Should probably clarify the whole “Soldier Boy isn’t straight” thing bc a couple of y’all are a lil confused- so this is just my interpretation of the information Butcher was given from MM at the beginning of season 3 (ep. 2). This was regarding Gunpowder and the abuse leveled at him when he was SB’s sidekick. It’s never *explicitly* stated that this abuse is sexual. Butcher makes a joke alluding to this, but it is Butcher…so who knows? Gunpowder does deny it. People in the comments have reminded me that this is not a sure or confirmed thing (except for the comics version, apparently). I do think it is rather open-ended though. It could’ve happened, but it’s not an absolute certainty. Either way, should not have said that he was gay. Just some extrapolation on my part and I apologize for the confusion! P.S. *No*, I didn’t assume he was gay just bc he’s hot.

Counterpoint, Jensen Ackles is a very attractive man

I think fans like Soldier Boy because he never switches sides or lies. He is 100% consistent.

Not to discredit soldier boy at all, but I think part of the reason we love him so much is because we hate homelander so much(mostly because Anthony Starr as homelander is God tier acting), that we are willing to put up with soldier boy just to finally kill homelander

Another reason why people like him is because he was the only character with more than 2 brain cells in the finale.

It honestly felt like half way through the season they realized “ah shit, we made him way too likable” and started editing the script to make him more of a piece of shit but the damage was already done by that point

Another reason is that he wasn't enhanced by the Russians He was TORTURED For years And after he came out he did seem different and somewhat emphatic of his past Him not joining homelander and even agreeing to take down homelander down was enough for the fans to hope he might become somewhat good Butcher turning on soldier boy cost them an opportunity and now there is a stronger mini version of homelander that's growing up to be evil.

So crazy to think that Jensen Ackles considered playing Captain America for the MCU at one point, Jensen is literally Soldier Boy, he was literally BORN to play him. I can’t see anyone else play Soldier Boy.

At a few Supernatural conventions, Jensen Ackles has been asked the difference between playing a hero like Dean Winchester and a villain like Soldier Boy, and he said an inspiration for his performance was Lee Marvin's response to a similar question: that he has "never played a bad guy in his life." Soldier Boy genuinely believes he is a good guy. That sincerity is hilarious and awful in one so wrong-headed, but a strong performance can make it almost sympathetic. The audience might end up rooting for such a character to become the good guy he believes he is, and maybe part of the tragedy of the character's story is that mismatch between the audience's hopes and the character's reality. Who doesn't love a good redemption arc, but what happens if the character in question tramples all over that arc? Makes me wonder where Soldier Boy's story is headed, if he even returns at all (I hope so).

While morally grey characters can be interesting, there is something refreshing about an unrelenting piece of work as a villain that makes them a palate cleanser for people who are tired of mushy characters who won't own their behavior or give excuses. The man is a jerk and he makes no bones about it

Wait Soldier Boy was a villain? News to me.

I don't think Soldier Boy knew about the Bill Cosby arrest. He was just bringing up someone he thougt he knew from before he was captured. Also with how strong Soldier Boy is he probably didn't realize the drinks were spiked. Huey said there is a lot to unpack there. Also yes he is a bad person but he at least isn't an active threat to civilians as long as his PTSD doesn't trigger. Even when he saw people doing stuff he doesn't agree with he didn't go over beat the hell out of them he just rolled his eyes or said some jab while watching the TV.

I think its 3 key reasons. -Homelander is worse to deal with -Jensen ackles as an actor. -And soldierboy being fun even though hes a bad guy. I'm genuinely glad jensen and jared managed to avoid the CW curse.

it’s hard to hate jensen

Homelander: Liquid Snake Butcher: Solid Snake Soldier Boy: Big Boss Hughie: Naked Raiden Venom Snake: Black Noir

Soldier Boy is liked because he feels flawed but redeemable, unlike Homelander. We see several examples of him caring for others. For one, he seems genuinely remorseful when he accidentally blows up in New York. He also seemed to care for Crimson Countess, looking devastated when she says she hates him. The next time we see him, he's angry about what happened in Afghanistan after having presumably served there, further showing some semblance of care about what he was fighting for. After being tortured for 30 years, he's disgusted upon coming into contact with Homelander because he realizes how Homelander is a reflection of the horrible person he himself used to be.

