Supernatural star Jensen Ackles played Soldier Boy in season 3 of The Boys, and the actor who played his father in that series, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, took on the role of Joe Kessler in season 4.
The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke worked with both actors when he was calling the shots on Supernatural (he created the series and stepped down from his showrunner role after season 5). However, Morgan's casting left Jared Padalecki as the only one of the show's original leads who hadn't appeared in The Boys.
It's since been confirmed that the show's final season will feature a full-blown Supernatural reunion with Ackles, Padalecki, and Misha Collins all set to appear.
Talking to Business Insider, Padalecki said, "I don’t know a whole lot about it, which is [f***ing] terrifying," he said before confirming he will share the screen with Ackles. "I don’t know what we’re doing. I don’t know if we like, bump into each other. I don’t know much about it. They’re still trying to write and figure out who’s gonna be there. But it’ll be the end of this month.
The Boys' season 4 finale featured the surprise return of Soldier Boy, setting the stage for him to be a major player heading into the last batch of episodes. His son, Homelander, has essentially taken over America so how the veteran Supe responds to that promises to be very interesting.
Elsewhere in the interview, Padalecki reflected on getting the call from Kripke for his upcoming reunion with Ackles. "I know Eric Kripke very well," he said. "I know The Boys very well. He’s like, ‘Hey, you wanna come play?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, I think?'"
However, while his wife, fellow Supernatural alum Genevieve Padalecki, encouraged him to take on the role, the actor admitted that he later sent a text to Kripke saying, "'Hey, if I’m getting naked, just give me like a month’s notice to eat broccoli and rice and chicken breasts and all day long just sit there doing push-ups.'"
He's also well aware of how excited fans will be to see him back on screen with Ackles but reiterated, "It’s f***ing terrifying for me."
The Boys is based on The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, who also serve as executive producers, and developed by executive producer and showrunner Eric Kripke.
While The Boys is ending, in addition to Gen V and the animated Diabolical series, Vought Rising and The Boys: Mexico are among the spin-offs in development. Talking about that last November, Kripke said:
"I live in absolute terror of becoming the thing we’ve been satirizing for five years . The thing about The Boys is that it’s punk rock, and it hurts extra hard when punk rockers sell out . I’m really working hard to not sell out. We do these shows because we really care about them and we’re passionate about them, and they can tell fresh stories that we can’t tell in The Boys and not just be about rapid expansion but be very careful and mindful about the choices we’re making and being able to defend why we’re making them. I worry about that every single day."
The Boys season 5 doesn't currently have a confirmed premiere date.