Throughout The Boys‘ five seasons, the story predominantly focused on the titular group trying to take down Homelander and Vought International, but they faced plenty of other dangerous foes along the way. Between Stormfront, the Seven, and various other supes, The Boys didn’t have it easy, yet very few antagonists were as problematic as Soldier Boy.

Butcher and the other protagonists freed Soldier Boy from a cryo chamber, and he even worked with the group for several episodes, opposing Homelander despite being his father. However, things went south towards the end of season 3’s finale, eventually leading to Soldier Boy aligning himself with Homelander in The Boys‘ final installment.

Unfortunately, his story was cut short as he was eventually betrayed by his son and put into cryo sleep for the third time, resulting in him being completely absent from The Boys season 5’s finale. Fans were naturally a little frustrated by this fate, but he will return in Vought Rising, a prequel centering around him and Stormfront.

Set in the 1950s, Vought Rising will dive into the origins of Soldier Boy and how he went from ambitious hero to Vought’s corrupt poster boy. In the process, we’re also destined to learn more about Soldier Boy’s relationship with Stormfront (known then as Liberty) alongside how Vought became such a powerful organization.

With the series being described as a murder mystery, it will adopt the gore and violence that made The Boys so iconic, as the first-look trailer showed. More importantly though, Vought Rising will completely reinvent Soldier Boy and showcase a side of him we haven’t seen before, which may just be the most authentic version of the character yet.

Vought Rising Will Show Soldier Boy Before He Became A Celebrity

When we first meet Soldier Boy, he is in many ways a forgotten hero who has been replaced, but back in his heyday, he was a massive celebrity, one just as popular as Homelander. Long before the show’s main antagonist came on the scene, Soldier Boy was Vought’s big investment, as he had the looks, the powers, and the perfectly manufactured personality.

As a result, the company staged many of his saves and morphed him into a public figure, which involved music videos and film appearances. Like most of Vought’s supes, he became much more of a celebrity than an actual superhero and developed a huge ego, eventually leading to a life filled with sex and drugs.

Before all of this, he was just a regular man seeking his father’s approval, prompting him to volunteer in Frederick Vought’s Compound V experiments. Back then, Benjamin never had anywhere near the level of confidence or arrogance that he went on to develop, meaning the Soldier Boy we’ll see in Vought Rising won’t be anything like The Boys character.

Assuming the show covers aspects of his life before becoming a supe, Soldier Boy will almost certainly be more timid and insecure than what we’re used to, especially as he was supposedly terrified of the Compound V experiments. Even after gaining this power, it likely still took years, if not decades, for him to develop the attitude he’s best known for.

Therefore, with Soldier Boy stepping up as the main character in Vought Rising, we will learn his true nature before he became this untouchable figure. While we’ve only ever known him as a fearless, charismatic brute, the spinoff will expose his more human flaws and help us understand who Soldier Boy is without the fame, power, and corporate backing.

What The Boys Has Already Revealed About Soldier Boy’s Early Life

Without having entire episodes focused on Soldier Boy and his background, the villain’s prominence in The Boys allowed the show to reveal a lot about his origins. Going back to his life before becoming Soldier Boy, Ben was born into wealth, yet his father was abusive, often expressing his disappointment in his son.

His desperation for his father’s approval only worsened after his brother became a decorated soldier, causing Ben to enlist as well, where he signed up for Frederick Vought’s experiments. He avoided combat throughout most of WWII, with his involvement being minimal at best even after successfully becoming a supe, since Vought didn’t want to risk their prized possession.

Regardless of what his real involvement in the war was, he was welcomed home as a hero in the eyes of the public, but not his father, who still deemed him a failure since he had to cheat by using Compound V. Despite failing to win over his dad, Soldier Boy became a star, both as a hero and a celebrity.

At some time during this period, Soldier Boy formed a relationship with Clara AKA Stormfront/ Liberty, which was heavily referenced in The Boys‘ final season. Details on how they met and what their connection was like remain limited, but Vought Rising will undoubtedly lean heavily into this, seeing as it had a big impact on the main show.

After outgrowing his original team consisting of Bombsight, Private Angel, and Torpedo, he moved on to Payback in the 1970s. As leader of this group, he was abusive to other members such as Black Noir, while going on to date another member, Crimson Countess. However, things went wrong for him during a mission in the 1980s.

During a Soviet attack in Nicaragua, Soldier Boy’s team betrayed him and sold him out to the Russians, who experimented on the supe, which is where he gained his radiation-based powers before being put into cryo sleep. Clearly then, The Boys has already covered a lot of Soldier Boy’s history, but Vought Rising indicates there is still a lot more to unpack.

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  Created by

  Eric Kripke, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson

  First TV Show

  The Boys

  Latest TV Show

  Gen V

  Upcoming TV Shows

  The Boys, Gen V

  First Episode Air Date

  
  July 26, 2019
  

  Cast

  Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Jensen Ackles

  The Boys franchise is a satirical and dark superhero series based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It explores a world where superheroes, or “Supes,” are corrupt, violent, and morally bankrupt, all controlled by the powerful corporation Vought International. The story centers around two opposing groups: The Boys, a vigilante team aiming to expose and defeat the corrupt heroes, and The Seven, Vought’s elite team of Supes led by the ruthless Homelander.