I think the reason people were upset about Butcher turning on Soldier Boy in the finale is that its shown his powers remove compound V from supes and it doesn't usually outright kill them. Ryan and Homelander likely would've survived the blast but been left powerless. Ryan could've gone on to live as normal as a life as a kid put in such a horrible situation could and Homelander could've been taken off the playing field for good.

to add to his complexity, he seemed to have genuine remorse for killing a bunch of people when he exploded in the streets after his PTSD episode

I thought it was, from a purely "greater good" point of view, illogical turning on soldier boy for one reason: soldier boy has been and can be contained. Sure he was going to murder a child, but in exchange of finally ridding the world from the stain that is Homelander, someone who actually can't be contained, it was worth the sacrifice.

Part of it is probably to do with Jensen Ackles just OOZING charisma. He's the one guy who could kick a puppy and a significant number of people would probably be like "oh okay, thats fine".

I wish they explained soldier boy killing MM's family better I still have no idea how tf that all went down. I know he threw a car into their home but why and how? was he fighting someone and the car he threw accidentally killed MM's family or did soldier boy just decide "fuck this family in particular"?

Soldier boy is liked because he does not care. He does not try to hide anything, he act the way he is. In a show where nearly every character is manupulative he stands out as different.

MM's family was a mistake, and Ryan is a second homelander in that fight. No where is it clear that he "loves" killing children, and compared to the rest of the superheroes he's not THAT bad.

Whenever Soldier Boy was on screen I was always entertained

My problem was I only saw Dean from Supernatural in a costume so thats why I didn't want him to lose

"I'm not thirsting over this mAn"💅💅💅

Reasons no one wanted to lose soldier boy: 50% because Jensen Ackles aka dean winchester plays him 50% he isn't scared to run the fade with HL

Honestly, a great twist I was hoping would occur in s3 was Homelander simply dying, and then they could pivot into making Soldierboy the new main antagonist. It would have been shocking, but I think it could have really worked too!

Wait hold on where is it stated that he is homosexual in the show, I’m genuinely curious that caught me off guard, in the comics he is I mean everyone fucked everything in there but when is it said in the show wat episode?

Bro loved them GILFS! What’s not to love?!

The thing is, I don't think he is a villain. His motives aren't exactly evil anymore and they don't exactly oppose our heroes. He's a bad person, but his goals aline with our heroes and each are about the same culpability for his action in modern day. I still say that they didn't need to stop soldier boy to save Ryan because his goal wasn't to kill the kid, just uphold his deal and think he'd understand if butcher said he has his own deal to uphold. I think this is why I still see him as anti-hero/occasional antagonist, not really a villain and probably adds to his likeability

It was surprising just how quickly how Soldier Boy became one of my favorite characters, thanks in no small part to Jensen, he is just so charismatic. One issue I did have with the season was at the end of the fight in the finale where they administered the gas to knock him out, where MM douses him in it and calls him a ‘racist’ piece of shit. Honestly, that made me blink because it feels like something that came out of nowhere, and I asked out loud ‘how is he racist?’ Sexiest? For sure. Toxic? Most definitely. But racist? Huh? I know the obvious point people would bring up is that he killed MM’s family, who were all black, but when confronted with that from MM in Herogasm, Soldier Boy said ‘which one?’ While this could imply that he murdered multiple black families on purpose, I always saw it as he killed so many people and families, not just black, that him saying which one meant that he didn’t bother to care and that many of them may have just been collateral damage, not purposefully and racially done. If the show was trying to portray him as racist, they probably should have done more to show that before they threw out that line, because all his interactions say otherwise. He beat up Black Noir because Soldier Boy felt that Noir was trying to ‘move on up in the world’ and challenge his popularity, he even says that Axel Foley is funny while Noir isn’t. He was apparently friends with Bill Cosby, and when he saw a gay couple on the streets of New York, he didn’t even look disgusted or anything, just surprised, even befuddled. Not really trying to defend him, he is still a shit human being, but I feel like the show was trying to depict SB as something he wasn’t or didn’t put in the work enough to show this ‘racist’ side. It could just all be from MM’s perspective but if the show did show more instance of this I would be okay with it, it’s just a weird nitpick that I can’t help but point out and cringe at.

