We’re only a couple of days removed from The Boys series finale, but Prime Video is keeping the proverbial supe train moving with a first-look trailer for Vought Rising, the first of its planned spin-off shows.
Rather than taking place in our modern-day unreality, Vought Rising punches its fist through Father Time’s clock and winds it back to the 1950s. There, we see a young Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) suit up, his bright-eyed aspirations to be a genuine superhero clear. Granted, we already know how well that turned out, and the trailer doesn’t shy away from it. With forced compound V injections used to make superheroes, the devilish smirk from Soldier Boy’s Nazi paramour, Stormfront, and all the blood spatter from folks getting riddled with bullets, the trailer makes it clear. As the old professional wrestling adage goes, the lights appear too bright for its young hopeful heroes, so we can expect a dizzying fall from grace for them as they buck the layman’s ideal of what a supe should be.
When The Boys was deep in its diabolical season three mayhem and first introduced fan-favorite trash talker Soldier Boy, viewers might’ve perked up at this trailer and all its potential to become something truly worthwhile. However, after the wanderlust of The Boys‘ final season, which dedicated most of its time to being a backdoor pilot to Vought Rising, there’s a distinct sense of “why should I care” among the fandom. And it’s hard not to empathize with that sentiment: it’s hard to care about a prequel show, even one whose trailer was revealed so soon after its mainline show ended, when we can already see where its characters wind up. Spoilers, most of them are dead (and not of old age), and Soldier Boy gets put back into his little ice pod to be thawed out like a fire alarm in case Prime Video needs to coast off Ackles’ charisma.
The cards are also somewhat stacked against the show with fans still being raw over Prime Video canceling its brilliant spin-off, Gen V, and virtually wasting those characters in its finale after building them up as a big deal for two seasons. That being said, fandoms have been proven wrong before regarding the prospects of a spin-off show. Look no further than Andor being the shining beacon of what Star Wars has the latent potential to be as a Rogue One prequel. Hell, there’s even a chance that the show isn’t going to just be set in ye old New York.
In an interview with Deadline, showrunner Eric Kripke dodged a question about whether Vought Rising will span multiple timelines, offering the tried-and-true “no comment” response. While Kripke was glib about the show ricocheting between the modern day and the past, he did reject the notion that The Boys‘ final season was made solely to backdoor-pilot Vought Rising.
“I mean, I don’t think the finale episode itself sets up Vought Rising,” Kripke told Deadline. “I think what we saw of Soldier Boy and meeting Bombsight and some references to some of the other original Supes, is about the only setup we’re doing. But how’s this for a vague tease; I will say that, we have a few surprises and tricks up our sleeve in V Rising.”
Vought Rising premieres on Prime Video sometime in 2027.
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