Comic book series Soldier Boy III Soldier Boy is introduced in
Herogasm as the "elected" leader of the
Vought-American-sponsored
superhero team
Payback. At the titular annual orgy of Supes, he is said to have had sex with
Homelander alone every year out of the belief that he will let him join his own superhero team
the Seven (a promise which Homelander has no intention of fulfilling), primarily existing as
comic relief. As Homelander is inspired to begin planning a "Supe revolution" against Vought and their
puppet rulers in the
White House shortly after having sex with him for the most recent time, Soldier Boy remains obliviously standing by Homelander's side as he prepares to announce his plans only for him to be interrupted by
the Guy From Vought. In
The Boys arc "
The Self-Preservation Society", Soldier Boy participates in Payback's ambush on the Boys, along with the rest of his team. Initially he manages to pin
Billy Butcher, the Homelander's
archenemy and leader of
the Boys, against a wall with his
shield. But being inexperienced in real combat, he loses the initiative and eventually the battle, having his nose bitten off by the
CIA black ops agent before being beaten unconscious. Later, Butcher brutally beats and tortures him for information on the Homelander and his activities over the next few days, mocking him for having claimed to be the same Soldier Boy who fought in
World War II, kept alive by being frozen in
suspended animation, an identity he was forced to assume and impersonate by Vought. In the "What I Know" arc, Butcher is revealed to have killed Soldier Boy, with a public funeral being held for him and members of the Seven (including the Homelander) serving as his
pallbearers.
Soldier Boy I In
The Boys arc "
Barbary Coast", in precedence of telling
"Wee Hughie" Campbell about the true sadistic nature of Billy Butcher,
Lieutenant Colonel Greg D. Mallory tells him about his own history with Supes, beginning with his captaincy during World War II, when his company was made by government and Vought officials to supervise
the "Avenging Squad", a team of the first American-made Supes, led by the first Soldier Boy, during the
Battle of the Bulge. While eager to serve, Soldier Boy had little military experience, and ordered the flying members of the team to inspect the area for a
Nazi presence, oblivious to the fact that doing so would expose their position. Realizing what Soldier Boy had done, Mallory only had time to give his men a brief warning before the enemy (a nearby
Waffen-SS platoon) attacked, massacring both his and Soldier Boy's men. After coming across a mortally wounded Soldier Boy, near-vertically bisected by a blast, in the aftermath, Mallory had then dropped a grenade by his feet before walking away,
mercy killing him.
Soldier Boy II Continuing to tell Hughie about his own past in
The Boys arc "Barbary Coast", Mallory reveals that by 1950, he learned that new versions (new Supes under the same designs and branding) of Soldier Boy and his brethren had been created by Vought to replace them, fighting elsewhere, known as "
Crimefighters Incorporated" after the war and making
propaganda films for the United States government. This second Soldier Boy would eventually later die in unknown circumstances, and be succeeded by the third in modern times, presented by Vought (like the second) as the first still-alive Soldier Boy.
Television series The Boys (2019–present) In the
third season of the television
series adaptation,
Jensen Ackles portrays a
composite character based on the various comic book characters known as Soldier Boy, created by Nazi defector Frederick Vought during
World War II in 1944, via injections of Compound V into a normal soldier. After being mentioned by Stan Edgar in the 2020 second season as an early test subject for Compound V, represented via a statue, Soldier Boy is said by
Marvin T. "MM" Milk in the third season to be responsible for killing his grandfather whilst thwarting a carjacking, motivating his father's decision to "work himself to death" as a lawyer attempting to bring down Vought and causing MM's
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Soldier Boy was said to have been killed while preventing a
nuclear meltdown during the
Cold War. Believing this story to be false and upon learning of the location of a Russian
superweapon known as
B.C.L. RED said to have actually killed Soldier Boy,
Queen Maeve sends Billy Butcher to verify whether it did or not and then retrieve it, both hoping to potentially use the weapon to kill Homelander, the unstable leader of
the Seven, due to Vought having equated him and Soldier Boy to have been on a similar to equal power level. Interrogating and killing Soldier Boy's former sidekick
Gunpowder after injecting himself with "V-24" (a temporary variant of Compound V) given to him by Maeve, giving himself temporary superpowers, Butcher learns that Soldier Boy was actually killed during a joint black ops mission between his Supe team
Payback and the
CIA in Nicaragua in 1984, working against the
Sandinistas, under the supervision of Butcher's own mentor
Grace Mallory. Confronting Mallory, Butcher learns that the vast majority of her men had been massacred by Russian and Nicaraguan troops in an ambush in 1984 and that while she did see Soldier Boy fight off several soldiers in the subsequent battle, she had been knocked out while avoiding