Long story short. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. He’s garbage but at least a HINT of sympathy, NOT EMPATHY, just sympathy. Homelander is gonna peak and be crazy and no can stop him. Why not fire a glass canon? At least they know how to stop Soldier Boy if need be. But he also listens to “reason” can be persuaded and even better…looks a good drink. That’s an easy enemy to keep down and out of politics and offing more people with his recklessness

I don't really see soldier boy as a villain, just an asshole with superpowers, he didn't "murder MM's family" on purpose, he was just being an idiot and throwing a car into a house without thinking about the consequences, i don't think he's good, just alot worse than Homelander

Another reason for liking him that a lot of people don't give him enough credit for is that he seemingly gets shit done. A lot of superhero shows, and TV shows in general for that matter these days, have characters constantly fretting over whether or not they're doing the right thing. Equally, main characters get in dire straits because they won't kill the villain/have to make some grand social commentary gesture. In a show that is ostensibly a satire of superheroes, The Boys has their characters do that superhero cliche constantly. So when a character, even if they're the bad guy, skips that crap and just does "the thing," it becomes a relief. After all, someone has to advance the plot.

random blink and you miss nudity at 2:46

His father wasn't wrong when he said he’d taken the easy way out and cheated, SB literally took a performance enhancing substance to become how powerful he is. That's cheating, clean and clear even by today’s rules. Putting twin-turbos V6 doesn't make it a V8, take them away and you're left with what actually is. Stark had it mostly right when he told Cap, “Everything special about you came from a bottle” in Cap’s case his heart and humanity made him special, the bottle just made him powerful too. It’s why Dr. Erskine chose him, he'd fled a country that had a wicked and powerful man instead of a good and powerful man.

The fact that soldier boy ended up being the bad guy by the end was so annoying and frustrating, he wasnt going to kill ryan, he was just getting him out of the way

Soldier boy is basically dean Winchester dialed to 11 and that's alright because it worked

The more they tried to make him seem bad the cooler he became

I think you forgot to mention, Soldier Boy was technically Right. Many people would still be alive if Butcher didn’t turn on him. Homelander would be dead and yes Ryan too but with what is happening to Ryan now it may have been better that way.

Soldier boy was likable tragic and a product of his time. Jensen's portrayal was perfect.

Originally. They were going to make him just as bad/much worse than Homelander. They were going to make the 'hazing' of Gunpowder and the rest of Payback much worse. But Jensen Ackles had the showrunners change the script because he refused to play a child abuser, being a parent himself. People don't like Soldier Boy because he is a good person. It's that compared to Homelander he's a much nicer and less evil guy. Homelander is just *that* bad.

The thing that drove me nuts is how multiple times they called him a 'racist pos' when he didn't do a single thing the entire series that was remotely racist. But this was also the season where they butchered the Blue Hawk storyline to jump on current events even though it makes no sense in the context of the universe.

The answer is because its Jensen Ackles

6:23 wait what? You just said soldier boy is closeted? What makes you say that?

Soldier Boy ❌ Sigma Boy ✅

I regret clicking this video

The most character defining moment was when he didn’t switch up despite HL being his son, having his grandson presented to him, but for butcher to be the one who switched up

People know Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy😱 Legends know him as Dean Winchester💀

The single and only reason I love Soldier Boy: Jensen Ackles. Jokes aside, this was my first introduction to this actor and my first thought was “that is the manliest looking and sounding man I’ve ever seen”. It’s like impossible not to get jealous as a guy when you see him lol

i think we all love soldier boy because yeah we hate homelander but also because he has the most potential to be good, like a train or lamp lighter. (but judging on how the show is i dont expect them to be redeemed expect homelander tbh. which lowkey sucks but i guess that is what keeps me interested is seeing what they do) edit: also how can you hate a man who is hunting down his "friends" who threw him in a RUSSIAN experimental prison

It’s mostly because Jensen Ackles is such a great actor and his charm is just too damn good. Plus having a villain that makes you love him and hate him is hard to do and great in the long run.

