boyfriend, Supersonic (Miles Gaston Villanueva) shows off his moves as an ex-boy band member.
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The Vought PR folks found a new way to let off steam.
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Vought News Network anchor Cameron Coleman (Matthew Edison) is now fully on the show after starring in a series of webisodes.
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Someone pulls out a patriotic dildo!
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The Deep (Chace Crawford) seems to be getting into more sexual situations with aquatic animals. This time it’s an octopus.
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Homelander finds a new source of milk.
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Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) appears to be getting her very own musical moment with Frenchie (Tomer Capone).
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We get a brief glimpse of Sean Patrick Flanery as Gunpowder, another former member of Payback, getting super-punched by Billy into a parked car.
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And then, of all people to willingly sit down at a table together, it’s Billy and Homelander coming face to face again.
The song, in case you were wondering, is a new release by Imagine Dragons called “Bones,” which is the first new music from their next album Mercury — Act 2.
The Boys season 3 will premiere its first three episodes on June 3 on Amazon Prime Video before segueing into a weekly release. The final is scheduled to drop on July 8.
Watch the first trailer above.
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