The Boys Presents: Diabolical confirms a potentially game-changing link between Homelander and Soldier Boy ahead of the latter's live-action debut in The Boys season 3. Even after two seasons of Vought vigilantism, The Boys still has a wealth of characters from Garth Ennis' original comic series to call upon. Among the new additions for The Boys season 3 is Soldier Boy, played by Jensen Ackles, who's swapping Supernatural for supe collateral. A parody of Marvel's Captain America, we know Soldier Boy joins The Boys having spent years out of the public eye, and a statue glimpsed in season 2 indicates the wider world believe their wartime hero died in the 1980s.
Building towards Ackles' highly-anticipated arrival, The Boys: Diabolical drops a timely Soldier Boy reference - and draws an intriguing parallel between he and Homelander that could foreshadow events to come in Amazon's main show. The Boys: Diabolical episode 8 ("One Plus One Equals Two") shows Homelander's very first press conference as a Vought supe, and reveals how his maiden mission was, unsurprisingly, an unmitigated disaster.
The animated offering features a young Madelyn Stillwell, and takes place in a distinctly unfamiliar pre-Seven landscape, which makes the Soldier Boy nod stand out all the more. As Homelander descends heroically from an opening in the roof, Madelyn Stillwell proudly claims, "Not since Soldier Boy has Vought been so excited to work with a superhero of The Homelander's caliber."
The line tacitly confirms Soldier Boy was, presumably for a very long time, the most popular and prestigious hero on Vought's books. Elsewhere in the same episode, Stillwell acknowledges Black Noir as the company's current top dog, so we might tentatively predict that Soldier Boy provided Vought with its first true star, Noir took the number one spot upon Soldier Boy's death/disappearance, then Homelander was given the full marketing bells and whistles to establish him atop the hierarchy, where he remains right up until The Boys' present timeline. The Boys: Diabolical's Soldier Boy line also hints that Homelander might've been designed in the veteran supe's image - brought into Vought as a direct replacement, one flag-waving, patriotic super soldier to another. Eric Kripke (The Boys showrunner) previously suggested Soldier Boy's Payback team were the "Seven before the Seven." If The Boys: Diabolical is any indication, that clue is even more literal than Kripke let on, with the younger, modern Homelander succeeding an aging, out-of-touch Soldier Boy.
The Boys: Diabolical could even be setting the stage for a bitter rivalry between Soldier Boy and Homelander, drenched in years of resentment that traces all the way back to "One Plus One Equals Two." If Jensen Ackles was telling the truth about Soldier Boy returning after years in the cold, maybe Vought originally pushed him out of the public spotlight because Stan Edgar believed someone like Homelander would prove more marketable. The popularity of Homelander in The Boys proves Edgar was absolutely right, but as we saw in season 2, the Seven's leader has suffered a rather drastic fall from grace following the Stormfront debacle. With Homelander's stock plummeting, is Soldier Boy joining The Boys season 3 because Edgar thinks the nostalgia of a returning legend can reignite his company's fortunes?
Whatever the reason for Soldier Boy's comeback in The Boys season 3, Jensen Ackles' character will surely have an axe to grind against Homelander - Vought's patriotic lab-grown newbie who seemingly stole his thunder all those years ago. Likewise, Homelander will resent Stan Edgar bringing back the popular hero he overtook. If fans weren't already looking forward to The Boys season 3, the added spice The Boys Presents: Diabolical throws onto Homelander and Soldier Boy's feud should do the trick.