I think people like Soldier Boy because he contrasts Homelander directly. Homelander is an ill-intented guy who poses as if he's perfect, and Soldier Boy is a somewhat well meaning guy who's too stubborn and self-centered to accept that he isn't.

How you gon get away with those herogasm scenes 😭

The damage Soldier Boy did 2 him was transferred 2 him talkin 2 Homelander & a family is what he needs

He didn’t receive any enhancements by the Russians, he was tortured by them for years. He always had that power, he just never had reason to use it

I like solider boy cause when they introduced him you could instantly tell the type of person he was and that never changed

Yeah, I've started calling it the Bobby B effect. It's when you cast a likeable and charismatic actor in the role of a complete scumbag.

I will point this out. Soldier Boy only hit Ryan because the kid blasted him with heat vision. When he was about to use his beam weapon on Homelander, Ryan just happened to be in the way. If Butcher had bothered to answer his phone, he would have known that Ryan was there at Vought. They could have made a plan around that. While I don't condone killing kids, this was their best chance to kill Homelander.

I wish we got a Soulja Boy "He copied my whole fucking flow" references in some shape or form

The problem is Jensen Ackles is excellent. It’s basically impossible to make him unlike able

Jenson as soldier boy portrays a compelling layered antagonist in a similar fashion to Jon Bernthal as Shane from the walking dead or the Punisher in his debut from Dare Devil season 2

The thing i disliked about season 3 is that it felt like none of the new plotlines did anything. Soldier Boy didnt beat Homelander, the Boys getting V didnt change anything, Victoria is still popping heads, like, nothing built on in Season 2 was really addressed. And the Herogasm episode wasnt even that "shocking" as to be banned from various places. I've seen worse on Rick and Morty.

you know about bluetooth? gps? …..you made those words up 😂

sure sure soldier boy steals the show but i think we can agree that stan edgar ( gus firing with a sense of humor ) is the best character! I'm glad he's a mere mortal but i almost wish he was a super in hiding foreshadowed by vic hiding in pain sight adding new weight to " power isn't * raises hand* real power is the ability to bend people to your will" i low-key wish he was speaking from experience plus how's a black man in from that time/climate raise in ranks to controlling the most powerful pharmaceutical company in the world? sure nowadays its very much possible but he's from a time where black noir couldn't show his face

When you compare him to his comic book counterpartthey are VERY different

Did they imply Bill Cosby tried to drug Soldier Boy 😂

I never thought about Termite being permanently small, since the blast removes your powers.

Soilder boy is hiding his homosexualitly? How

Soldier Boy is the only super who can beat Homelander

I think it's because while he as a character adores some of the worst, his comments on them are hilarious because they're truthful and he is naive. Cosby making some strong drinks as an example...🤣🤣🤣ffs.

Solider Boys is what Gilmore Hodge would've been as Captain America instead of Steve Rogers.

To be honest soldier boy is a pretty realistic depiction of a soldier. I’ve seen some old horn dog E8s act and say the kinda shit he does. But just like those crusty old master sgts when it came down to it he was ready to do his job no ifs ands or buts

Keep it up man 🙌🏿🙌🏿

He isnt toxic and only killed those who had it coming .

