After seven seasons of blood, betrayal, and blistering satire, ‘The Boys‘ wrapped its series run on Prime Video with a finale that gave most of its core characters the (brutal) send-offs they deserved. But for fans of Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy, the ending felt more like an ellipsis than a full stop. The character spent Season 5 as a major presence before being put back into cryosleep by Homelander in Episode 7, and he remained frozen and absent throughout the entire finale. Now, it turns out that absence was part of a much bigger plan.
The final season had already been making history on the platform before its last episode even aired, reaching 57 million viewers per episode globally and ranking among the top ten most-watched seasons of any Prime Video original, sparking the streamer’s biggest three-week ratings surge for any film or series. So there was clearly an enormous, invested audience waiting to find out what happened to every last supe, Soldier Boy very much included. The finale itself arrived alongside a special 4DX theatrical presentation, reflecting Prime Video’s confidence in the episode’s cultural significance.
The real surprise, however, came shortly after the credits rolled. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Eric Kripke has revealed there is a secret episode of ‘The Boys’ told entirely from Soldier Boy’s point of view, set after the events of the finale, releasing on May 27 on Prime Video. It is the kind of bonus content that feels less like a commercial add-on and more like a genuine creative extension, dropping one week after the main story closed, offering the character a perspective that the finale deliberately withheld.
That deliberate withholding was, in fact, intentional from the start. In an interview with ScreenRant, Kripke confirmed that answers regarding Soldier Boy’s absence from the finale would eventually be addressed, though he remained coy about the specifics, noting the team is deep into ‘Vought Rising’ and fully aware of where that story is going. The secret episode appears to be a bridge between those two worlds, and a gift to fans who felt the character’s arc deserved more closure than a freezing chamber could provide.
Kripke had previously confirmed in the lead-up to the finale that Jensen Ackles filmed his last scene for the main series in Episode 7, with he and director Phil Sgriccia sneaking in a final nod to ‘Supernatural’ by swapping an original line referencing a Ford for one mentioning an Impala. That quiet tribute felt like a goodbye, and in the context of the main show it was. But this Soldier Boy-focused episode suggests the farewell was always meant to have a second chapter.
Ackles himself has spoken about how playing the character in the present-day timeline directly informed how he would approach Soldier Boy in ‘Vought Rising’, saying the modern version of the character is essentially “a fish out of water” and “an analog guy trapped in a digital world,” whereas the prequel will show who he was in his element. A post-finale episode narrated from that character’s perspective feels perfectly designed to close one door while quietly cracking open the next one. ‘Vought Rising’ is expected to premiere in 2027, set in the 1950s with Ackles and Aya Cash reprising her role as Stormfront.
For a show built on subverting expectations right up to its final moments, delivering a hidden episode that reframes the entire finale through its most conspicuously absent character is a fittingly audacious last move. Whether the episode reshapes how fans feel about Soldier Boy’s place in the ending, or simply deepens the mystery heading into ‘Vought Rising’, is the question worth sitting with, and it would be great to hear in the comments whether you think this secret episode changes how you feel about the way ‘The Boys’ chose to close Soldier Boy’s story.