Soldier Boy Appears in Season 4, But It’s Not What We Hoped For, or Wanted

“The Boys,” one of the world’s most popular superhero series, recently concluded its fourth season on July 18, 2024. While initial reactions to the season were lukewarm, it quickly gained momentum, ultimately earning Certified Fresh status with high ratings.

The fourth season was filled with many fascinating and surprising moments, most of which we covered in our weekly reviews of the show and its episodes. One such topic was the anticipated appearance of Soldier Boy, a key character from the previous season whose story in the series is far from over.

Although we accurately predicted Soldier Boy’s appearance in the fourth season of “The Boys,” his post-credits cameo was quite disappointing. However, it does set high expectations for what lies ahead in Season 5. Let’s delve into that here.

Soldier Boy was both an intriguing and popular character when he first appeared in “The Boys.” As a super who collaborated with The Boys against Homelander, he ultimately revealed himself to be not much better. Despite this, he had one of the more compelling character arcs in the series. Although Season 3 seemingly concludes with his death, both Kripke and Ackles have confirmed that Soldier Boy’s story is far from over, a topic we’ve previously discussed.

In this context, we correctly predicted Soldier Boy’s return in Season 4. All the information and online hints (detailed in our special report) indicated that Jensen Ackles would indeed make an appearance this season.

Fans were hopeful for a more substantial role for Soldier Boy, but as the final episode approached, it became clear that his involvement in Season 4 would be minimal, culminating in a simple cameo—exactly what we got. Soldier Boy appears alive in the post-credits scene of Season 4, which was a letdown, though there is a silver lining.

To understand why this cameo was so disappointing, let’s first consider Soldier Boy’s significance. As one of the series’ major characters with a strong development arc, and with Jensen Ackles delivering an impressive performance, fans naturally expected more. Seeing such a prominent character reduced to a brief post-credits appearance was disappointing because he had the potential to play a much larger role, and that was what fans were hoping for.

The main problem with this post-credits cameo is that it adds nothing to the character or the show overall. We already knew Soldier Boy was alive and that Homelander was unaware of this fact. We knew he was being kept hidden and expected his eventual return. Therefore, this cameo was particularly disappointing because it offered no new information or development for either the series or the character.

However, to defend the writers, this cameo does make sense within the context of the season. This was Homelander’s season, and while it’s disappointing that Soldier Boy didn’t play a larger role, a bigger involvement might have been excessive. In the grand scheme, it’s probably for the best. And that brings us to the silver lining.

Given the current situation and the cameo hinting at Soldier Boy’s return, we can anticipate a much more significant role for the character in Season 5. This expectation aligns with the announced team-up between Ackles and Jared Padalecki, suggesting that Season 5 will feature more of Soldier Boy and promises to be the most thrilling season yet.

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