Solider boy was the most modern definition of a character your supposed to hate but you root for

I believe that he is liked because although he is what we with our modern social mores would consider a villain (and I believe that overall, he does qualify as maladjusted), he is also actually what the ancients would consider a hero. Consider: the Greek tales of Achilles had our 'heroes' trying to sack a city and quarrelling over women like they were literal trophies/spoils of war. The Greek gods themselves were considered 'just' and 'good' even though they did things like bedding married women, forcing themselves on mortals they deemed attractive, and (ab)using their magic on mortals for slights to their egos (Athena turned Arachne into a spider for besting her at a weaving contest, and Hera constantly tormented Hercules and gave him a troubled life just because Zeus happened to father him). In the East, we have tales of divine caprice creating celestial features (the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are victims of Heavenly micro-management) and nearly destroying the universe (Kali went on a rampage, nearly destroyed the universe, and her husband let her step on him so she could calm down). However, to the Ancients, these were actually flaws that were very understandable. What they emphasized was that the gods always kept their promises, made fair judgements (even if there was some collateral damage involved), and were valiant in war. Soldier boy made a promise, and kept it, even though it was his own son who was the target (and his grandson who was the collateral damage - but that happened because Ryan refused to move out of the way). Though his teammates despised him and deserved to be rid of him, selling him out to the Soviets (their mortal enemy at that time) was a step too far. Him hunting them down and killing them was not the right thing to do, but also not totally unfair. He might be destructive, but there are also rules to the destruction he inflicts. He was a bully (which everyone loathes), but there is an element of restraint with him: He wouldn't have gone after Ryan if Ryan hadn't gotten in the way, and despite being rough to Hughie and a huge bully to his own teammates, you notice that he only picks on those he thinks can take it (his teammates are super-powered and more durable than humans). And finally, his prowess in battle is evident to all. Based on all this, I would submit that Soldier Boy qualifies as a modern villain, but also as an ancient hero/god. In D&D terms, he would be deemed as being a Lawful Evil character that happens to be on the side of the United States.

Not me over here being a massive supernatural Stan and just seeing Jensen and going okay whatever he does he’s right

It's the 'unleashed id of Haisenberg' that makes people gravitate towards bad guys like Walter White and Soldier Boy. They are intrusive thoughts beneath us that wants us to give into them. ..and yes, Jensen Ackles is an amazing in his role. To be fair.. I would have love to seen more of him on the screen. Funny how it's almost similar to Julian Richings as Horseman Death in Supernatural.

The reason we love him is because of Jensen Ackles

Everyone loves him because Jensen Ackles.

Single handedly undermined every Avenger

I hope Soldier Boy is in this upcoming season 🤞

Because he isn't Homelander. NEXT

Bring him back this Season (4). He was hilarious but had more depth than some may have missed with his over the top behavior and dialogue. You can't NOT bring him back on now.

“But he made a promise to Becca”😂😂

The best antihero

Jensen ackles fits the role perfectly

Jenson Ackles playing him had a lot to do with it

He's a charismatic masculine man in an era where both of those things are demonized. The audience resonated with that

I wokt deny the quality of the writing which is hot fore, but jensen clearly enhanced the experience.

If you want more of this gorgeous man watch supernatural trust me, it’s worth it.

People love Soldier Boy because they hate Homelander more, and he's the only one who can take that Superman ripoff down.

I think the thing that makes Soldier Boy more attractive to the audience is that he has enough emotional depth that you can see that there is a thread where he COULD have, or maybe even still could be a decent person. He's an asshole, and I'd go as far to say he's pretty evil by most accounts. But many of the other villains in the show make him seem very tame, because well lets be super honest "verbally a dick, is a womanizer and doesn't respect people very much" is very low on the totem pole of deranged asshats. We also don't know alot about the circumstances surrounding many of his actions in the past, why he killed the people he killed or did the things he did, so lingering doubts exist about whether or not things happened as the Boys and audience could generally expect them to. Not saying he's a good guy mind you, or not that he isn't a villain. But in a show that has been full of villains with little to zero redeemable qualities, Soldier Boy stands out as being uniquely...how do I say, possibly redeemable. And that has alot of appeal.

clearly you don't understand how to "dad".

Had to get a tv when I seen him back in that box😢

I bet solider boy was creeped out when he saw black setting in front of the bus lmao.

6:24 SOLDIER BOY IS NOT HOMOSEXUAL WTF?!?!

I can sum this up with two words: Jensen Ackles.