Did you pick up on the Supernatural Easter egg hidden in The Boys' season 1 finale? Before it became an (almost) unstoppable juggernaut of fantasy television, Supernatural was the brainchild of Eric Kripke, who acted as showrunner for the first five seasons. Kripke would eventually hand over the Supernatural reins, but has remained involved in the lives of Sam and Dean Winchester as a creative consultant in the years since. In stark contrast to the tone and style of Supernatural, Kripke's latest television project sees him at the helm of Amazon's The Boys, a live-action adaptation of the uber-violent comic book series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson.
Any Supernatural fan watching The Boys would've undoubtedly noticed a familiar face in the season 1 finale - the reassuringly gruff and endlessly charming Jim Beaver. Making his debut in Supernatural's very first season and named after one of the show's executive producers, Beaver portrays Bobby Singer - a mentor and father figure to the Winchester brothers and a veteran hunter of all things spooky. Bobby was killed in somewhat controversial fashion during Supernatural season 7, falling victim to a Leviathan in sudden and shocking circumstances. In true Supernatural style, however, Beaver has since returned to the show as an alternate universe version of Bobby.
For The Boys, Eric Kripke drafted in several actors that had worked on the producer's previous credits, including Supernatural's Jim Beaver. Instead of gunning for vampires and ghouls, however, Beaver's character in The Boys has superheroes in his sights. In a conversation with Vought's Madelyn Stillwell, the audience learns that Beaver is portraying a U.S. politician with a distinct distaste for the country's superheroes and a stiff opposition to their presence in the military. Naturally, Stillwell is able to slyly manipulate around her counterpart's resistance, but Beaver's politician puts up a good moral fight at least.
Jim Beaver's appearance provides an additional link between Supernatural and The Boys, but the true Easter egg actually lies a little deeper. In the credits, Beaver's politician is listed under the name "Robert Singer" - a direct lift from his more famous character in Supernatural. This nod is not only a callback to Kripke's previous work, but also somewhat continues Supernatural's running gag in acknowledging that Singer is named after one of the show's producers. The name would also imply that either this particular role in The Boys season 1 was either written with Jim Beaver in mind, or added relatively late into production.
In either case, Kripke has since confirmed that Robert Singer - the politician, not the ghostbuster - will return in The Boys season 2. While Beaver's acting will undoubtedly provide a sense of warm familiarity and a sympathetic heart to proceedings, it'll be interesting to see if a more prominent role in The Boys season 2 will result in more fans picking up on the Supernatural reference within his character's name.
Supernatural season 15 premieres October 10th on The CW. The Boys season 2 is currently without a release date.