Why The Boys Is Right To Cut Homelander’s Controversial Soldier Boy Moment

Why The Boys Is Right To Cut Homelander's Controversial Soldier Boy Moment

Jensen Ackles plays Soldier Boy in The Boys season 3, but the show cuts a key comic scene with Homelander. Here’s why that’s a good move.

Caution: spoilers ahead for The Boys season 2

The Boys season 3 made the right choice by cutting out a key Soldier Boy moment from the original comic series. Preempting the success that would follow, Amazon Prime renewed The Boys for a third season before the season 2 premiere had even aired. And after the excitement of Stormfront’s defeat, the Victoria Neuman twist, and Becca Butcher’s death, The Boys season 3 quickly made waves with the casting of Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy. An earlier product of Vought’s attempt to craft the perfect superhero, Soldier Boy is a riff on Marvel’s Captain America, blessed with the same powers and carrying a similarly patriotic shield. Soldier Boy is also a member of the Payback super-group, and a squeaky clean member of the supe community, at least in Garth Ennis’ world.

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The same isn’t quite true for Ackles’ Soldier Boy in The Boys season 3. Eric Kripke (The Boys’ showrunner) even suggested ahead of season 3 that the live-action character will be just as despicable as his fellow Compound V test subjects, and The Boys season 3 uses Soldier Boy to delve into the past and explore the Payback group before the formation of the Seven. Kripke simultaneously confirmed that one memorable Soldier Boy moment from the comic book wouldn’t make it into the show. In Ennis’ original story, Soldier Boy longs to join the Seven and is coerced into having sex with Homelander. While Soldier Boy interprets the act as an audition of sorts, Homelander is simply using his fellow patriot and has no intention of inducting this latest sexual conquest into the Seven.

Related: Where Has Soldier Boy Been All This Time In The Boys?

While some fans might be disappointed that Homelander and Soldier Boy don’t hook up in The Boys season 3, the decision makes complete sense in the context of the show. Amazon has been surprisingly liberal with The Boys so far, allowing Kripke to get away with far more than comic fans might’ve predicted before the show began, and the only scene that was vetoed from The Boys season 1 (Homelander pleasuring himself onto New York City from atop a skyscraper) eventually found its way into season 2. The Boys has got away with running over a dolphin, exploding heads in congress, and, in the words of Billy Butcher, “fatal cunnilingus.” The problem with Homelander sexually manipulating Soldier Boy isn’t that the scene is too shocking or crude to adapt, but because the moment doesn’t work within the landscape of The Boys season 3.

The Boys’ Controversial Soldier Boy Moment Doesn’t Fit The TV Show

Homelander in The Boys Season 3

Come the end of The Boys season 2, Homelander’s power has been neutered by Queen Maeve’s blackmail and the fall of Stormfront. The all-American hero is made to publicly admit the Seven’s mistakes, accept Starlight back into the fold, and relinquish custody of his only son. Homelander is thus more “in check” than ever by the time The Boys season 3 begins, so it makes no sense for him to be forcing Soldier Boy into bed. In many other ways too, the Amazon version of Homelander is already a very different character than his comic book counterpart at this point in the series. It simply wouldn’t fit with his character to sexually manipulate another supe.

Comic Homelander was also complicit in sexually assaulting Starlight on her first day in the Seven, creating a precedent for the Soldier Boy incident. However, only The Deep attacked Starlight on TV, negating that precedent. Coercing Soldier Boy into bed, therefore, doesn’t fit with the character or motivations of Antony Starr’s Homelander. It’s also worth noting that TV Homelander is a bastion of ultra-conservative America. His response to Queen Maeve’s bisexuality was despicable, and while Homelander did engage in sexual activity with Doppelganger, this was only while the D-list supe was posing as Madelyn Stillwell or Homelander himself. It’s “not gay” if it’s with yourself, according to Doppelganger. All of this evidence makes it hard to picture Amazon’s Homelander getting in bed with another man.

The Boys’ Soldier Boy Is Too Different For The Herogasm Scene To Work

Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy in The Boys comic

By the same token, since Jensen Ackles doesn’t play the same naive, do-gooder Soldier Boy seen in the comics, his sex scene with Homelander would feel even more out of place. Homelander preyed on the Payback hero’s desperate Seven ambitions to enlist his participation in the bedroom, but with the live-action Soldier Boy being more akin to Vought’s other despicable heroes, the point of the scene is lost entirely. In fact, The Boys season 3 footage positions Soldier Boy as more of a threat to the broken Homelander than prey. Clearly powerful, violent, and more than a little unhinged, the Soldier Boy of Amazon Prime’s series is more of a contender for Homelander’s Seven throne (or possibly an unlikely ally of Butcher’s crew) than an easily manipulated wannabe. All of this adds up to the notion that Ackles’ Soldier Boy wouldn’t submit himself sexually to Homelander just to get a spot in the Seven.

More: The Boys Delaying Homelander’s Disgusting Season 2 Finale Moment Was Perfect

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About The Author

Craig Elvy
(3795 Articles Published)

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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