“The Boys” showrunner Eric Kripke said the new series “Vought Rising” will be “LA Confidential with superheroes” — and that he’s been planning the prequel, led by Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy and Aya Cash’s Stormfront, for a long time.
“This idea has been in our backyard for a really long time,” Kripke said. diverse “And actually, when I went to Amazon, to pitch spinoffs, I came with spinoffs. I came with ‘Gen V’ and ‘Vought Rising.’ And at the time, they said, ‘Let’s start with ‘Gen V,’ and we’ll see how that goes and then maybe do ‘Rising.’ It turned out pretty well. I’m just fascinated by the history of how we became who we became. ‘The Boys’ itself is basically a film noir. It’s like cops and robbers. So to do it in a classic way with fedoras and trench coats and raunchy stuff, and like ‘LA Confidential’ with superheroes, that would be a lot of fun. And Jensen and Aya, they’re superstars. They’re going to blow doors off.”
Along with the announcement of the “Vought Rising” prequel series, it was confirmed during the “The Boys” episode that Ackles will also reprise his role as the soldier in the fifth and final season of Mothership — something that was hinted at in the mid-credits scene of the season four finale.
“He's going to be in season 5 a lot,” Kripke said. “We want him to be a big character. There's a lot of good feelings between father and son and Homelander that we never got a chance to represent that we really care about.”
As Kripke has been teasing since before season four aired, he’s still in talks with Jared Padalecki to include him in “The Boys” season five in some way, adding to the long list of “Supernatural” alumni who have appeared on his superhero series, including Ackles and, new to season four, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. (Kripke created and ran “Supernatural” for the first five of its 15 seasons.) But he still doesn’t know who Padalecki will play, as they’re currently working on that in the writers’ room.
“I talked to Jared, we texted back and forth,” Kripke said. “I don’t know yet if it’s going to be a one-episode guest spot or something bigger. We’re still trying to figure out what the best role for him is. But I’m going to bring Jared in. Everyone says, ‘You collect your supernatural Pokémon,’ but the truth is, I love it and you try to work with people you love and that makes it more fun. And I really love those guys.”
When the season four finale aired on July 18, it was just days after the attempted assassination of former US President – and current presidential candidate – Donald Trump. The episode, which continued the season-long storyline of the attempted assassinations of the president-elect and vice president-elect, was originally titled “Assassination Run,” but was simply retitled “Season Four Finale” and added a “Viewers with Caution” warning at the beginning.
That letter said the season was filmed in 2023, and that Amazon, “The Boys” studio Sony Pictures Television and the producers “reject in the strongest terms real-world violence of any kind,” sentiments echoed by Kripke on Friday.
“We’re a superhero TV show. We’re fictional,” Kripke said. “Obviously it’s a political show with a point of view, so there are going to be some terrible coincidences. But we condemn and strongly oppose anything in the real world. We’re just making our show about superheroes.”
One of the most poignant scenes in the season 4 finale of “The Boys” was when Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) spoke for the first time (outside of a dream sequence) in a moment of desperation as Fogg was pulling Frenchie (Tomer Capone) away from her. What does this mean for her verbal skills in season 5?
“I don’t think she’s going to be a chatterbox,” Kripke said. “I think we have to find a way to make her unique and interesting and not have her talk like everyone else. Honestly, we’re trying to figure that out. We’re trying to figure out the rhythm and the cadence of her dialogue. But she’s going to talk!”
Meanwhile, Kripke is trying to enjoy this time while he's still “in denial” about the fact that the show is coming to an end (by his own choice, we might add).
“We have a whole season to write,” Kripke said. “I have a lot of work to do so I can finish it. But when we start shooting and we finish shooting for the last time, it's going to be a mess.”