friendly fire from Gunpowder and only learned of Soldier Boy's death upon her awakening caused by an unknown "superweapon" (B.C.L. RED), witnessed by his then-girlfriend
Crimson Countess. Not wanting it publicly known that the Russian government had the capability of killing Supes, President
Ronald Reagan had ordered the incident to be covered up with Vought receiving full immunity. In reality, Stan Edgar had orchestrated the whole incident to get rid of Soldier Boy by allowing Payback to betray him as revenge for the physical and mental abuse he had inflicted upon them, with the intention of replacing him with Homelander. The team managed to incapacitate Soldier Boy with
novichok, but not before he burned Black Noir's face and bludgeoned him repeatedly in the head with his shield, leaving Noir with significant brain damage. After failing to track down the Crimson Countess in the present, Butcher and
The Boys make their way to Russia and infiltrate the secret laboratory which Maeve believed to hold B.C.L. RED. After being overwhelmed by Russian soldiers, whom Butcher and Hughie Campbell then kill after taking more V-24, Butcher discovers and opens the B.C.L. RED. pod, only to find it contains a still-living, comatose, and bearded Soldier Boy. Inadvertently awakened from his
induced coma, Soldier Boy exits the pod and releases a powerful radiation blast from his chest (
Big Chest-Laser) that hits
Kimiko Miyashiro and leaves her powerless and wounded (counteracting her usual regenerative abilities). The Boys retreat to stabilize her as Soldier Boy escapes, Butcher surmising his new abilities to be a result of experimentation. Soldier Boy returns to the United States by smuggling himself onto a commercial flight. While wandering New York City, he experiences a powerful flashback (triggered by hearing a song that was played whilst he was being experimented on), causing him to relive several traumatic moments while in Russian captivity. The ensuing rage triggers a destructive radioactive burst and he levels the better part of a five-story apartment complex, drawing the attention of Homelander as a potential new supervillain. After finding his way to former Vought executive "
The Legend," he recovers his original uniform and confronts the Crimson Countess, who Butcher had restrained as a show of good faith in a bid to join forces with him (with MM being falsely led to believe was to use her as bait to kill Soldier Boy). After revealing his torture and disappointment that Payback never came to rescue him, Crimson Countess reveals that she and the rest of Payback secretly despised him and betrayed him to the Russians for no money. Afterwards, Soldier Boy kills her with a radioactive burst. Joining forces with Butcher and Hughie, Soldier Boy agrees to kill Homelander in exchange for them helping him track down and kill the remaining members of Payback. The group then infiltrates Herogasm, an annual superhero orgy hosted by Soldier Boys' former teammates the TNT Twins. After the TNT Twins claim Noir sold him out to the Russians, Soldier Boy suffers another PTSD episode and releases an energy blast, destroying the building, vaporizing the Twins and multiple guests, and injuring others. Before the group can escape, they are confronted by Homelander. Hughie, Butcher, and Soldier Boy manage to overpower Homelander after a fight, but he is able to escape the energy blast in the nick of time. While hunting down Mindstorm, one of the two remaining members of Payback (the other being Noir), Soldier Boy starts to hear voices which greatly concerns Hughie and Butcher. Butcher reveals to Hughie that he has supplied Soldier Boy with marijuana to keep him from having another destructive episode. After triggering a booby trap, Mindstorm attacks Butcher by forcing him to endlessly relive his traumatic past. Soldier Boy leaves Butcher for dead despite Hughie's protests. Later, Hughie confronts Soldier Boy about his PTSD, drug use, and constant showboating of his military past. Hughie had previously learned from the Legend that Soldier Boy's service during the Second World War was mostly propaganda, having taken more active roles in suppressing race riots and opposing the
Civil Rights and
peace movements, with there being "rumors about
Dealey Plaza". Later, realizing the error of his ways, Hughie betrays Soldier Boy and saves Mindstorm, who in turn frees Butcher in return for being teleported to safety. Soldier Boy arrives soon afterward and bludgeons Mindstorm to death with his shield, but not before learning from him Edgar's role in his capture and the reason for it. A few years before he was captured by the Russians, Soldier Boy had provided semen samples to Vought scientist Jonah Vogelbaum for genetic experimentation, which Vogelbaum had subsequently used to create Homelander as a more powerful replacement. After learning from Mindstorm, Soldier Boy reveals the information to a shocked Homelander during a phone call to him. After Soldier Boy informs Butcher and Hughie of the revelation that he is Homelander's father, the two, and later the rest of the Boys and Maeve, become concerned that he and Homelander will team up. He tells Butcher of his own privileged background, starkly contrasting with the humble original story developed by Vought, which allowed him to enter Frederick Vought's Compound V trials. Soldier Boy's father, a prominent steel magnate, neglected him and regarded him as a disappointment, disowning him and his new superhero persona as he had not earned his superpowers himself. Soldier Boy, Butcher, and Maeve go to Seven Tower to fight Homelander and Black Noir, detaining the Boys in a disused safe at the Flatiron Building. However, Homelander, having earlier killed Noir (for keeping his parentage secret) and retrieved Ryan, attempts to connect with Soldier Boy saying that they and Ryan could be a family. After Soldier Boy disowns Homelander as weak, damaged, attention-seeking, and a disappointment, he attempts to blast him and fulfill his agreement with Butcher. However, after Ryan lasers Soldier Boy to stop him from attacking Homelander and Soldier Boy makes the mistake of striking Ryan in retaliation, he ends up fighting Butcher, Annie, MM, and Kimiko with Homelander reluctantly fighting Queen Maeve. When they attempt to use a batch of novichok improvised by Frenchie to knock out Soldier Boy, he attempts to release an energy blast in retaliation. Before he can kill the Boys, a grievously-injured Maeve pushes him out of the window to save them, losing her own powers when he discharges mid-air. In the aftermath, Soldier Boy is detained in cryostasis on Mallory's orders, while his statue in front of Seven Tower is toppled by supporters of both Homelander and Stormfront after Vought's news media wing report that Soldier Boy's attack was motivated by Russian indoctrination. In the season 4 finale, when Speaker of the House Steven Calhoun assumes the office of President of the United States on behalf of Homelander, he discovers Soldier Boy is alive in a stasis pod and immediately brings Homelander to his location. Homelander overlooks his pod with a sad expression. Running out of allies, Homelander awakens Soldier Boy from his cryostasis. Although Soldier Boy is apprehensive at Homelander's presence, Homelander pursuades his father to join The Seven so they could kill Butcher, presenting his repaired shield and promising that he can repair his reputation as "Russian spy." Soldier Boy manages to track down Butcher, Hughie, and Kimiko, with the latter two shocked that he wasn't dead but only frozen. Soldier Boy confronts the now-superpowered Butcher for betraying him to save Ryan, while Butcher shares that he has a Supe virus that could kill Supes. Butcher knocks out Soldier Boy with a car; Soldier Boy, upon reawakening, allies himself with Teenage Kix members Jetstreak and Sheline to find The Boys. Soldier Boy and Jetstreak are lured by the Boys inside Teenage Kix's compound, where Hughie and Frenchie expose them to the virus, instantly killing Jetstreak and Teenage Kix member Rock Hard, while Soldier Boy convulses and seemingly dies shortly after. Homelander mourns Soldier Boy as he brought out in a body bag, but Soldier Boy suddenly sits up, alive. The discovery that Soldier Boy is virtually immortal and immune to the virus leads to Homelander developing a god complex and prompts him to search for V1, the compound Soldier Boy was subjected with. Soldier Boy does not agree with this and sets out to find any remaining V1 and destroy it before it ends up in Homelander's hands.
Gen V (2023–2025) Ackles reprised his role as Soldier Boy in a "
cameo" in the episode "Jumanji" of the 2023 spin-off series
Gen V. While trapped inside Cate Dunlap's (
Maddie Phillips) mind, the main group encounters Soldier Boy, who exists as an
imaginary friend in Cate's mind, known simply as "
Soldier Boyfriend". Soldier Boyfriend introduces himself and his relationship with Cate before explaining what is occurring in Cate's mind, such as the lightning being blood vessels bursting. Soldier Boyfriend warns them to find a way to escape before her mind collapses and they all enter a vegetative state, intending to tell them of the method himself before he is zapped by electricity from Cate's mind.
Promotional material Soldier Boy is mentioned and pictured throughout the 2020–2021 promotional web series
Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman, with the last film he had starred in, 1983's
Red River, being released to Vought's new "
Vought+"
streaming service, while
The Boys Presents: Diabolical first season finale "
One Plus One Equals Two" mentions Homelander to be the first Supe since Soldier Boy to hold the same level of "caliber" as him in the public eye;
Eric Kripke additionally expressed interest in a future episode of
Diabolical set in the comic series'
continuity, like "
I'm Your Pusher", adapting Soldier Boy III's and Homelander's sexual relationship, which was not adapted to the live-action series' different Soldier Boy I, with Ackles potentially also voicing the younger character. To promote the character's appearances in the third season of
The Boys,
Jensen Ackles appeared in several videos depicting Soldier Boy's in-universe promotional campaigns for Vought and the
United States government in the 1980s, in particular recording several
anti-drug PSAs and serenading the dancers of
Solid Gold with a rendition of
Blondie's "
Rapture". Following the airing of this cover, Ackles additionally expressed interest in recording a potential album of similar
cover works, tentatively entitled "Soldier Boy Sings The Hits".
Video game In 2026,
Jensen Ackles reprised his role as Soldier Boy from the
Amazon Prime Video television series in the video game
The Boys: Trigger Warning. ==Powers and abilities==